"Musings" is a time of thoughtful inspiration and introspection built into the heart of the busy Academy schedule each day. All participants assemble to think about the role of the arts in education and in life.
At each Musings session, an individual who is significantly involved in the arts acts as a muse and leads the group in examining the richness and depth that the arts add to the lives of all people. Well-known Musers who have led these sessions include Broadway composers Charles Strouse (Annie) and Henry Krieger (Dreamgirls); concert pianist Lorin Hollander; lyricists Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), Dean Pitchford (Fame), and Joe DiPietro (Memphis); designer Patricia Zipprodt (My Fair Lady); authors Wilma Dykeman and Will D. Campbell; theatre critic John Simon; conductors Michael Stern, Isaiah Jackson, Giancarlo Guerrero and Robert Bernhardt; educator Graham Down; Emmy and Tony award-winning actress Cherry Jones; Shakespearean directors Adrian Hall and Tina Packer; Hollywood film composer George S. Clinton; Broadway director Scott Ellis (1776); poet Nikki Giovanni; stage combat director David Leong (Carousel); and many others.
Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel
Monday, July 9, 2012
After a distinguished thirty-six-year career in the military, Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel retired from the United States Air Force Band, Symphony Orchestra, and Singing Sergeants, in which he had served as commander and conductor. Following his retirement, he was named Conductor Emeritus of the United States Air Force Band, and the rehearsal hall and recording studio were named in his honor. He was awarded his third Legion of Merit for his service to the United States and to music education. As a conductor, Colonel Gabriel has appeared with bands and major orchestras in all fifty states, and in more than fifty countries abroad. He has also conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. His military career began in World War II when he served as a combat machine gunner in Europe with the United States Army’s famed 29th Infantry Division. For his service during the war, he received two Bronze Star medals, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the French Croix de Guerre. After his retirement from the military, Colonel Gabriel served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Harold Gregor
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Visual
artist Harold Gregor, who gained national recognition in the 1970s for
his photorealist paintings of farm structures and sweeping rural
horizons, is unique in the way he captures the vast expansiveness of the
Midwestern landscape. Along with his realist panoramas, Gregor is also
known for his colorful “flatscape” paintings that combine an aerial
perspective with distinctive color choices. In recent years he has begun
exploring color abstraction in his “trail paintings” and “vibrascapes.”
The rich, romanticized hues and lifelike colors of Gregor’s paintings
draw viewers into the unnoticed beauty of their everyday surroundings.
Among his many distinctions, he is the recipient of a 1993–1994 National
Endowment of the Arts grant and a NEA Midwest Fellowship. In 1993 he
was awarded the Illinois Academy of Fine Arts Lifetime Achievement
Award. His work is represented in important public and private
collections throughout the United States and Europe, and his painting
Illinois Landscape No. 120 hangs in the private dining room of the White
House’s Oval Office at the request of President Obama. Gregor is a
distinguished professor emeritus at Illinois State University, Normal,
Illinois.
Jay Russell
Wednesday, July 10, 2012
Hollywood filmmaker Jay Russell has an impressive track record of telling compelling stories that resonate emotionally with his audiences. He is best known for directing critically acclaimed, audience-pleasing films including My Dog Skip, Tuck Everlasting, Ladder 49, and The Water Horse. Russell got his start at Memphis State University, where he found his passion for music supplanted by another longtime passion—filmmaking. Russell continued his studies at Columbia University under the tutelage of Academy Award winning director Milos Forman. While a student, he was invited to attend the famed Sundance Institute Film Workshop to work alongside Academy Award winner Robert Redford. It was there that Russell began to develop what would become his first film, End of the Line (1988). Since that time, he has developed a number of projects for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, as well as Tri-Star Pictures. In the mid-1990s, Russell produced a number of documentary series and specials for NBC, CBS, PBS, The Learning Channel, and the Discovery Channel. Russell’s latest film project is Whole Lotta Sole, which will be released in 2012.
Richard Sherman
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Richard M. Sherman and his brother, Robert Sherman, were the foremost composer-lyricists in family entertainment. Throughout their legendary career, they wrote more film songs than any other team in cinematic history. For generations, the Shermans have created the soundtracks of everyone’s childhood, including the most translated and performed song on earth, “It’s a Small World (After All).” The brothers’ prolific career spanned six decades. Among their achievements are: two Academy Awards for the score of Walt Disney’s masterpiece Mary Poppins and the song “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” nine Oscar nominations (including “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”) three Grammy Awards, twenty-four gold and platinum albums, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, honorary doctorates from their alma mater, Bard College, and a National Medal of Arts, the highest honor an American-born artist can receive, which was awarded to them in 2008 at the White House. Robert Sherman passed away earlier this year. Richard continues composing every day. In 2010, a collection of his solo instrumentals was released on the Solid Air CD, Forgotten Dreams and one of his songs was featured in the blockbuster film Iron Man 2.
Mr. Sherman’s musing has been generously sponsored by Thane and Pat Smith.