Katya Concerts for Kids will extend a heartfelt invitation to more than 300 children from Harlem and the Bronx to attend the concert as her special guests.

Acclaimed pianist Katya Grineva will return to Carnegie Hall for her “A Classical Holiday” concert for one night only, Friday, December 26, 2025, at 8:00 p.m. Celebrating her 23rd Stern Auditorium appearance, Katya has performed at the venue more than any other female artist. In what has become a seasonal tradition for local New York City families and tourists alike, Katya’s festive concert is a highlight of the holiday season.

As part of her unwavering commitment to sharing the beauty of classical music with underserved youth, Katya’s non-profit organization, Katya Concerts for Kids, will extend a heartfelt invitation to more than 300 children from Harlem and the Bronx to attend the concert as her special guests. This inspiring initiative offers these young audiences not only the gift of world-class music but also the opportunity to dream bigger, experience the arts firsthand, and feel seen and valued within one of the most prestigious concert halls in the world.

Performing works from her holiday album A Classical Holiday, Katya showcases new arrangements of Christmas classics including The Nutcracker, My Favorite Things, and more. Drawn to spirituality and mysticism, Katya’s poetic style brings a different ethereal dimension to this holiday concert. This year’s program includes the mystical O choruscans lux stellarum by Von Bingen, Gershwin’s Embraceable You, the rarely played Liszt Legendes, and more.

About Katya Grineva

Born in Moscow, Katya began studying piano at the age of six, attending the Moscow Music School. She went on to the Moscow High School of Music under the aegis of the prestigious Moscow Conservatory, where she studied with Professor Pavel Messner. In New York, she was awarded a scholarship to immediately enter the Mannes School of Music graduate program, studying with Nina Svetlanova, followed by private coaching with Vladja Mashke, who played a key role in the young pianist’s development. Katya made her American debut in 1993 with the Baltimore Symphony. In 1998, she made her Carnegie Hall debut. In 2006, Katya was chosen to exclusively perform and record the world premieres of piano sonatas by romantic Viennese composer Marcel Tyberg. In 2023, she had the distinct honor of opening the new Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles, Washington.

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#diamondsouthbronx #genefischjr #genefisch #paulsladkus

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Isabella is a student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. As a high school student at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut, she was the Senior Editor and Executive Director for the Broadcast Journalism Course and received many journalism awards including Finalist at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle, Washington, in 2013 for I Love You Bear. She also created four public service announcements, and two documentaries: Natural Disasters: Haiti and Striving For Greatness: Twin Lakes Farm. She is fluent in French and received the La Comtesse Nathalie d’Esterno Prix d’Excellence 2014 for excellence in French Studies. In addition, she has won many equitation awards including Champion, Saugerties Children’s Hunter Division, Saugerties, New York, and Top Ten, Low Hunter Division and Top Five Children’s Equitation Division, Fairfield-Westchester Professional Horseman’s Association. Isabella was also the President of the Cleats for Kids Club at Convent of the Sacred Heart and a volunteer at the Padre Pio Shelter, a shelter for homeless men in the Bronx.

Miss Isabella Maria Luisa von Habsburg-Lothringen’s father, the Archduke Geza von Habsburg-Lothringen is an internationally renowned author and leading authority on Fabergé. He is the son of Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria and Princess Anna of Saxony, the grandson of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and the great-great grandson of Emperor Franz-Joseph I of Austria. Her mother, the Archduchess Elizabeth von Habsburg-Lothringen is the Managing Director of the Winston Art Group. Her great-grandfather, Albert Kunstadter, founded Formfit, and her family runs the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation, a New York-based philanthropy.
The International Debutante Ball, founded in 1954, is considered one of the most prestigious debutante presentations. Young women of distinction from all over the country and around the globe are brought together at the ball and the surrounding parties with daughters of Diplomats, titled Europeans, Ambassadors, Governors and Presidents of the United States. Over the years, the ball has benefited numerous charities through the International Debutante Ball Foundation, including one of its major beneficiaries, the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club of New York, which provides a home away from home for the men and women of our Armed Services

