Tag: public library

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(VIDEO) 2021 Program: Music by Kalnas Ensemble

New Compositions Inspired by Lithuanian Folk Music

Our 2021 program is enhanced by the inclusion of performances by  accomplished musicians and composers. These performances are included during interludes between sessions, and are also available to view at any time in our PUBLIC LIBRARY.

We are pleased to be able to present new works performed by the Kalnas Ensemble. The Ensemble, which began performing right before the pandemic shutdowns, has happily recovered from that hiatus to be able to record recent concerts. The Ensemble is a string quartet focusing on Lithuanian musical roots, exploring compositions of Stanley Chepaitis with improvisatory overtones, as well as performing standard quartet repertoire. The ensemble is a diverse group of multi-talented individuals with a commitment to engaging audiences with a dynamic approach to live performance. In addition their wide spectrum of knowledge and interests allows them offer workshops and other interactive presentations that enhance the meaning and experience of the music they perform.

The Kalnas Ensemble, 2021

Dr. Chepaitis has provided these original folksongs that inspired his compositions:

 

The Kalnas Ensemble is:

Dr. Stanley Chepaitis, founder, composer, and Violinist, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree and a Master of Music, as well as a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. He is a versatile performing and recording artist who is at home in a classical string quartet, a jazz band, and anything in between.  His career spans fifty years in which time he has performed nationally and internationally, composed and premiered his own works, and recorded seven CD’s mostly of original music. Dr. Chepaitis has been at the forefront of the Alternative Styles Movement having had a leading role in ASTA Alternative Styles Conferences.

Swana Chepaitis, Violinist,  received a diploma in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen Germany. She studied with Maria Grevesmühl and Baroque violin specialist Christoph Heidemann. She has been a member of L’arco (a professional Baroque orchestra based in Hanover, Germany), the Litton String Quartet. Mrs. Chepaitis currently performs with the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, does freelance performance as a baroque violinist in the Pittsburgh area, and maintains a studio of 20+ violin students in Indiana, PA.

Simon Maurer, Violin, Baroque Violin, Viola ,studied violin at the Conservatory in Biel, and continued his studies in the U.S. with Geoffrey Michaels, Joyce Robbins and Claire Hodkins. He is the founder and artistic director of Sunday Sinfonia, a String Orchestra of enthusiastic amateur string players, based in Lancaster, Pa. Mr. Maurer is the artistic director of the Gabriel Chamber Ensemble, a group that takes pride in bringing classical music to underserved areas. In 2010 the Gabriel Chamber Ensemble took over the leadership of the Schuyllkill Youth Orchestra, newly renamed Gabriel Youth Orchestra. Mr. Maurer also ventures in the practice of jazz and freestyle improvisation. He has been a featured soloist in Philadelphia area jazz clubs, has performed at  “Jazzfest” in Schuylkill County and Reading Pa.

Nancy Baun, Cellist,  has performed over 1,000 events throughout the United States, including three appearances at Carnegie’s Weil Hall, as well as in Switzerland, France, Italy, Iceland, and Canada. She appears on nine piano trio recordings, including a series on the Naxos International label “Home for the Holidays”, a favorite of Public Radio audiences. Her favorite highlights also include judging the semifinals of the renowned Koussevitzky Competition in New York City, and performing in a World Music Institute event at Merkin Concert Hall.  She has been an elementary music teacher for over 10 years in urban Buffalo, where she designed curriculum for her passion, “collaborative connections with music”. She has received a national Young Audiences grant for her education workshops integrating music with drawing. She currently presents S. T. E. A. M. training to elementary teachers, as well as using music to teach life skills to formerly incarcerated.

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(VIDEO) 2021 Program: Music by Ruth Barrett

Songs in Honor of Goddesses and Amazons by Ruth Barrett

Our 2021 program is enhanced by the inclusion of performances by a variety of  accomplished musicians and composers with connections to the work of Marija Gimbutas. These performances are included during interludes between sessions, and are also available to view at any time in our PUBLIC LIBRARY.

A foremother of feminist spirituality in the US, Ruth is the author of Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries, and has contributed to several other anthologies celebrating goddess spirituality. Ruth, who calls herself a “musician/priestess,” is also a songwriter and is internationally known as a mountain dulcimer recording artist and singer.

Ruth is best known for works that focus on magically themed traditional folk songs inspired by folklore, goddess mythology, celebration of women, and the spirituality innate in the natural world. Her most recent album, Once And Future Amazons (2020), incorporates African, Middle Eastern and Celtic folk rhythms in a “powerful celebration of women’s embodied mysteries, ancient sovereign goddesses, and the seasonal cycle of Mother Nature.” Learn more about Ruth at Dancing Tree.

