In the summer of 2019, New York Harbor Channel traveled through the Norwegian Fjords on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendam. The on-board chamber music ensemble was so inspirational, we highlighted the experience here in this article. Craig Laurie, Vice President of Artistic Directions at RWS Entertainment Group, offers insight into his creation with Lincoln Center Stage. In addition, the musicians of the 2019 Nieuw Statendam voyage to the Midnight Sun lend their words and music.

The on-board chamber music ensemble was so inspirational, we highlighted the experience here in this article. Craig Laurie, the Vice President of Artistic Directions at RWS Entertainment Group, offers insight into his creation of the Lincoln Center Stage.  In addition, the musicians of the 2019 Nieuw Statendam voyage to the Midnight Sun lend their words and music to our piece.

RWS Entertainment currently maintains eleven quintets for Holland America. The Lincoln Center Stage family  has expressed their desire to spread the language of chamber music to an ever expanding audience that includes young adults.  There is a growing community of music students who are increasingly interested in promoting the art of chamber music.  The LCS musicians are the new global ambassadors.

What’s To Come In The Near Future

This Fall, Holland America ships will be making New York Harbor their port of call. Passengers will arrive blocks away from Lincoln Center and have the opportunity to experience LCS chamber music where the ensembles originated.  It’s a unique experience blending the sounds of music molded here in New York and carry it out to sea.

NYHC will follow the LCS ensembles of the Zaiderdam and the Zaandam as they voyage around the world. We are pleased to greet them as they port at Pier 66 in NY on September 7th and September 22nd.  NYHC will be on hand before the ensembles create the soundtrack to accompany the Canadian foliage of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

For more Lincoln Center Stage Chamber Ensemble and Craig Laurie’s Extended Interview:

For a few selections of the on-board compositions, click here.

For the full NYHC audio interview with Craig Laurie Vice President of Artistic Direction of RWS Entertainment Group check below!

COMING SOON: Podcast with student musicians in the New York City school programs who will have special access to the LCS community.

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With 2020 Fashion Week quickly approaching, curiosity begins to set in with one looming question; what themes will inspire the designers this year as they create their collections? In the past, we’ve seen many ocean inspired runway looks with Alexander McQueens 2012 Sea Creatures theme collection, Tommy Hilfiger’s Spring/Summer 2016 Beach theme, Chanel’s 2019 Spring beach runway for Paris’ Fashion Week, and who could forget Valentino’s 2010 Deep Sea Fall/Winter themed collection. 

Time and time again, we have seen fashion designers have a fascination with the beauty of ocean and marine life. Designers all across the world use it as an inspiration and creativity as they incorporate it into their creations. Chanel, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Emilio Pucci, Versace and Felicity Brown are amongst the many who have had ocean inspired runway looks. All using an array of vivid colors, textures and material that creates the illusion of coral reefs, different species of fish, ocean waves, sea shells, starfish and other forms of marine life.

Fashion inspired by marine life has long hit the mainstream  market, we see countless designs of sea creatures, seashells or coral colors on all kinds of clothing, including accessories too! In recent years a post by a Tumblr blogger, that goes under the name “Bowiebrachia”  went viral, in which he compared music icon, David Bowie to different colored sea slugs. We can’t deny that Bowie’s clothing, which featured a range of vibrant colors, does in fact show an uncanny resemblance to sea slugs. His choice in color combos and patterns show a striking resemblance when the pictures are put side by side

In previous years, countless designers such as Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger and Chanel have incorporated animal skins and fur in their designs. The growing trend to protect animals is rising, in which all 3 companies have decided to drop fur from their lines. More and more companies are opting to ban animal fur. Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Hugo Boss are amongst the many who have since stopped the use of real fur. Chanel decided to take it a step further and go full vegan in 2018, banning not only animal fur but animal skin (etc. snake, alligator) as well. This has not slowed down Fashion week in any way; in fact this growing awareness has opened a whole new world for Fashion Week. One in which, in February of 2019, we were introduced to our first all Vegan Fashion Week based in LA. 

Not only are more fashion companies going furless and/or complete vegan, there are others who recycle ocean plastics to make clothes.  As plastic pollution expeditiously grows, this trend is becoming more popular. New York based Fair Harbor recycles plastic bottles, in which, after thorough cleaning they melt down into filaments transformed into polyester, creating board shorts and swimwear. Even Karun, an eyewear company, uses recycled fish nets and plastic bottles to produce their sunglasses. Along with Parley for the Oceans who has paired up with Adidas to produce sneakers made out of fishing nets and plastic bottles.

Will we see more sea creature/habitat collections this 2020 for Fashion Week? We will  just have to wait and sea!

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We thank the Students and Faculty of the New York Harbor School, P.S. #102, and I.S. #30,

Ahmir Ojelade and his family from Sandy Ground Historical Society,

Anne Waldman,

Tony Magistrale,

No Land,

and Gerard Gioia.

