BRIARCRIER
October 4, 2013 – Friday 12:15, The Maya Riviera Restaurant, Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club.
TODAY IN HISTORY
1863: President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day.
MEETING LEADER – President Anne Cargill
PLEDGE – Anne Cargill PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter PRAYER - Rev. Lee Carrozzi
HAPPY THOUGHTS AND BUCKS: Dr. Bob Maher, Magic Masters to perform as scheduled; Rachel has new idea for club.
GUESTS: Patrick Hermance, guest of Anne; visiting Rotarian Tom McConnon.
ROTARIANS PRESENT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS - 17 Rotarians present. Board Meeting will be at Atria noon on Friday October 11. Thursday, October 10 the club will meet with the Pleasantville Club at the Riviera Restaurant in Pleasantville at 12:15.
The current members will have the opportunity to vote in writing to select one of the slate of Foundation candidates presented by the two pending competing motions. The vote will be held on Friday, October 18th at our regularly scheduled Rotary meeting as long as there will be a quorum present of 10 or more current members. Both proxy and absentee-voting are allowed.
Speaker: Lynn Yen on Revival of Classic Music in Schools.
Summary of Talk
The Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture came about in parallel with the growing concern expressed by many mental health professionals, journalists and parents regarding the moral and intellectual decline of our society—especially among our young. Simply put, it seemed to many that the "cultural violence", whether in music, internet games, or the media more generally, was at least a partial source of the problem, and required an antidote. So, we asked a simple question. "What are the social and cultural practices that might reverse or at least help alleviate such a trend?" In answer to this, we believe that the music of great creative geniuses such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, among many others, is one of the most natural and time proven means for the moral and intellectual development of young minds.
Over the past 24 months, we've held 5 classical music concerts in marquee venues including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, involving students from about 125 New York City public schools. We've also sponsored a fledgling choral program based in two public schools as an after-school activity. We’ve challenged prevailing misconceptions about the "lack of interest" on the part of today’s young people in Classical music and culture, demonstrating that they are quite interested and open to engagement with these great ideas. We've organized “impossible” concerts, most notably our May 13th 2012, "Mother’s Day" Sunday Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium concert, attended by a total of 2300 people, over 1700 of them parents, students and teachers from over 70 public schools in all five boroughs. All came on their own, in families of 5, 7, and even10 members, from babies in their mothers' arms to grandmothers in wheel chairs. Our most recent 2013 summer “Mostly Mozart” music/science pilot program in a mere 2 ½ weeks literally transformed the dozen high school students that attended into young adults, who became, through their musical studies, both cognizant and confident of their untapped potential for developing their minds and their society.
We will have an upcoming event on November 24th, 2013 on the 50thanniversary of President Kennedy’s death—titled “JFK 50 Plus—Passing the Torch”—to celebrate Kennedy's cultural optimism and advancements in the sciences and arts, and to introduce a new generation of young people to a president who truly inspired greatness in the American people. We intend that at least 1500 young people from all over the New York area be sponsored to take up the torch to once again, "do the impossible"—to concentrate the best of their energies and efforts to make this country great once again.
This Thursday speaker: Will be provided by Pleasantville Rotary.
This Thursday, October 10, 12:15 at Riviera Restaurant in Pleasantville. NO MEETING FRIDAY.
Elinor Yuter, Reporter
Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter
