((PKG)) BECAUSE SHE LOVES MUSIC
((TRT: 08:40))
((Topic Banner: Because She Loves Music))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera/Editor: June Soh))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
Music is joy. It's joyful. And I feel like whatever orchestra I'm standing in front of, whether it's my orchestra or another orchestra, I want all of us to be able to rekindle that joy that we all first felt, you know, as young students starting out in the business.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((Text-over-Video: @ time codes between 0028 and 0038
Conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson was invited to lead the National Symphony Orchestra in a Family Concert, the world premiere of Because.))
((NATS))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
This is my first time with the National Symphony here at the Kennedy Center. They've been incredibly generous and really wonderful to work with. Often when you do programs like this that involve a lot of technical back and forth. There are actors on stage. There are visuals being projected. So, there's a lot of moving parts in addition to just the music making. And so, just their patience, their diligence, their really willingness to throw themselves into this work and into the spirit of it, I've been so grateful for.
((NATS: Jeri Lynne Johnson and Narrator))
Jeri: She can just come on. They are tuning. Tuning, tuning, tuning.
Narrator: This is how it happened.
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
Because this piece that we are presenting is based upon the book of the same name, Because, which was written by Mo Willems, very famous children's book author, and illustrated by Amber Ren.
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
The book itself is about the way that beauty gets passed on from one generation to the next because people are inspired.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((NATS: Clapping & Narrator & Music))
Narrator: This is how it happened.
Music/Narrator: Because a man named Ludwig [Beethoven] made beautiful music,
Music/Narrator: a man named Franz [Schubert] was inspired to create his own.
((NATS))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
And then as we progress, we see that because Schubert wrote this symphony and so many people wanted to hear it, how orchestra performances can be put together.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((NATS: Music and Narrator))
Music/Narrator: Because many others loved and practiced their instruments, there were enough musicians.
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
So, there's all these elements about how a concert works so that when children come to a concert, they're aware that there are ushers who are making sure that the seats are ready. There are people who are facilitating the lighting.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((NATS: Narrator))
Narrator: Because someone's uncle caught a cold, someone's aunt had an extra ticket for someone special. Because the usher helped the aunt and her special guest, they found their seats.
((NATS))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
In this process, we see then a young girl who gets invited to this concert quite by accident and she falls in love with the music that she sees on stage. And because she was at this concert, she then is inspired to become a composer and a conductor and share her gift of music with the world that will then inspire another child who's in the audience, hearing her music.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
The music that has been composed for this that represents the new music of the young girl is written by a really wonderful composer, Jessie Montgomery. And she had wonderful assistance in the arrangement by Jannina Norpoth. So, it's a really collaborative effort bringing this project to life.
((NATS))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
When I got the email from the Kennedy Center asking to participate in this project and I was like in the quiet car on the train. And I was like, I kind of like screaming because I had, I have a, now a six-year-old daughter and I had bought this book for her when she was four and I would read it to her. And so, I knew this book when they said it and I love it so much because this story was my story. I was inspired by a concert to become a composer and conductor. And so, I really identified with this. And so, I was so honored and excited to be a part of this project.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
I started out as a pianist at the age of four. I studied piano at a very young age. I've always loved music. And I was really lucky to have some family friends of my parents take me to my first orchestra concert. I'll never forget. It was in Minnesota. That's where we were living at the time.
I'll never forget it was a beautiful Beethoven symphony. I don't remember which one it was but I just fell in love with the music. I fell in love with the spectacle and the power of seeing all of those musicians playing different instruments in different ways, making music together. I did not see a piano on the stage. And so, like in my seven-old-brain, I kind of figured, “Okay, if I want to make that music, I have to do what I see the man on the stage doing, waving this stick around.” And so, that's how I just, I decided right then I wanted to be a conductor.
((NATS))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
I think that leadership is serving others. And so, my job as the conductor is literally to allow the music to come through me and to share that with the musicians and to create a space that allows them, for the music to also come through them.
((NATS: Jeri Lynne Johnson))
Jeri Lynne: And because I love conducting so much, I enjoy teaching other young people how to conduct. And so, at this point, I’d like to ask if there is any mildly enthusiastic young people out there in the audience too, who might want to come up and get a conducting lesson with the National Symphony Orchestra?
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
Not just music but the arts in general are really critical. I think for a lot of years, people probably felt that teaching the arts in public schools may have been a luxury. It's not a core skill like reading and writing and arithmetic and science. But I think one of the things that we see very, very recently is how important creativity is to critical thinking skills, to social-emotional development. And also to give children a sense of agency, that they have the ability to identify their emotions and thoughts and express them constructively in a way that allows them to make their way through society in a variety of institutions. This is how we begin to very gently and softly teach children how democracy works. Creativity is the ability to self-manage and create your own life. And that's what democracy is all about. And so for me, arts education is fundamental to being able to instill democratic ideals in the next generation.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((NATS: Jeri Lynne Johnson))
Jeri Lynne: Come on up. I have three batons. Okay.
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
I hope for the families coming to the Because event is that they leave feeling inspired to wave a pencil or a baton or something around and just feel the power of music in themselves and think about how they might be able to express that. You know, it isn't necessary for everyone to be a world-class violinist or you've been studying piano for 20 years. If you love music and you want to just sing or clap your hands and express yourself any way you want to.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((NATS: Jeri Lynne Johnson))
((Jeri Lynne Johnson
Conductor/Founder, Black Pearle Chamber Orchestra))
We don't own Beethoven. We don't own Schubert. We don't own Montgomery. This is something that belongs to all of us.
((Courtesy: The Kennedy Center))
((NATS))
That is how it happened.