FORTY-SIX WOMEN MADE THEIR BOWS AT THE 60th INTERNATIONAL DEBUTANTE BALL Monday, December 29th, 2014

Forty-six women of distinction from the United States and abroad made their bows to society at the 60th Anniversary of the International Debutante Ball. The debutantes represented Austria, China, England, Hong Kong, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and twelve American states. Each debutante was accompanied by her own escort in white tie and tails, and a military cadet who carried the flag of the country or state which she represented. This year there were five sets of sisters.

Sponsored by Piaget, and The Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation the Ball benefits go to The International Debutante Ball Foundation which supports numerous charities. The primary charity is The Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club, a home away from home for the military and their families. Partial support will go to the American Ballet Theater, Friends of Versailles and the American Theater Wing among others.

The ball was founded in 1954 by Beatrice Dinsmore Joyce as a charity and the tradition continues today directed by her niece, Mrs. Gregory Scott Hedberg, Director and General Chairman. This year the Honorary Chairmen were Ms. Anne Eisenhower, Mrs. David R. Hamilton and Ms. Julia Irene Kauffman and Ball Chairmen included Mrs. Andrew E. Beer, Mrs. Spencer Neville Brown, Mrs. Ryland E.D. Chase, Mrs. D. David Eisenhower, Ms. Susan Eisenhower, and Mrs. William Dean McNaughton

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BIO:

Inventor of the interactive card deck Warrior Spirit / Mission Homefront and Warrior Spirit / Mission Homefront for Couples,

Leslie is a psychotherapist with a private practice in New York City, and she has been a Consultant for the foster care system for seventeen years. Leslie has been a Program Director for programs for at-risk youth in the South Bronx, for six years created and implemented long-term intensive arts and after-school programs in inner city schools for at-risk and hard to reach youth, developed and led staff development trainings in creativity, and for two years pioneered a poetry project at Rikers Island Correctional Facilities for Men and Women. She has also supervised residences for homeless young adults, worked in homeless shelters, worked in an emergency shelter for runaway youth, and has been an adjunct literature and writing Professor at the College of New Rochelle. Leslie graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. Recently, she has been creating and facilitating highly lauded Diversity and Leadership Development workshops at college campuses which include City College of New York, Bronx Community College, and Kingsborough College.

Leslie recently launched the Warrior Spirit / Mission Homefront and Warrior Spirit / Mission Homefront for Couples interactive card decks, which have already been garnering great praise amongst Veterans, the National Guard, Behavioral and Psychological Health Therapists, family members of Veterans, V.A.’s, Vet Centers, Wounded Warrior programs, Family programs, Commanders, Generals and Chaplains, among others. Please visit www.missionhomefront.com, for testimonials, videos, sample questions, and for further information on this product.

Contact: Leslie Robinson at Leslie@missionhomefront.com or at 917.302.5086

ABOUT THE KEEP IT REAL Rx GAME

In a world where technology exceeds our wildest expectations, we are still without tools with which to unlock and discover the most precious and fundamental parts of ourselves.  Leslie Robinson, the creator of the Keep It Real game, invented this game to provide a space where people can come together to explore, discover and share their innermost thoughts, feelings and desires, to create connection which has meaning, to help people to communicate deeply, and to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of the human psyche.

As we go through our routines, where along the way do we get feedback about our lives and the complexity of how experiences have affected us?  Where are we taught about the power of emotions and how they influence us?  How do we find our way? The Keep It Real game is all about US, and is all about LIFE. While we play, we discover one another in all of our different dimensions, are surprised and exhilarated by one another, have a fabulous time, and we are given the opportunity to reflect on our lives in a unique and transformative way.

