Trips Planned to Herberger, MIM
Patricia Ingalls
During February, LifeLong Learning offers trips to the Herberger Theater Center and to the Musical Instrument Museum, both in Phoenix. For full details and to register, go to lifelonglearningatpc.org.
Herberger Theater Center: Thursday, Feb. 8, 10:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., $45
This indoor performing-arts center features three stages in downtown Phoenix. Built in 1989 to support and foster the growth of performing arts, the center showcases the work of diverse, emerging theater companies in its Lunch Box Theater.
Tour participants will eat a catered box lunch, while watching T. A. Burrows perform his hour-long “Tour de Force.” The “man of a thousand voices” performs his favorite pop, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll songs in his dynamic style. Between tunes, Burrows tells hilarious anecdotes reflecting his amazing career as a professional entertainer.
After the performance, a one-hour, behind-the-scenes tour begins in the lobby, takes visitors up five stories to the catwalks, and descends into the basement corridors. The complete experience is filled with unusual historical facts and information.
Visitors are advised to wear sturdy, comfortable, closed-toe shoes for the behind-the-scenes tour.
Musical Instrument Museum: Wednesday, Feb. 21, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., $75
Today, MIM has a collection of more than 7,500 instruments from more than 200 world countries and territories. The galleries reflect the rich diversity and history of many world cultures. Music and instruments also show what people have in common—a thought powerfully expressed in MIM’s motto: Music is the language of the soul. On an unforgettable global journey, visitors are entertained and inspired as they travel the world through music.
In addition to a self-guided tour, LifeLong Learning has booked a private, guided tour, which offers an overview of the world’s music, focusing on cultures in each geographic region of the globe. At the end of the tour, participants can make music of their own in the Experience Gallery.
In MIM’s Geographic Galleries, displays focus on major world regions, using audio and video technologies that allow visitors to see the instruments, hear their sounds, and observe them being played in their original contexts.
Visitors are given wireless headsets to wear throughout the museum. As they approach each display, they hear music and see the instruments being played on high-resolution screens.
After a tour guide leads participants through the first hour of the visit, they may choose to have lunch on site at Café Allegro, a light-filled space overlooking the entry courtyard. The casual, self-serve café prepares foods from scratch, using fresh, local ingredients, featuring global cuisine, local and regional dishes. Lunch is not included in the cost of the trip.
After lunch, participants will continue to enjoy the museum and its store at their own pace.
Weekday Speakers Cover Beach Boys, Arizona’s Water Needs
Patricia Ingalls
LifeLong Learning’s two February Weekday Speakers cover the Beach Boys and Arizona’s water resources.
Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. in the lobby of the Renaissance Theater and are $5 at the door. Lectures begin at 10 a.m. No registration is required. For full details, go to lifelonglearningatpc.org.
History and Sounds of the Beach Boys, Monday, Feb. 5: Vincent Bruno, a rock-music historian and storyteller, will trace the legacy of the Beach Boys, one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock bands of all time. With 37 Top 40 singles in the U.S., they have more chart hits than any other group. Their California surf music and hot-rod classics helped define the 1960’s for many people.
Bruno will trace their legacy as they created one of the most original and influential styles in pop-music history. Led by Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys had a unique sound that incorporated elements of pop, jazz, and classical music. Many groups, including the Beatles, imitated their music.
Bruno, a familiar and popular presenter for LifeLong Learning, is a recognized rock-music historian and storyteller. For more than 25 years, he has entertained and informed audiences with his engaging programs. He has presented on more than 100 rock-and-roll musicians and groups, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Who.
Water Resources in Arizona, Monday, Feb. 19: Sarah Porter, attorney and water expert, will explain the complexity involved in ensuring adequate water supplies, as climate change worsens. She will discuss current water policy in Arizona and prospects for water security in the future.
A new, 100-year groundwater model shows that groundwater pumping has reached a level that may limit new housing developments in the Greater Phoenix area. Porter will discuss how those limits affect affordable housing and what actions cities can take to mitigate them.
Porter is director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. She has been deeply involved in the Western Rivers Project, a multi-state effort to conserve and restore vital river habitats in the West. Under her direction, the Kyl Center produces accessible information and tools to help the public and policymakers understand the state’s water situation and to foster research and collaboration in order to build sound water policy for Arizona and the West.
StoryCorps Archives Spoken Life Stories
Bill Nee
This month’s TED Talk features Dave Isay, whose life passion is to collect stories of Americans from all levels of society, from all over the country. Isay founded StoryCorps, an American nonprofit, which has digitally archived more than 325,000 interviews, preserving and documenting dreams, accomplishments, fears and life lessons of unheard voices, speaking in their own words, to save those memories for posterity.
A copy of each interview is recorded in the Library of Congress American Folklore Center. Stories are about friendships, feelings, remembrances, family traditions, grandma or grandpa’s life, turning 21 or 65, or anything that the interviewer thinks would be memorable.
Isay opened the first StoryCorps booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003, with the intention of creating a quiet place, where people could honor those who mattered to them, by listening to their stories. StoryCorps has evolved into the largest collection of human voices ever recorded.
Users can now download the StoryCorps App, which guides them through the interview experience, from start to finish, using tools to help them prepare interview questions and record high-quality audio.
To watch this 21-minute TED Talk, go to TED.com, then in the upper left corner, click the three-horizontal-bar menu button, and under the category watch, click “TED Talks” then in “Search talks” input “Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear,” scroll a little lower and click on the talk you selected.
Life is fleeting, go add your family’s story to the collective wisdom of humanity.