Renowned actor Ethan Hawke has created a wonderful documentary about MMP composer Seymour Bernstein. It is entitled Seymour: An Introduction, and it explores the world of creating and teaching beautiful music. It not only is a touching tribute to this wonderful teacher and composer, but also is an important exploration of the importance of arts in our lives. We are so proud of Seymour!
Seymour gives us the inside scoop on how it all came together…
“My piano pupil, Tony Zito, a prominent psychiatrist in New York City, invited me to dinner. The actor Ethan Hawke and spiritual leader, Andrew Harvey, would be there. The dinner table conversation was nothing short of electric. It centered on why we perform, and what creates pre-performance anxiety. Ethan Hawke claimed that I helped him more than anyone with this issue. He expressed a desire to hear me play the piano at the end of dinner.”
“One year later, Ethan decided to make a documentary on me based specifically on the principles of my book, With Your Own Two Hands. He wanted to show how a passion and devotion to an art form can influence our lives. This fall, the documentary has been shown at three of the world’s finest film festivals: Telluride, Colorado; Toronto, Canada; and the New York Film Festival. It has received standing ovations in all the festivals. The film will be released in theaters throughout the United States in 2015.”
-
$8.00The piano is used as a echo chamber in the Phoenix. Musically the trills, glissandos and clusters give a wonderful picture of each bird. The pedaling is very specific and will teach pianists a great deal about resonance.
-
-
$8.00This delightful book with its vignettes about Raccoons is great for theme recitals.
-
$8.00This book continues the saga of the raccoon dubbed by Seymour- “Betty Crocker” and her family of four little raccoons. Imaginative musical vignettes.