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(VIDEO) 2021 Program: Lithuanian Performers Celebrate with Us

Performances of Dance, Opera, and Contemporary Song

Our 2021 program is enhanced by the inclusion of performances by  accomplished musicians and composers. We especially want to highlight samples of Lithuanian traditional culture and contemporary performance, of which Marija Gimbutas was justifiably proud. These performances are included during interludes between sessions, and are also available to view at any time in our PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Our dancers are from the renowned Lithuanian Folk Dance group “Suktinis.” The director of the group is Giedrė Knieža. The group is the most popular Lithuanian folk dance group in United States, having participated in Chicago’s Thanksgiving Day parade live stage performance twice. Suktinis dancers have been representing Lithuanian culture at Science and Industry Museum events (Chicago, IL) for the last 15 years, among many other performances. We offer you their performance of “Malūnas” (windmill). It was performed at Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival XV in Baltimore.

Giedrė says of this dance, “It is amazing how all the folk dance groups come to the festival and make such a beautiful event in only two days of practice. This time there were around eight hundred dancers performing this dance. “Malūnas” symbolizes change of seasons and never-ending work in the fields in order to get bread on your family’s table. Times were hard for Lithuanians, but they found ways to enjoy and celebrate life with the help of songs and dances.”

Nida Grigalaviciute

We are pleased to include songs from internationally known Lithuanian soloist Nida Grigalaviciute, who currently resides in Chicago. Nida has performed in opera houses across Europe, Israel, and the United States. The songs are from the musical “Šnekučiai.” The first song “Tūkstančiai darbelių” tells how women have lots of jobs around the house since early morning. Women in Lithuania have been singing while working in fields, cooking, working around the house, singing with kids and for kids, as well as wedding celebrations, and so forth. The second song is called “Jau seniai šviesele” – a mother wakes up her kids since the sun has been up for quite some while. Women in Lithuania used to get up with the sun, with the songs of the birds. And again, they would wake up really early since there was always lots of work around the house and in the fields. 

 

Agne G

Agne G is a nineteen-year-old award-winning classical artist who has won multiple international performance awards, performed across the United States and Europe, appeared on television, and graced the stage of Carnegie Hall. Agne has won multiple performance awards including “The Baltic Voice” – Lithuania, “Music for Kids” – Romania, as well as “American Protégé” international competition. She has recorded 3 albums to date. Her 2018 release of “A Merry Christmas from the Heart,” produced and arranged by Kc Daugirdas, earned her the Indie Music Channel’s Awards for “Best Teen Artist” and the “Best New Teen Artist of the Year.”

Our thanks to the Lithuanian Foundation for support and to their Director of Cultural Affairs, Giedrė Knieža, for sharing these performances with us for our Symposium.

Registration for this event is now closed. 

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2025 Keynote: “On Holy Ground”

“On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Land”
With Yeye Luisah Teish and Kahuna Leilani Birely
ASWM Conference ~ March 27-29, 2025

 

The Black Oshun by Luisah Teish

Join us for a discussion regarding Land, Sacred Sites, and our Responsibility to Land and Life. In this presentation the audience is invited to experience the magic inherent in the mythology of Hawaiian and African diasporic culture. We will discuss the Oath to Mother Earth and how we can become more respectful and devoted to the land and Her people. Here, the audience will meet such figures as Yemaya, the Goddess of the Sea, and Earth Mother Papa-Haumea. They are among the many spirits that inhabit the Natural world. Kahuna Leilani and Yeye Teish will share the stories of their childhoods, families, and communities and demonstrate how myths and storytelling shaped their character and guided their lives.

The history of the colonial period, which sought to demonize, exoticize, and disempower these cultures is examined briefly. We will share the concept of Conquistadors on Tour and how not to continue the devastation of colonialism through modern day travel. We will learn how the myths and stories inspired resilience in the people.

 We will also honor the ancestors whose dedication and persistence preserved the myths and enabled us to inherit their wisdom. We will share guidelines for reclaiming the primal messages in the myths, reinterpreting their meaning, and applying them to today’s Concerns. Both Yeye Teish and Kahuna Leilani grew up within spiritual cultures that survived centuries of oppression while maintaining reverence for and centering the sacredness of Land within  their cosmology and rituals. They will share their wisdom around healing our relationship to Sacred Land and each other in these times of ecological crisis and the clear  manifestation and impact of the disregard for Earth, her gifts, and her children.

