Novemeber 13, 2024

Why go to a classical music concert?​

For the past nine years, I've also been doing ride-share driving.  It pays a few bills and creates others.  But mostly, it's a wonderful way to evangelize. I often play great orchestral music while I work.  When people aren't getting in the car with their phones blaring with hip-hop (I have nothing against pop music, except that it is the antithesis of this blog), they occasionally thank me for playing Bach, or Mozart or Beethoven, or Tschaikovsky, Wagner, Copeland, the list goes on.  Interestingly, no matter what I have playing, they always say the music is soothing.  I could have on Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique, and they would say, "O, I love your music, it's so relaxing."  I respond, "Well, in that case, you should go to beheadings more often!"  because that is part of the story Berlioz is depicting, but they don't know that.  What it does underline for me is that most people need more Peace in their lives.  They need more Grace and more relaxation.  When people hear orchestral music, they always call it "classical," even when it's not.  But it doesn't matter.  What they are saying is that all kinds of orchestral music help them to take a breath, take a break, and settle into their humanity, almost as if living a retreat.  And we should be on retreat every day, reflecting on the meaning of life.  that's what philosophers used to do, and we are all called to be philosophers or "lovers of wisdom"  because a life not reflected on is not worth living.  I suppose pop music has its place, and a lot of it I like!  But it doesn't call us to examine our lives.  Sacred music does that.  Chant does that.  The concerts LCP provides with great chamber music, and fine local musicians do that. That's why we exist, to help you know why you are alive.  Isn't that a good reason to attend a classical (romantic, baroque, 20th century, fill-in-the-blank) concert?  To know you are alive, and why?

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The Quiet before the Exhilarating

October 7, 2024

For the past week, I've been living quite alone.  My wife and son have gone off to a college visit in Kansas.  It's hard to believe that two people in Kansas could be less alone than one person in Huntington, Indiana, but it does happen.  People may wonder what conductors and artists do in their downtime.  They may find it shockingly normal, even drab.  I did my day job at night, as I always do.  Musicians have to make money, too.  What I did most this week was come face to face with my inability to dance with modern technology.  I tried, and I'm still trying, but it's not going well.  My mamba is a samba turning somber.  I just don't understand how all this works.  And with limited funds, calling on professionals at the drop of a hat only reveals how few mental chapeaus I own.  But this is where the exhilaration kicks in.

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About two weeks ago, a friend and longtime supporter of LCP got in touch with me.  He wanted to know if I would be willing to accept a sizable donation.  The largest donation I've ever received.  Unless he changes his mind, by October 26th, LCP will be experiencing a windfall of income the likes of which we have never seen.  Compared to other nonprofits, it's a trifle.  But compared to our history, it's a miracle.  I wish I could give details, but 1 ) he asked me not to, and 2 ) it hasn't happened yet.  But when I think of things to write about, this is the first thing that comes to mind.  I'm living in that moment which has often been depicted on stage and screen, and I want you to join me, partly in prayer that it takes place, and in my place so that I can share our hopes and possible joys.  It's the quiet before the exhilaration.  

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Like the song "Something's Coming," from West Side Story, or the stillness before a beloved friend comes to visit, or that measure rest in Beethoven's Third Symphony after the crashing dissonant chords (well, that's more like the quiet after  the exhilaration), this is the moment that we are in.   I say "we" because if you enjoy our concerts, the fulfillment of this silence will mean more musical joy for you as well.  And maybe a facelift for our webpage, and a few other facets of our operation.  I wish I could share more, but you'll just have to hold your breath as the roller coaster of artistic life slowly creeps to the crest of the scariest hill you ever climbed...

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​The Indiana Arts Commission invests in Lincoln Chamber Productions to strengthen Fort Wayne and Huntington through arts and creativity.

 

Fort Wayne and Huntington, Today, the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) announced it has awarded $4000 to Lincoln Chamber Productions through the Arts Organization Support grant program.  

 

During its June 14 Quarterly Business Meeting, the Commission approved funding recommendations for the Arts Project Support and Arts Organization Support grant programs. Between the two grant programs, 338 organizations in 77 Indiana counties are receiving funding.

 

 “All across Indiana we have seen the positive impact that investing in arts and creativity has on quality of life,” said Anne Penny Valentine, Chair of the Indiana Arts Commission. “Each of the projects and organizations selected to receive funding are doing exceptional creative work in and for Hoosier communities. The Commission is excited and honored to support the work these organizations are doing to engage the public, develop their communities and encourage creativity across our state.” 

