Violaine Corradi on the Music of Zaia

violaine-corradi-zaia

This is an interview by Keith Johnson (Seattle, Wa – USA) of “Cirque Fascination” with the music composer of Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA show, Violaine Corradi. I hope Keith will not mind me posting the full article here on my blog for three reasons:

  1. I will include a link to his original ezine article here: Corradi Zaia Interview
  2. I am quoted in the article with comments mined from my blog. (Which I think is very cool).
  3. Many people come to my blog here for info on Zaia, and they may also be interested in following Keith’s ezine “Cirque Fascination”. (Follow the article link).

As assistant bandleader for Zaia and in writing the string arrangements for the Hong Kong Symphony on the Zaia album – I’ve had the pleasure of working very closely with composer Corradi. Because of Violaine and Cirque’s influence, terms that are now part of my regular music vocabulary include “organic”, “cosmic”, “evoke”, “provoke”.

Thank you Keith for the wonderfully detailed article. Even being in the middle of all of it, I learned quite a bit from the article! And now for the Cirque music buffs – read and enjoy….

Continue reading “Violaine Corradi on the Music of Zaia” →

Space Odyssey: Clown’s first performance

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cdxpZHYc6I

A Soyuz spacecraft has brought Canadian circus tycoon and space tourist Guy Laliberte to the International Space Station.

The current ISS team welcomed the unusual passenger along with Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev and American astronaut Jeffrey Williams.
Laliberte says he is going to create a festive mood in orbit and amuse his crew mates – he even brought along red noses for them.

Britain’s Got Talent – Shaheen Jafargholi

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVU4IkzMNIo

12 year old Shaheen auditions for the judges on Britains Got Talent 2009 singing Whose Loving You by Michael Jackson.

There’s a great lesson in this video clip. There’s a tendency to think of artists as having a certain talent level – like someone has great talent or mediocre. It all depends on the application; artists that excel in one area may be weak in another.

So the secret lesson for artists is this: Identify your strengths and weaknesses and try to place yourself in the area you shine most. Of course, you can also choose to be in the one that is most satisfying rather than the one where the bulk of your talent lies.

Being a musician my entire life I’ve had the unfortunate experience of doing performances that were not to my optimum level. I imagine every trade has that same experience. But with artists the mindset is so important to garner the vision and drive needed to push each project to success.

Proper selection is paramount. Go to where you are drawn to, where life is sweet. It will give you unimaginable strength to reach for the next plateau. And there is always another plateau available if you desire it.  🙂

Happy 60th Birthday to the People’s Republic of China

china-60-anniversary

Conrad Askland, from Mount Vernon, WA USA, is currently living in Macau (SAR) China while working with the Cirque Du Soleil ZAIA show at the Venetian Macao. In Asia he has also performed in Shanghai, South Korea and Japan.

October 1, 2009 – 中国加油，中国万岁

Happy Sixty Year Anniversary to the People’s Republic of China!

It’s a four day holiday for the locals here in China. When locals have holidays it usually means that I work more; doing entertainment shows to accommodate the tourists.

China’s last 60 years has been bittersweet with a unified people exposed to both hard living and the largest economic boom in modern history. At the end of my blog post there’s a link to a great CNN article by Jaime FlorCruz that gives an overview of China’s 60 years as The People’s Republic of China.

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Guy LaLiberte Clowns Before Space Trip

guy-laliberte-092909

Canadian billionaire Quebec-born philanthropist Guy Laliberte, jokes as he puts on a clown nose as he speaks through the glass wall with his family and friends at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

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Stephen Sondheim on Writing for Musicals

stephen-sondheim-studio

“Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.”
– Stephen Sondheim

A dwarf can see farther than a giant if the dwarf stands on the giant’s shoulders. With that idea I turn to the mind of Stephen Sondheim for insights into creating new works for musical theater.

I also have the great gift that one of my current co-workers has worked with Sondheim and will purportedly give me more insight into his work habits and ideas.

Here are my favorite excerpts from the Stephen Sondheim interview posted at:
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/son0int-1

Continue reading “Stephen Sondheim on Writing for Musicals” →

Hong Kong Disneyland Halloween

hongkong-disneyland-halloween

Hong Kong Disneyland turns to a Halloween theme for the evenings of September 18-October 31, 2009. I’ll try to check it out and let you know if it compares to the Knott’s Berry Farm Halloween themes back in California.

Check out Disney’s previews at:
http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/html/Halloween/en_US/