Yeye Luisah Teish

Chief Iyanifa Fajembola Fatunmise also known as Yeye Luisah Teish is a writer, performance artist and Yoruba priestess. An American author of African and African-diaspora spiritual cultures, also is an affluent ritualist, keynote speaker, and spiritual advisor on a global scale. Primarily known for Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, a women’s spirituality classic that has been translated into German, Spanish, and Dutch. She has co-authored has co-authored On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Lands with Leilani Birely. She has contributed to 40 anthologies, and her essays, artwork and poetry appear in such publications as Essence, Ms, and Coreopsis: Journal of Myth and Theater. As an Oshun priestess (Yoruba Goddess of Love and Sensuality), Yeye continues to officiate over spiritual retreats, rituals, and workshops that span over forty years since her introduction into the Ifa spiritual practice.  Teish has said, “My tradition is very celebratory – there’s always music, dance, song, and food in our services – as well as a sense of reverence for the children. It’s joyful as well as meditative.”

Kahuna Leilani Birely

Leilani Birely is a Native Hawaiian Kahuna and Dianic High Priestess who brings ancient Hawaiian healing and Goddess wisdom to the community. Kahuna Leilani brings forth teachings of the Aloha Spirit through Hula, Ceremony, Performance, Writing and Ritual. She is the founder/ritual director of Daughters of the Goddess Women’s Temple in the San Francisco Bay Area an international community of women dedicated to She of 10,000 names and Multicultural Women’s Mysteries. She has her Master’s in Women’s Spirituality from New College of San Francisco.  She has lectured at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Dominican University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. Leilani has co-authored the book, On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Lands with Luisah Teish. She is included in anthologies Shades of Faith: Minority Voices in Paganism and Stepping into Ourselves: An Anthology of Writings on Priestesses.

 Leilani gives thanks and honor to her teachers: Yeye Luisah Teish, Iyanifa Yoruban Chiefess and author of Jambalaya; Kahuna Auntie Pahia; Vicki Noble, author and co-creator of the Motherpeace Tarot; and Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakane and Mahea Uchiyama, and Uncle Butch of Ka’ala Farms, O’ahu.

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2023 Film: “Give Light: Stories from Indigenous Midwives”

ASWM Conference May 5-6, Syracuse NY

2023 ASWM Schedule

Registration Links and Conference information here

Film Screening Friday May 5 at 7:30 PM, Crowne Plaza Conference Center


Give Light (directed by Steph Smith):  Indigenous midwives from five continents relate their life stories and discuss the joys and challenges of their profession, interwoven with testimony from medical anthropologists, historians and Western midwives and doulas. These midwives describe the 800 BC history of water births and other sacred practices that support childbirth. The film also looks at the state of childbirth around the world and explores these fundamental questions: Are Indigenous midwifery traditions dying out due to the persuasions of modern medical treatments? Could a revival of midwifery actually offer better birth outcomes and more meaningful rites of passage in many parts of the world? The film crosses ethnic and national barriers to tell a universal story on how the midwife upholds women’s ability to “GIVE LIGHT,” in water.

New Orleans midwives discuss their experiences in “Give Light”

“In the face of the widespread medicalization of birth, Give Light documents the knowledge and practices of indigenous midwives across the globe. Featuring interviews with birth workers in North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa, the film provides a rarely seen window into how these midwives carry their profession forward, in some cases against great institutional pressures. Give Light also includes data and scholarly research illustrating the validity and effectiveness of traditional midwifery. As such, it makes for an extremely effective and engaging text for educating about the history of midwifery, the medicalization of birth, and alternative birthing possibilities.” – Clare Daniel, PhD, author of Mediating Morality: The Politics of Teen Pregnancy in the Post-Welfare Era

Filmmaker Steph Smith

Steph Smith, filmmaker based in New Orleans, works as an independent director, cinematographer, and editor.   In October 2020, Steph was accepted into the Sundance Co//ab with the emphasis on GIVE LIGHT.  Her work has been invited to screen in Spain, France, Greece, Mexico, Sweden, England, Greece, South Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique, Portugal, Philippines, and USA. The Art Council of New Orleans commissioned her to produce a film for their community arts awards.  Since 2015, her film work has been exhibited: at the Female Filmmakers Festival, Birth Justice Film Fest, Women’s Center for Healing: Women in the World’s Cultures, and at the NOLA Feminist Short Film Festival at Loyola University, and more. Steph also teaches Kundalini Yoga, and has brought yoga to youth in a local detention center.

We welcome non-attendees to join us for this film screening and conversation with filmmaker Steph Smith, Miigam’agan and others. Purchase ticket here.