Music and More: Sara Penny Blog

  Audition Opportunities and Strategies (column for Iron County Today) By Sara Penny, CCAC Vice President  Auditions are tricky events. Sometimes everything clicks and you remember all the lines or music notes. Other times your nerves interfere and accuracy is compromised.  The Orchestra of Southern Utah holds auditions in July for new members and returning strings. The audition excerpts are on the website,  myosu.org , under the Musician tab. We try to create a musical family and welcome back those who have had to take a break.  There is also an opportunity to solo with the orchestra for ages 13 to 25. Video auditions are due in September, so the summer is a good time to polish a concerto or aria. Same website for application and more information.  The concerto concert honors R. L. Halversen. He taught many of us in Cedar City. He was instrumental in building the community strings as well as helping start Cedar City Music Arts.  I started lessons in e...

  Dance  Enhances Cedar City by Sara Penny, CCAC Vice President Dancing  traditions in Cedar have evolved to eight community studios plus school and university programs. The Paiutes celebrate spring with the Bear  Dance , that has deep historical roots.  The annual Pow Wow celebrates the restoration of tribal status. The amazing colors of the regalia and the sounds of the drum circles are powerful.    Pioneers danced with fiddlers and later local bands. As children, we learned square  dancing  in school, but I don’t know if that is still happening. The Rubik’s Cube Youth Square  Dancers  participate in local parades and community events.  Today’s  dancers  use recorded music, although occasionally a live pianist or other musicians are incorporated. Why does this community have so many  dance  options? Several influential teachers created an atmosphere of collaboration and taught a variety of styles. Whe...

  Summer Art Projects by Sara Penny, CCAC Vice President Summer is a great time to deal with the reality of the stages of life:  Acquisition, Maintenance  and  Dispersal .  On the  Acquisition front, we hope you are creating art. Whatever your medium, we like to encourage your art. Research consistently shows that making music, dancing, painting, and going to museums can enhance your brain and contribute to your longevity. Museums are neutral places for observation and contemplation which can help relieve anxiety and offer fresh insights. There are new exhibits at the Southern Utah Museum of Art, the city offices, and the library. Local galleries have continual changes in their displays as well. Encourage the students in your life to create their entries for our Art and Photography Contest in conjunction with the Cedar Livestock and Heritage Festival. This year,  twelve selected pieces will be exhibited at the Cedar City Library, and cash prizes will a...

  Theater Skills Pay Off in Life By Sara Penny, CCAC Vice President (column for Iron County Today) Projection and articulation are valuable skills that I learned by being in Cedar High School plays. When you are in a play you have to memorize lines and be confident on stage. We certainly had to learn to be flexible and adapt quickly because “stuff happens” in a play. Sometimes there is more drama in the drama than the audience can see. One of the most interesting experiences of being in a play is trying to get inside a character’s head to portray their story. This teaches empathy. We could use more empathy in the world, as we try to understand each other. It takes a certain amount of confidence to get onstage in front of an audience and this pays off for business meetings and parenting later in life. As a high school teacher in Texas I quickly realized that waffling on decisions did not work well with teenagers. Nuance is nice, but a direct authoritative answer gets attention and a...

  Creativity Activated  by Sara Penny, CCAC Vice President "Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow," is a famous quote by Henry David Thoreau. It is often helpful to take a walk to unlock new ideas and to solve creative challenges. Physical movement helps unlock the flow of ideas by activating the part of the brain where thoughts get organized. Sometimes you just need a break to prepare the mind for performances. It is recommended to take a walk as preparation for a concert. One of our past orchestra conductors, Gerard Yun, recommended a banana if you need to calm down, or a piece of chocolate if you need a spark of energy.  April is a particularly demanding month for the arts community.  Students in the schools and at the University are performing in plays, dancing, and concerts. Many are participating in regional and state competitions. The students have worked all year and now is the culmination of their efforts. School calendars...

Believe Recast as Be-Live by Sara Penny, CCAC Vice President “Believe! Be live! What a word!” exclaimed Amy Krouse Rosenthal in the  Anthropocene Reviewed . This collection of essays by John Green uncovers fascinating insights into everything from lawns to the Monopoly game. He rethinks the commonplace world with new perspectives. My grandson and daughter got me the book and I can recommend it as interesting with a healthy dose of humor. Each essay is self-contained so you can choose the ones of interest, when you can find a few minutes to read.  One chapter credits the Council on Books in Wartime as a crucial use of books to bolster morale during World War II. In 1942 the Council sent thousands of pocketsize paperbacks to U.S. soldiers because "Books are weapons in the war of ideas." For example, Betty Smith's  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn  and the F. Scott Fitzgerald's  Great Gatsy  were among the selections. A soldier reported that the books were "as popular...