 

Timothy Woods, Director of LCP, states "We are very happy with this award.  We will use the funds to keep giving Fort Wayne and Huntington excellent chamber music at historic locations.  These funds will allow us to keep moving forward.  I want to give special thanks to Lorissa Sweet, Andy Zay, David Abbott, Christopher Judy, Travis Holdman, Kyle Miller and so many of our Indiana legislators who understand the importance of the arts in our lives."

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“Art and creativity foster connection and cohesion, support the entrepreneurial spirit communities need to thrive, and help build the kinds of communities where people want to live, work, play, study, and stay,” said Miah Michaelsen, Executive Director of the Indiana Arts Commission. “In every corner of the Hoosier state, public funding for arts and creativity continually proves to be a high-return investment that positively impacts the cultural, economic, and educational climate of Indiana. It is a privilege to support the organizations building stronger Indiana communities through arts and creativity.”  

 

Funding for the Indiana Arts Commission and its programs is provided by the Indiana General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

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OUR FIRST BLOG

Welcome to our first blog, ever!  It's Friday July 5, 2024.  I'm sitting at the LCP desk, and I want to tell you about Leisure.  If I mention the name Josef Pieper, some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about.  He wrote a wonderful book entitled Leisure-The Basis of Culture. On the cover of the book, we have this quote:

 

"Leisure is an attitude of mind and a condition of the soul that fosters a capacity to perceive the reality of the world. With a series of philosophic, religious, and historical examples, Pieper shows that the Greeks understood and valued leisure, as did the medieval Europeans. He points out that religion can be born only in leisure -- a leisure that allows time for the contemplation of the nature of God. Leisure has been, and always will be, the first foundation of any culture."

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I'm not here to establish a new religion.  I think we have enough of them, at least enough to choose from.  I bring this up because I want the concerts of LCP to be a participation in this Leisure.  But first, a little more on Pieper.

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Taken from Wikipedia:

"Josef Pieper (German: [ˈpiːpɐ]; 4 May 1904 – 6 November 1997)[1] was a German philosopher and an important figure in the resurgence of interest in the thought of Thomas Aquinas in early-to-mid 20th-century philosophy. Among his most notable works are The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance; Leisure, the Basis of Culture; and Guide to Thomas Aquinas.

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Pieper studied philosophy, law and sociology at the universities of Berlin and Münster. After working as a sociologist and freelance writer, he became ordinary professor of philosophical anthropology at the University of Münster, and taught there from 1950 to 1976. As professor emeritus, he continued to provide lectures until 1996.[2] With his wife Hildegard, he translated C.S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain into German (Über den Schmerz, 1954) with an afterword, "On Simplicity of Language in Philosophy". A symposium to celebrate his 90th birthday was held in Münster in May 1994, with the papers read there published as Aufklärung durch Tradition ("Enlightenment through Tradition") in 1995. In 2010, a symposium was held in Paderborn on "Josef Pieper's and C. S. Lewis's View of Man", with papers published in Wahrheit und Selbstüberschreitung("Truth and Self-Transcendence").[3]

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His views are rooted primarily in the Scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas and in the teachings of Plato. In 60 years of creative work as a philosopher and writer, Pieper explicated the wisdom tradition of the West in clear language, and identified its enduring relevance."

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Most strikingly, the quote from the cover of Leisure is as follows:

"Josef Pieper further maintains that, in our bourgeois Western world, total labor has vanquished leisure.  This book issues a startling warning:  Unless we regain the art of silence and insight, the ability for nonactivity, unless we substitute true leisure for our hectic amusements, we will destroy our culture--and ourselves."

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As is often said, you have to read the book!  When I read it, back in the late 1990s, it completely changed my view of what I should be doing with my free time, and why.  It also changed my understanding of why we work.  As Karol Wojtyła would later write, the dignity of manual labor lies not just in what that labor accomplishes, but also in the life it provides, a life with time for reflection and deep understanding.  The value of work, and hence Leisure, is found not in what that work produces, but in the dignity of the human person.

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One can go to any kind of concert, be amused by the music and say "that was nice" and be done with it.  Or one can go to a concert, learn about the history of the composer and his/her times, the reasons why he/she wrote the music, the context from which the art emerged, and then imbue one's own life with these insights in order to enrich the Soul.  It's not just a matter of "taking time out" to enjoy the wonders of life.  What Pieper thinks we need to do is make wonder the foundation of our lives.  Work is only a part of that life.  Wonder and thankfulness are the heart of that life.  I hope coming to an LCP concert is like that for you!

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For tickets, go to:  https://www.newlcp.com/category/all-products

 

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