OPENING REMARKS:
While I was living in Italy in the 1990s I formed a group that had four, sometimes five female singers. I named it “Aria Aperta”............... click to continue
Aria Aperta is the space I have created for my world of social, cultural, and political activism. It’s got all kinds of nooks and crannies and little spaces contained within it. If you want a brief prologue explaining the name and its origin, look above at “opening remarks” and click on the appropriate link.
..... ON JUNE 29th WE START A Summer Jazz Film series Check out RESISTANCE CINEMA for specifics...............If you click on the Open Letters section of the BLOG you'll see my thoughts on BARACK OBAMA'S speech on race ........ I finally got my act together and the "events" page is now functioning. Click on it above to find out what's happening. It will have a calendar of all the events organized or endorsed by this website....... My latest book review is of DISSENT: VOICES OF CONSCIENCE by Ann Wright. It's a great book. You can read about it up above in my book review section. These reviews have all been published in Book/Mark, a small progressive literary review out on Long Island.
JAZZ MEANS PEACE: This is the jazz series that kicked off last May at the Bowery Poetry Club. We did two new shows in November and December. On May 13th we salute GRANDMOTHERS AGAINST THE WAR. Get all the latest info above and to the right under Projects.
In the PROJECT SECTION you’ll also find all the latest info about “RESISTANCE CINEMA”, which just keeps rolling along with provocative documentary films and a stimulating lecture series. My VIGIL Page keeps evolving. It’s dedicated to the NYC peace vigil scene. ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY is planning another multi-genre performance art event soon, so stay tuned.
In the BLOG I have an assortment of interesting things. Some public “open letters” and a little “Iran” section. I spent 12 days in Iran last March and you can see photos, read some correspondence with Iranians and read my personal assessment of the political situation in the form of an open letter to my congressman Anthony Weiner. That's in The Open Letter Section of the blog. There are two others; one to Cindy Sheehan and one to Eleanor Clift.
There is so much going on out here in the world, so much we need to do, and so many opportunities for growth, ARIA APERTA is just a part of it and has no intention of sitting still.
See you around,
Russell