CONNECT Orchestra Conductor - USAGM
Metadata
- CONNECT Orchestra Conductor - USAGM
- August 1, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English CONNECT Orchestra Conductor (TV) HEADLINE: Because She Loves Conducting TEASER: Conductor instills passion in next generations of musicians PUBLISHED AT: 08/01/2022 BYLINE: Faiza ElMasry DATELINE: Alexandria, Virginia VIDEOGRAPHER: June Soh PRODUCER: June Soh, Zdenko Novacki COURTESIES: SCRIPT EDITORS: EA VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:55 VID APPROVED BY: EA TYPE: VPKGF EDITOR NOTES: )) ((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.)) ((INTRO)) ((Jerri Lynne Johnson is a conductor who’s playing it forward, from learning to love the symphony as a child, to instilling that passion in future generations of musicians. Recently she was invited to lead the National Symphony Orchestra at the world premiere of a musical for children – Because. VOA’s Faiza ElMasry has the story.)) ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) Music is joy. It's joyful. And I feel like whatever orchestra I'm standing in front of, whether it's my orchestra or another orchestra, I want all of us to be able to rekindle that joy that we all first felt, you know, as young students starting out in the business. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) I started out as a pianist at the age of four. I studied piano at a very young age. I've always loved music. And I was really lucky to have some family friends of my parents take me to my first orchestra concert. I'll never forget. It was in Minnesota. That's where we were living at the time. I'll never forget it was a beautiful Beethoven symphony. I don't remember which one it was but I just fell in love with the music. I fell in love with the spectacle and the power of seeing all of those musicians playing different instruments in different ways, making music together. I did not see a piano on the stage. And so, like in my seven-old-brain, I kind of figured, “Okay, if I want to make that music, I have to do what I see the man on the stage doing, waving this stick around.” And so, that's how I just, I decided right then I wanted to be a conductor. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center)) ((NATS)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) I think that leadership is serving others. And so, my job as the conductor is literally to allow the music to come through me and to share that with the musicians and to create a space that allows them, for the music to also come through them. ((NATS)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) This is my first time with the National Symphony here at the Kennedy Center. They've been incredibly generous and really wonderful to work with. Often when you do programs like this that involve a lot of technical back and forth. There are actors on stage. There are visuals being projected. So, there's a lot of moving parts in addition to just the music making. And so, just their patience, their diligence, their really willingness to throw themselves into this work and into the spirit of it, I've been so grateful for. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) You know, it isn't necessary for everyone to be a world-class violinist or you've been studying piano for 20 years. If you love music and you want to just sing or clap your hands and express yourself any way you want to. We don't own Beethoven. We don't own Schubert. We don't own Montgomery. This is something that belongs to all of us. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
- Transcript/Script CONNECT Orchestra Conductor (TV) HEADLINE: Because She Loves Conducting TEASER: Conductor instills passion in next generations of musicians PUBLISHED AT: 08/01/2022 BYLINE: Faiza ElMasry DATELINE: Alexandria, Virginia VIDEOGRAPHER: June Soh PRODUCER: June Soh, Zdenko Novacki COURTESIES: SCRIPT EDITORS: EA VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:55 VID APPROVED BY: EA TYPE: VPKGF EDITOR NOTES: )) ((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.)) ((INTRO)) ((Jerri Lynne Johnson is a conductor who’s playing it forward, from learning to love the symphony as a child, to instilling that passion in future generations of musicians. Recently she was invited to lead the National Symphony Orchestra at the world premiere of a musical for children – Because. VOA’s Faiza ElMasry has the story.)) ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) Music is joy. It's joyful. And I feel like whatever orchestra I'm standing in front of, whether it's my orchestra or another orchestra, I want all of us to be able to rekindle that joy that we all first felt, you know, as young students starting out in the business. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) I started out as a pianist at the age of four. I studied piano at a very young age. I've always loved music. And I was really lucky to have some family friends of my parents take me to my first orchestra concert. I'll never forget. It was in Minnesota. That's where we were living at the time. I'll never forget it was a beautiful Beethoven symphony. I don't remember which one it was but I just fell in love with the music. I fell in love with the spectacle and the power of seeing all of those musicians playing different instruments in different ways, making music together. I did not see a piano on the stage. And so, like in my seven-old-brain, I kind of figured, “Okay, if I want to make that music, I have to do what I see the man on the stage doing, waving this stick around.” And so, that's how I just, I decided right then I wanted to be a conductor. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center)) ((NATS)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) I think that leadership is serving others. And so, my job as the conductor is literally to allow the music to come through me and to share that with the musicians and to create a space that allows them, for the music to also come through them. ((NATS)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) This is my first time with the National Symphony here at the Kennedy Center. They've been incredibly generous and really wonderful to work with. Often when you do programs like this that involve a lot of technical back and forth. There are actors on stage. There are visuals being projected. So, there's a lot of moving parts in addition to just the music making. And so, just their patience, their diligence, their really willingness to throw themselves into this work and into the spirit of it, I've been so grateful for. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center)) ((Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra)) You know, it isn't necessary for everyone to be a world-class violinist or you've been studying piano for 20 years. If you love music and you want to just sing or clap your hands and express yourself any way you want to. We don't own Beethoven. We don't own Schubert. We don't own Montgomery. This is something that belongs to all of us. ((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Topic Tags Orchestra
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date August 1, 2022 14:44 EDT
- Description English Jerri Lynne Johnson is a conductor who’s playing it forward, from learning to love the symphony as a child, to instilling that passion in future generations of musicians. Recently she was invited to lead the National Symphony Orchestra at the world premiere of a musical for children – Because. VOA’s Faiza ElMasry has the story.
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English