Keep It Real Rx is a place where strangers become friends, friends become comrades, and families open up to one another and see one another with new eyes. The Keep It Real game beckons us to look at the underside of life and fling our flags away. It pleads with us to put our old, little snarly judges down for naps, try on another’s shoes for a while, listen to one another, and indulge fully in the splendor of our human experience.

The Keep It Real game asks real questions you have always wanted to ask but never dared to, and real questions you have always secretly wanted to talk about such as: Do you believe in “an eye for an eye” or turning the other cheek, and why?; What do you think keeps love alive?; What does freedom mean to you?; What is something you would like a second chance at? Think of a race different from your own – how would your life be different if you had been born into that race?; Would you rather be a famous rock star or a great politician, and why?; Have you ever had a spiritual experience? Explain.

The rules of the game are simple: you move around the circular track responding to questions in five categories (determined by the roll of the dice): Personal, The World, Fantasy/Imagination, Reflection and Action/Description. In the Interaction category you engage in unusual and enjoyable interactions, and in the Challenge category you are prompted to move out of your comfort zone, and to be glad you did.  You have opportunities to win gold coins in the challenge category, and from your fellow players. The first player to reach the Giant Keep It Real space in the center of the board with the most gold coins wins the game.

Keep It Real is great for ages 14 and up, with 2 to 12 players.  You can purchase the Keep It Real game online at Keepitrealgame.com, or at Amazon.com. To view videos, see more thought provoking questions, and to find out more, please visit us at our website at www.keepitrealgame.com, and at our blog at www.keepitrealgame.tumblr.com.

QUOTE

“There has never been a board game like this … EVER!!! We have seen and played the games that challenge our memory, our intellect, our management skills, even our physical dexterity. But KEEP IT REAL challenges us in ways that would do far more than entertain or help to pass the time. It will stay with us in potentially life altering ways in rebuilding our perceptions of others and ourselves, while having us run a fun filled spectrum of emotions in the process.  No one has ever enjoyed themselves or explored themselves this much with a board game before!”

Gerard Brown  – – Screenwriter of “Juice” starring Tupac Shakur

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Trance4mation Games Mission

Trance4mation Games views its mission as providing the public with bold and transformational games which are in essence restorative powerhouses; games to revitalize and rejuvenate the human spirit through the creation of a safe “space” for authentic, life-enhancing communication and interpersonal connection. Social isolation as well as breakdowns in communication in families have become significant issues. Trance4mation Games creates powerful, cutting edge interactive games designed to address and to change this trend.

Trance4mation Games is deeply committed to assisting those who are working to help our disenfranchised youth become more connected to their schools, and their communities. 90% of the students who have played this game feel the use of the Keep it Real game in their classrooms would promote a better learning environment, reduce violence, and create more harmony in their schools.

We are seeking to distribute the Keep It Real game to schools and organizations who work with youth, and are in need of a tool which will help them to connect, bond, and establish positive and productive relationships with teens, as well as to assist the teens in understanding themselves and others, and life more deeply.

The post LESLIE ROBINSON, KEEP IT REAL Rx GAME appeared first on Good News!.

The 2009 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

Hunts Point Riverside Park, South Bronx

It is my desire to give the recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve,
to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path Lillian Gish

My job is to show folks theres a lot of good music in this world, and if used right,
it may help to save the planet. Pete Seeger, 2009 Gish Prize Recipient

New York, NYFolk musician and environmental activist Pete Seeger will be presented with one of the largest awards in the arts The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prizeat a special outdoor tribute on Thursday, September 3, 2009. The tribute will take place in the newly-revitalized Hunts Point Riverside Park, South Bronx, in partnership with Rocking the Boat. Seeger, who supports Rocking the Boat, will be joined by his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and the children participating in the non-profit program which overlooks the scenic Bronx River. Seeger will receive a $200,000 legacy from silent film stars Dorothy and Lillian Gish and a silver medallion.

