Bau’s Blaug
The latest news from “the Big Cheese” – Executive Director Bau Graves.
This Is Our Time
January 20, 2009. Welcome to the new era. Today’s extraordinary events mark a paradigm shift that few of us could have believed possible. Many of us are still shaking our heads in disbelief.
But if the world is turning, it is surely turning in a direction that feels comfortably familiar to the Old Town School community. Our new leader calls on us to address the challenges of our time with a spirit of generosity, an acceptance of others, and a commitment to justice. He proposes a national consciousness guided by values of inclusion, not exclusivity; inquiry, not arrogance. Old Town School of Folk Music was a child of the great American folk music revival of the 1950s and ‘60s – a social movement rooted in precisely the values that again motivate our body politic.
The School was, and remains, an experiment in using music and art to forge something more – an open, caring and sharing community; an institution that embodies its beliefs. There was always plenty of room in our chorus for everybody. The earliest teachers represented the full spectrum of our community, including bluesmen, banjo pickers and Latin American songs. The performances today at the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial echo the meaning that has motivated Old Town School from the very beginning.
Now that the zeitgeist is awakening, we have an opportunity to show them what we’ve been practicing for 51 years. And unlike any other time in our history, the Old Town School experience is running in synchronicity with the American experience. Let’s show them what we can do. This is our time.
Filed under: Uncategorized by Bau | January 20, 2009 | Comments (0)
