Every country has inspiring leaders who encourage people to create the best and brightest future for all its citizens. In the USA – MLK was one of these special leaders. This video shares some favorite quotes from his speeches that continue to inspire today – even decades after his monumental life.
In the USA, many children get the chance to explore Manadrin language and some aspects of Chinese culture through an adorable little character named Kai Lan on children’s t.v. show: Ni Hao Kai Lan (Hello, Hai Lan). Here she and her friends sing a traditional New Year’s Song. To learn more about Chinese New Year customs and to see what the lyrics to this song mean, visit the Making Multicultural Music blog.
January 23, 2012 marks the Chinese New Year welcoming in the year of the dragon. In this video you can see some beautiful images of dragons and discover the symbolism behind this very important sign. A wonderful history lesson and amazing photographs all in one short video!
Chinese New Year is celebrated all over the world! Check out this wonderful Chinese New Year celebration from the capital of Australia – including some added Australian Aboriginal music as well! See the beautiful highlights of dancing, parades, martial arts, dragon boat races and much more that brought in 2009 (the year of the Ox) to the land down under.
This time our live performance pick showcases Scottish music as we travel to the streets of Edinburgh as part of an international festival (Edinburgh Fringe 2007). Performing is the Albannach band who create some amazing energy with their with their traditional bagpipes as well as drums that include a standard trap kit, a larger traditional drum and the hand-held bodhran.
How was Kenya founded? This song tells the story and shows some amazing historical footage – plus pictures of present day Kenya. Sung by Linda Muthama, a talented Kenyan artist that was born in the city of Limuru and began singing at the age of seven!
Check out the Puerto Rican Cuatro guitar through this video that gives you a close-up on how a cuarto is made and also features the beautiful music of this unique stringed instrument. Cuatros featured here are part of a collection of instruments crafted by Roberto Rivera from www.riverainstruments.com.
The SOS Crystal Bowls play a song called Hallelujia. Candace Leach is the director and flutist here. In this short video you can see the singing bowls played in two ways. They are being struck like a bell and also “rubbed” to create the unique singing tone. A beautiful combination of styles here make for a truly creative musical performance.
Check out one way to play the Tibetan Singing bowl – by striking it gently with a mallet. Emile de Leon of Temple Sounds performs a sound meditation here that features gongs and singing bowls showing their wonderful diversity of sound quality and beautiful tones.
Check out this fanciful and talented group from the Chicago area. Here, St. Luke’s bottle band takes playing recycled instruments to a whole new level. Performing the classical melody, Dance of the Reed Flutes, they play a series of bottles by blowing over the tops as well as striking them (they are tuned to different notes by the amount of liquid inside). Delightful music fun!