Seeger was selected from a pool of nominations submitted each year by The Gish Prize Selection Committee, which is composed of leaders in the arts. In her will, Lillian Gish specified that the prize should be awarded annually to a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankinds enjoyment and understanding of life. Now in its 16th year, The Gish Prize continues to reflect the spirit of the pioneering sisters, paying tribute to artistic trailblazers. Gish Prize recipients, from Robert Redford to Arthur Miller and Frank Gehry, have shaped the cultural landscape in drama, music, dance, art, architecture, lighting design, film, and literature. (See full list of Gish Prize recipients below.) JPMorgan Chase Bank is Trustee for The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

One of the most influential musical and social voices of the 20th century, Seeger used his talents not only to entertain but also to unite people and support causes, from labor to the environment. The Gish sisters legacy recognizes the power of art to inform, entertain and encourage generation after generation, said Seeger.

This year, the Gish Prize ceremony will move outdoors to the site of the non-profit organization Rocking the Boat (located adjacent to Hunts Point Riverside Park) in honor of Seegers long-standing work for the environment, which began in the 1960s. A former illegal dumping ground, the sites revitalization through community action reflects Seegers grassroots approach. Today, the park, which was recently cited with the Ruby Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, is an oasis in the city, offering residents and groups like Rocking the Boat a place for learning and recreation.

Seegers Gish Prize award will benefit Rocking the Boat, a program that uses traditional wooden boatbuilding and on-water education to help young people develop into empowered and responsible adults. Rocking the Boats programs directly serve over 2,000 students and community members drawn from a range of New York City public middle schools, high schools and neighborhoods.

Biography: Pete Seeger

Earlier this year, Pete Seeger led a chorus of half a million people in a sing-a-long of This Land is Your Land on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The performance was a testament to the continued power of Petes music and to his ability to reach beyond the stage. This community approach to performance is a Seeger trademark. Singing together you suddenly find out theres things you can learn from each other that you wouldnt learn from arguments, that you might not learn any other way, said Pete in a 2005 interview on National Public Radio.

Born in 1919 into a family of musicians, Pete dropped out of Harvard at 19 to bicycle across New England and hop freight trains across the country with Woody Guthrie. Through his father, ethnomusicologist Dr. Charles Seeger, he landed a life-changing job following noted folk archivist Alan Lomax on trips through the South collecting and transcribing songs for the Library of Congress. The experience opened his eyes to the lost gems of American traditional music, which has formed the basis of his work throughout his six-decade career. Pete has not only preserved folk songs and stories through his numerous recordings, he has also invigorated the genre with hundreds of original compositions, including “If I Had a Hammer,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and the folk standard “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” As a leading voice of folk music, Pete was an inspiration to countless artists who followed.

For Pete, music has always been a grassroots effort, a way to unite and inspire people for a common cause. He brought protest songs with pro-labor and antiwar themes to the people at picket lines, schools, colleges, union halls, clubs, concert halls and festivals. He played first with The Almanac Singers, which included Woody Guthrie, Sis Cunningham and Lee Hays, and then with the legendary folk band The Weavers, which Pete formed after World War II when he got out of the army.

During the McCarthy-era communist witch-hunts, The Weavers were blacklisted and barred from major recording contracts, concerts and television. Pete went underground releasing numerous albums on independent labels. In the 1960s, Pete and his wife, Toshi, marched in Selma, Alabama, and participated in Civil Rights workshops at the Highlander Institute. It was there that Dr. Martin Luther King first heard We Shall Overcome. Barred from performing on television and radio, Pete sang at summer camps and private colleges across the USA and Canada. Pete became a vocal opponent to the Vietnam War, and his protest songs found a new, younger audience.

Around this time, Pete began turning his attention to the environment, long before it became fashionable. In 1969, he co-founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization that champions the restoration and preservation of the Hudson River and its estuaries through grassroots activism, music and education. Clearwater also refers to the 106-foot-long sloop Pete helped build. Today, the sloop still plies the Hudson and the Classroom of the Waves program continues to advocate for the environment and the community of the Hudson Valley by taking over 20,000 school children a year out on the river.

