This is more like it! :-)

He's not joking about music classes (and similar arts programs) for that matter keeping kids in school, or helping to keep grades up. Formal music lessons, from the time I was in the first grade, made a big academic difference for me even though I'll never be a professional at it. Music was a way of clearing my head and taking a mental break (even if it was a class!) before finishing the rest of my work. It still is! Which is why my kids started music classes in some form already. Even the new baby is joining her big sister in a weekly music-play program. So as I have said billions of times since I started this blog, Barry and I are -->here<-- on that subject.



(And I'm really glad to hear that all seems to be going well at home on the left coast. ;-D )



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Message from Barry 10/29/2009



Hi everyone!
I’m recuperating and doing fine.
Thanks for all good wishes.
The Hollywood Bowl show was a fantastic experience for all of us. The crowd was amazing and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra was magnificent. Hearing those beautiful arrangements and orchestrations made me want to stop singing and just listen to them!
The music was definitely a highlight of the night, but a close second was the knowledge that we were raising money to buy musical instruments for kids in the L.A. schools. As you know, because of budget slashes, the Music and Arts departments of the public schools all over the country are being cut.
And even the schools that still have music departments are struggling to keep them going. They’re running out of instruments and the ones that they do have are in terrible shape. They need music stands, sheet music, band uniforms – you name it, they need it. Music classes aren’t just for playtime. Music keeps the kids in school. Really. It keeps the kids coming back to school.
Ask any music teacher and they all say the same thing: when kids are in music classes their grades go up, they learn how to interact with other students and they stay in school.
The thought that the schools don’t have musical instruments or worse, that they may not have Music classes at all is just killing me.
I would like to ask you all to dive in and help me if you possibly can.
It would be so great if you could call your local high schools or middle schools and ask them what instruments they needed and if you could spring it, get the instruments for them.
I’m not suggesting anything near as large as what we’ve been doing of course. Just a trumpet or a clarinet or maybe even one of those Casio or Sony keyboards.
Maybe you’ve got some old music stands in the basement or a set of drums that no one is using anymore up in the attic. Just dust off Aunt Bessie, push her out of the way, and drive the set of drums down to the school!
If you guys could begin to help your local schools by keeping their music classes going, it would be the greatest Get-Well gift you could ever give me.
Once again, thanks for all the get-well wishes.
See you soon.



Love,

Barry



PS……If you don’t have an Aunt Bessie…..and want us to get instruments to schools in need…..you can also go to: http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?A1-672339434 then hit Donate Now………..

Living Vicariously at the Hollywood Bowl

For those of us who live at opposite ends of the country (or the world) and couldn't make it last night.

Update 10/26/2009: Some really great pictures posted by a fan on the Ning Network (My God, the **lighting**!!! The Bowl must have had some incredible baseline capabilities to work with!) Anyone else think Barry needed a cigarette and a hot bath after the orchestra performed his arrangements?

As usual, I'll keep running updates. Dana, anytime you're ready, dear....

AND HERE IT IS! THANK YOU DANA!!!
http://manilow.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hollywood-bowl-review

I hope we don't have to wait 30 years for this one to make a DVD!

From Twitter, courtesy of TPTB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Barry Manilow PRESENTS LAUSD and GRAMMY Foundation with majordonation of $100,000 in musical instruments at Hollywood Bowl Concert

At the Special Pre-Concert Gala to Benefit The Manilow Music Project & the Los Angeles Unified School District, Manilow Delivers Gift of Instruments and Education

Los Angeles (October 24, 2009) –Pop culture icon and legendary showman Barry Manilowhosted his first-ever solo concert at the Hollywood Bowl on October 24th, 2009, with manyof the proceeds going directly to The Manilow Music Project and The GRAMMY Foundation®. Starting the evening with yet another act of giving to the Los Angeles community, Manilow surprised attendees by presenting the LAUSD with a donation of $100,000 worth of instruments for its underfunded music program. Manilow briefly spoke about the importanceof music in his own life before presenting yet another donation—two $5,000 Signature School Enterprise Awards to the GRAMMY Foundation®, also benefitting the LAUSD.

