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Transcript/ScriptCONNECT Hangout-ology (TV)
HEADLINE: Multicultural musician David Amran keeps the beat going
TEASER: Bop till you drop
PUBLISHED AT: 08/29/2022
BYLINE: Aaron Fedor
DATELINE: Beacon, New York
VIDEOGRAPHER: Aaron Fedor
PRODUCER: Kathleen McLaughlin, Kyle Dubiel, Zdenko Novacki
COURTESIES:
SCRIPT EDITORS: EA
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:46
VID APPROVED BY: EA
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.))
((INTRO))
((Nonagenarian master of musical fusion David Amran is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist whose rich career spans decades. For VOA, Aaron Fedor visits him in Beacon, New York, to learn more about some of the instruments he plays from around the world and why he believes music is so universally appealing.))
((NATS: Music))
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
He’s gonna sing the blues to you.
Get yourself a bottle of bourbon
before the evening is through.
((David Amram, Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
So I try to get up and what I think maybe I should go back to sleep for 25 hours till I catch up.
This is a hulusi from China.
((NATS: Music))
((Kenneth Radnofsky, Professor of Saxophone, New England Conservatory))
David Amram was multicultural before multiculturalism existed.
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
He has always had a curiosity and fascination with people.
((David Amram, Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
This is the doumbek or they call it a darbuki or a tabla or a tov, depending on which country you go to. But it’s all essentially very similar instruments.
((NATS: Music))
((Adira Amram, Daughter, Performer))
He's worked with so many incredible people that sometimes, as an adult, I'll look at something that he's done and it's kind of like
((Courtesy: David Amram))
I'm just like, “What? How did you know that person?” Like the connections that he has, it's just so…there's such a vast array of people too, from so many different worlds. Like collaborators that he's worked with are kind of the greats in their field. And they all love Dad.
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((NATS: Music))
((NATS: Kenneth Radnofsky, Professor of Saxophone, New England Conservatory))
David Amran has composed more than 110 orchestral and chamber works and performed as conductor, soloist and narrator with Chicago, Philadelphia Orchestra and Houston Symphonies, just to name a few. Jamie Sommerfeld calls David Amran a force of nature.
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((David Amran, Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
My first true musical experience was when I was six years old and my father bought me a bugle. [He] took out this shiny bugle and started playing it himself before I could even touch it. And after about 10 minutes…of not being able to get much of a sound, he handed it to me. I went…and I hit a sound and actually it was like music. I was blown away. I said, “Oh, my Lord.”
((David Amran, Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
The Native American people believe that all of this was a gift to us by the Great Creator. And whatever religion we are, we are all gifted by music as being something we’ll never understand but we know is bigger than us and nutritious and valuable.
((Courtesy: David Amram))
((NATS: Music))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Beacon, New York
Embargo DateAugust 29, 2022 17:20 EDT
BylineAaron Fedor VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English