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Others will watch the run of the flood-tide;

Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east;

Others will see the islands large and small;

Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high;

A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence,

others will see them, Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring in of the flood-tide,

the falling back to the sea of the ebb-tide.

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Please watch and enjoy our film, ‘The Rebirth and Rejuvenation of New York Harbor’.  We will be Live-streaming the event for those who will not be able to attend.

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This year, the winds blowing from the Verrazano Narrows filled the air with a misty layer of political voices coming from competing party camps.  Marty Golden, Andrew Gounardes, Max Rose, and Dan Donovan were all well represented by supporters, colorful fliers, and abundant handshakes.  Remind you, Election Day was a little more than two weeks away.

Every block had a musical artist singing popular songs of distant generations.  But it was the lyrics of protest songs of the 60’s sung by solo acoustic guitarists that prominently took center stage.  Politics and music were making definitive statements.  You couldn’t help but notice winds of change blowing down Third Avenue.

Kudos go out to Chip Cafiero, the veteran organizer of the Festival who not only populated the streets with the steadfast local merchants, but recruited non-profit organizations and New York City agencies to engage the crowd.

Regardless of who wins the election, Brooklynites will always enjoy their diverse selection of spanikopita, hummus, congee, soda bread, borscht, burritos, bagels, vegan dishes and pizza.  Ethnicities, customs, and culture define Third Avenue as they seemlessly merge and mingle into one happy community that welcomes all.  Brooklyn does welcome all.

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PIER 17  9-30-2018

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“On The Waterfront” is a dark tale with moments of personal perplexities.  Kazan’s star, Marlon Brando, portrays a longshoreman, named Terry Malloy, whose colorful past as a young boxer must suddenly deal with the black and white reality of the dockworker’s union.  The film bleeds for the harbor community of the 1950’s.  Terry proclaims, “I could’a been a contender!”, the most famous line of the movie.

Bernstein’s architecture makes the score a great symphony.  Credited as one of the session pianists, Bernstein recorded it at Columbia Pictures scoring stage in New York.  Four elements drive the symphonic poem.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwvsV5cAks   FULL SCORE

Terry’s main theme is immediately introduced at the opening.  One lone French horn without accompaniment. Then, powerful full strings.   Next, the Violence Theme is full of African drumbeats of heavy tympani and  snare drums.  The staccato attack steadily supports the harshness and a dirty alto sax delivers Terry’s brother to the audience.

The Love Theme is identified by a heavenly solo trumpet, crying out alone while gentler strings reinforce Eva Marie Saint’s tenderness.  The French horn and flute flair Terry’s dilemma, proclaimed repeatedly through the score.

A fourth theme emerges.  Bernstein uses the full orchestra in the climax.  The relationship between the brothers is  reinforced by the score. Terry is faced at gunpoint as one brother turns on the other.  Terry’s melody re-emerges here during the final fight scene.

Hoboken, New Jersey is ground zero with supporting settings along the New York harbor.  The busy commercial port doesn’t silently co-star.   The underbelly of a vibrant but corrupt sea-going industry of the 1950’s is front and center.  The harsh temperament of the longshoremen remains until rope-hoists give way to systematic container loading by automated hydraulic cranes.

Bernstein, no stranger to working class heroes, subsequently started composing ‘West Side Story’ just a few years later.  If you know the story, the gang-members of the Sharks and the Jets continued the dramatic spotlight on the DNA make-up of New York City ethnicity.  ‘West Side Story’ won an Oscar in 1961.

This season, Bernstein’s centennial celebration was acknowledged by conductors around the world.  Tanglewood Performing Arts Center in the Berkshires of Massachussets has always been home to the Boston Philharmonic.  Naturally the program was all Bernstein!  It was here he was a student and it was here that he gave his last public performance in 1990.  The public first heard Bernstein’s live score at Tanglewood on August 11th, 1955.  Rarely was it heard again.

One way to enjoy the score of “On The Waterfront” is to take any of the ferries that stop along the harbor and take a half hour to play the score in your headphones.  The City of Bayonne has just awarded the ferry service to SeaStreak, LLC. and the new direct service is set to begin in the Spring of 2019.

You may want to take advantage of the many tour services that include the sites of movie locations.  Kazan and Brando, pictured here on the docks of Hoboken, New Jersey, first worked together on ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ on Broadway in 1948.  Bayonne is also the boyhood home of Frank Sinatra.

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Gabriel’s Musical Impression Upon Seeing the Statue Of Liberty

My Chinese name is Deng Shengke.  My English name is Gabriel, and I am in JXUT High School in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China. I have been studying English for 9 years and I’m 13 now. Our group of fifty classmates had a guided tour of America this summer vacation. We had fun in America.

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