“It gives me great personal joy to be able to get these instruments into the hands of theLAUSD’s students. Music has been the foundation of my life and to be able to give that gift to others is both joyous and humbling,” states Manilow.

Superintendant Ramon Cortines commented, “Barry Manilow continues to show his tireless dedication and advocacy by extending the reach of musical education to the children in our community. We are profoundly moved by his continued generosity and support in such tough economic times.”

Manilow, who will end his 5-year partnership with the Las Vegas Hilton this year, regularly performs in arenas throughout the world. He recently performed to a record-breaking, sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans at the BBC Proms in the Park on the world-famous Last Night of the Proms in Hyde Park, London. The event was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 and BBCTV reaching an audience of countless millions.

In December Manilow together with the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, will present“A Gift of Love…,” a five-night holiday concert series at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA. The concert series, beginning on December 4th, 2009 and continuing on December 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th, will honor 25 local charities in Palm Springs, California,the singer’s hometown—each night benefiting five of the beneficiary charities tickets are available at www.starz.bz/agiftoflove.

Earlier this year Manilow donated $500,000 in musical instruments to schools in the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area.

The Manilow Music Project
Last year, in response to the needs of public schools and their severely depleted music programs, Barry Manilow gathered some friends and formed The Manilow Music Project as part of his non-profit, Manilow Fund for Health and Hope. The mission statement of the Project highlights the importance of music programs in U.S. schools and donates instruments and materials to school music programs.

The Manilow Music Project is sponsored by Yamaha and BevMo!

Proceeds from Manilow wine purchases at BevMo! retail stores in California go directly to The Manilow Music Project.

The GRAMMY Foundation
The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciationand advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture — from the artisticand technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of futuregenerations of music professionals. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with its founder, The Recording Academy®, to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit http://www.grammyintheschools.com/

Radio Alert: Barry Hosting BBC Radio Show on Johnny Mercer

Reposted from Moonstone's Shadows of Manilow blog.
This is really worth repeating.

Mark your calendars on November 13, starting at 7:30 PM local (UK) time.
[BBC] Radio 2 to celebrate work of Johnny Mercer
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/25986/radio-2-to-celebrate-work-of-johnny-mercer

Listen live on the internet here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/
I'll try and calculate what time it will be on in the US time zones. Unless some kind soul would like to comment with that info?

Random Thoughts on a Friday Evening

To everybody working the Hollywood Bowl tomorrow night - break a leg. If the tweets I heard are any indication you're putting on one helluva show. Enough to make us east-coasters jealous.

Speaking of tweets, if certain twitterers/tweeps/whatevertheword is want to post those photos, I'll be watching. (You know who you are!)

We're getting ready for Halloween this week. I posted about this last year. I would pay to see Barry walk through trick-or-treating as himself. No entourage, bodyguards, etc. He could get away with it too - everybody staring at the decorated houses, people would think he was just another guy in a costume. Except for one neighbor on our street who is a serious fan. I'd have to find a way to shut him up.

Remember Dumbass from my OT post a while back? Well the chairman of the board finally neutralized him. (Think purple slime from Warehouse 13 - REALLY neutralized) I'm breathing easier tonight now that I can steer that ship without some mutant nipping at my heels.

My daughters' preschool music teacher is a Barry fan. And she was pumped to learn about the Music Project. Per my recommendation she's looking into using elements of Manilow Live for instruction for young children. My good deed for the day!

So for everyone going to the Bowl tomorrow (whether working or just having fun), have a good time for me while you're there. I'm going to settle in with Live at the Greek (maybe do the 2nd half of that POV review I've been threatening for weeks) and be with you in spirit.

Have a great weekend, gang!
MUAH!

ETA- can't believe I almost forgot this...
Barry, now that you have some time off, take some extra for some serious R&R, take care of whatever medical issues are hanging over your head, and get some "me" time before the Paris announcement hits the fan. ;-)

Someone likes to be funny

Hardy har har har

GarryKief Exclusive. Behind the scenes at album cover photo shoot. - http://twitpic.com/m5mpw

And the cat-and-mouse game continues. But which is which?