TODAY IN AMERICA - ConceptualMotion Orchestra - The Baha'i Center

MUSIC, THE HEALING BALM...

In two days, the country will be going in some other direction. Whether it will be up or down remains to be seen. So far it is not looking too good. Let's face it, the election was a horror, the likes of which we've never witnessed before in this country. And everything Trump does or has done, has been unprecedented and not in a good way.

It is not news that President Elect Trump has historically unfavorable ratings going in. It is also not news that he earned those ratings. There is much trepidation by a vast majority of Americans, myself included, regarding the next four years.  So many elected officials, I believe it is over 60 that are boycotting the Inauguration and just about everyone in the entertainment world with any self respect or honor has turned down a request to perform. That is sending a clear message that we the people are disgusted with not only how he ran his campaign, but also how he has chosen his Cabinet--the first time in decades there hasn't been a Hispanic in the Cabinet. Trump's overall demeanor, his childish incessant tweeting, his thin skin,  lack of knowledge and inexperience, his vulgarity, and his overall lack of respect for protocol, the office itself, our former President Obama....not to mention, women, Mexicans, African Americans, Muslims, the Military, Gays, and our intelligence agencies are what makes him so unacceptable and repugnant....UGH, and, last but not least, his questionable relationship with Vladimir Putin and his involvement and interference in the election, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

On Inauguration Day there will be marches, the Women's March in D.C. and the one here in NYC, and the protests have been ongoing since the election, across the country. But there will also be music and the music will continue to play on in the months and years ahead because that's what we do as musicians, we will be watching and responding but most importantly we will be healing. It's not a matter of coming together for us, the music provides that comfort regeneration, but it's a matter of healing ourselves individually first and coming to a place of understanding of what just happened in our country and restoring that which was shockingly torn from us, our belief and our faith in our Democracy and our human decency. So many of us have been grossly affected spiritually by this election, we are sickened. The country lost its moral compass.  Getting back to some sense of  normalcy will take time. Staying on track and maintaining our center, keeping hope alive within ourselves and reaching for our higher selves in spite of the current political climate will be challenging but that is the work ahead that each of us must do if we are to survive the next four years. And as we always do when life throws us a curve, we turn to the music. 

Coming up on February 7th at the Baha'i Center New York, The John Birks Gillespie Auditorium, ConceptualMotion Orchestra will be performing "TODAY IN AMERICA" - a composition written by Jorge Sylvester and Poetry by Nora McCarthy.

The ConceptualMotion Orchestra was founded in 2001 by both Jorge and myself in response to the tragedy of 9/11. It debuted at the University of the Streets on the L.E.S. but the Baha'i Center has been its home since 2003.

"TODAY IN AMERICA" is a living poem, a time capsule of political and social events from a human rights perspective highlighting the contrasting images of the U.S. Constitution and the values that America was built on against the distortions of its current reality narrated in a collage format.

Please join us for the 2017 installment of Today In America. This performance is dedicated to Jorge's mother, Muriel Paulina Sylvester who passed away August 13, 2016 and to "strong women" everywhere.