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Don Shirley
Donald Walbridge Shirley (January 29, 1927 – April 6, 2013) was an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He recorded many albums for Cadence Records during the 1950s and 1960s, experimenting with jazz with a classical influence. He wrote organ symphonies, piano concerti, a cello concerto, three string quartets, a one-act opera, works for organ, piano and violin, a symphonic poem based on the 1939 novel ''Finnegans Wake'' by James Joyce, and a set of "Variations" on the 1858 opera ''Orpheus in the Underworld''. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Shirley was a promising young student of classical piano. Although he did not achieve recognition in his early career playing traditional classical music, he found success with his blending of various musical traditions. During the 1960s, Shirley went on a number of concert tours, some in Deep South states. For a time, he hired New York nightclub bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga as his driver and bodyguard. Their story was dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal city of the Pensacola Metropolitan Area, which had an estimated 502,629 residents . Pensacola is the site of the first Spanish settlement within the borders of the continental United States in 1559, predating the establishment of St. Augustine by 6 years, although the settlement was abandoned due to a hurricane and not re-established until 1698. Pensacola is a seaport on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola near Warrington; it is the base of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The main campus of the University of West F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Lip
Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr. (July 30, 1930 – January 4, 2013), better known by his stage name Tony Lip, was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of crime boss Carmine Lupertazzi in the HBO series, ''The Sopranos''. Lip portrayed real-life Bonanno crime family mobster Philip Giaccone in ''Donnie Brasco (film), Donnie Brasco'', and real-life Lucchese crime family mobster Francesco Manzo in ''Goodfellas''. It was at the Copacabana (nightclub), Copacabana nightclub that he first met Francis Ford Coppola and Louis DiGiamo, leading to a small role in ''The Godfather'', his film debut. He also co-wrote the book ''Shut Up and Eat!'' (2005). His life in the early 1960s, when he was the driver and bodyguard for the black classical pianist Don Shirley, was dramatized in the 2018 film, ''Green Book (film), Green Book'', in which he was portrayed by Viggo Mortensen. Early life Frank Anthony Vallelonga was born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, the son of Italian pare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras. The founders' ambition was to build an orchestra the equal of any European or American rival. Between 1932 and the Second World War the LPO was widely judged to have succeeded in this regard. After the outbreak of war, the orchestra's private backers withdrew and the players reconstituted the LPO as a self-governing cooperative. In the post-war years, the orchestra faced challenges from two new rivals; the Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic, founded respectively in 1946 and 1947, achieved a quality of playing not matched by the older orchestras, including the LPO. By the 1960s the LPO had regained its earlier standards, and in 1964 it secured a valuable engagement to play in the Glyndebourne Festival during the summer mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, the BSO performs most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at Tanglewood. Since its founding, the orchestra has had 17 music directors, including George Henschel, Serge Koussevitzky, Henri Rabaud, Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch, Erich Leinsdorf, William Steinberg and James Levine. Andris Nelsons is the current music director of the BSO. Seiji Ozawa has the title of BSO music director laureate. Bernard Haitink had held the title of principal guest conductor of the BSO from 1995 to 2004, then conductor emeritus until his death in 2021. The orchestra has made gramophone recordings since 1917 and has occasionally played on soundtrack recordings for films, including ''Schindler's List''. History Early year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano Concerto No
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students. History The conservatory was founded in 1862 by the Russian Music Society and Anton Rubinstein, a Russian pianist and composer. On his resignation in 1867, he was succeeded by Nikolai Zaremba. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed as a professor in 1871, and the conservatory has borne his name since 1944. In 1887, Rubinstein returned to the conservatory with the goal of improving overall standards. He revised the curriculum, expelled inferior students, fired and demoted many professors, and made entrance and examination requirements more stringent. In 1891, he r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catholic University Of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. Catholic bishops. Established in 1887 as a graduate and research center following approval by Pope Leo XIII, the university began offering undergraduate education in 1904. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". Its campus is adjacent to the Brookland neighborhood, known as "Little Rome", which contains 60 Catholic institutions, including Trinity Washington University, the Dominican House of Studies, and Archbishop Carroll High School, as well as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. CUA's programs emphasize the liberal arts, professional education, and personal development. The school stays closely connected with the Catholic Church and Catholic organizations. The re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tad Jones
Thaddeus Bunol "Tad" Jones (September 19, 1952 – January 1, 2007) was an American music historian and researcher. His extensive research is credited with definitively establishing and documenting Louis Armstrong's correct birth date, August 4, 1901. Life and career Jones was a native and resident of New Orleans, Louisiana. A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, he developed an interest in the music and history of New Orleans at a young age and conducted important oral history interviews with musicians while still in his teens. While earning a degree in Communications at Loyola, Jones was named Music Director of the university's radio station, WLDC and served from 1971-74. Frequently, Jones merged his broadcasting training with his musical historical expertise to promote New Orleans music in the station's playlist. This, in turn, gained the attention and influenced the programming of numerous record companies and album-oriented rock and jazz broadcast outlets through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conrad Bernier
Conrad Bernier (9 May 1904 – 7 November 1988) was a French-Canadian organist, composer, conductor and teacher. For many years he was a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Early life and education Born into a family of musicians in Quebec City, Bernier was the brother of pianist Gabrielle Bernier and cellist/journalist Maurice Bernier, and the uncle of musicians Françoys Bernier, Madeleine Bernier, and Pierre Bernier. His first teacher was his father Joseph-Arthur Bernier, who introduced him to solfège, organ, and piano. He continued his keyboard studies with Berthe Roy, and became proficient enough to inaugurate the organ of the church at Bienville when he was 13 years of age. The following year he performed on the organ of St-Sacrement Church in Quebec City. In this church he served from 1920 to 1923 as principal organist, while he was also assistant organist at St-Jean-Baptiste. In 1923 Bernier won the Prix d'Europe to study organ in Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prairie View College
Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher learning in the state. It offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master's degrees and four doctoral degree programs through eight colleges and the School of Architecture. PVAMU is the largest HBCU in the state of Texas and the third largest HBCU in the United States. PVAMU is a member of the Texas A&M University System and Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Prairie View A&M fields 18 intercollegiate sports team, commonly known by their "Prairie View A&M Panthers" nickname. Prairie View A&M competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Prairie View A&M is the only charter member remaining in the conference. History The university was established by Art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia State University
Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for Black Americans. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Virginia State University was founded on March 6, 1882, when the legislature passed a bill to charter the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. The bill was sponsored by Delegate Alfred W. Harris, a Black attorney whose offices were in Petersburg, but who lived in and represented Dinwiddie County in the General Assembly. A hostile lawsuit delayed opening day for nineteen months, until October 1, 1883. In 1902, the legislature revised the charter act to curtail the collegiate program and to change the name to Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute. In 1920, the land-grant program for Black students was moved from a pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city in the Caribbean. The local government bodies of the parishes of Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation Act of 1923, to form the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). Greater Kingston, or the "Corporate Area" refers to those areas under the KSAC; however, it does not solely refer to Kingston Parish, which only consists of the old downtown and Port Royal. Kingston Parish had a population of 89,057, and St. Andrew Parish had a population of 573,369 in 2011 Kingston is only bordered by Saint Andrew to the east, west and north. The geographical border for the parish of K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