On stage or off, Pete continues to be heard. Perhaps poet Carl Sandburg described it best when he called Pete Americas tuning fork. After all these years, Pete continues to resonate with the best part of America, our soul.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the largest awards in the arts. Nominations are welcomed from the arts community and may be submitted through The Gish Prize website, www.gishprize.com. The Gish Prize committee, a group that changes every year, considers all nominations and chooses each recipient. Composed of leaders in the arts community, the committee for this year includes Cora Cahan, president, The New 42nd Street; Graciela Daniele, choreographer; Michael Kaiser, president, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Terrence McNally, playwright; and, Lowery Sims, curator, Museum of Arts and Design.

The Gish Prize was established in 1994 by The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Trust. Stars of the silent screen, Dorothy and Lillian Gish brought their unique sensibilities and talents to early film, shaping the development of that art form. The sisters made their motion picture debut together in D.W. Griffiths An Unseen Enemy in 1912 and went on to appear in over 100 films each. They also received accolades for their work on stage and in television. Lillian Gish died in 1993 and Dorothy Gish died in 1968. Their legacy lives on today in The Gish Prize, and in their desire to give the recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve, to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Recipients

2009 Pete Seeger, folk musician, singer and social activist
2008 Robert Redford, filmmaker, activist, Sundance Institute founder
2007 Laurie Anderson, multimedia performance artist
2006 Shirin Neshat, visual artist and filmmaker
2005 Peter Sellars, theatre and opera director
2004 Ornette Coleman, jazz innovator
2003 Bill T. Jones, dancer/choreographer
2002 Lloyd Richards, theatre director
2001 Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer
2000 Merce Cunningham, dancer/choreographer
1999 Arthur Miller, author/playwright
1998 Isabel Allende, author
1997 Bob Dylan, singer/songwriter
1996 Robert Wilson, artist/director
1995 Ingmar Bergman, film director
1994 Frank Gehry, architect

The post Musician/Activist Pete Seeger, A Voice Of The People and The Environment (part 1-3) appeared first on Good News!.

The 2009 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

Hunts Point Riverside Park, South Bronx

It is my desire to give the recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve,
to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path Lillian Gish

My job is to show folks there’s a lot of good music in this world, and if used right,
it may help to save the planet. Pete Seeger, 2009 Gish Prize Recipient

New York, NY Folk musician and environmental activist Pete Seeger will be presented with one of the largest awards in the arts The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize at a special outdoor tribute on Thursday, September 3, 2009. The tribute will take place in the newly-revitalized Hunts Point Riverside Park, South Bronx, in partnership with Rocking the Boat. Seeger, who supports Rocking the Boat, will be joined by his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and the children participating in the non-profit program which overlooks the scenic Bronx River. Seeger will receive a $200,000 legacy from silent film stars Dorothy and Lillian Gish and a silver medallion.

Seeger was selected from a pool of nominations submitted each year by The Gish Prize Selection Committee, which is composed of leaders in the arts. In her will, Lillian Gish specified that the prize should be awarded annually to a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life. Now in its 16th year, The Gish Prize continues to reflect the spirit of the pioneering sisters, paying tribute to artistic trailblazers. Gish Prize recipients, from Robert Redford to Arthur Miller and Frank Gehry, have shaped the cultural landscape in drama, music, dance, art, architecture, lighting design, film, and literature. (See full list of Gish Prize recipients below.) JP Morgan Chase Bank is Trustee for The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

One of the most influential musical and social voices of the 20th century, Seeger used his talents not only to entertain but also to unite people and support causes, from labor to the environment. The Gish sisters legacy recognizes the power of art to inform, entertain and encourage generation after generation, said Seeger.

This year, the Gish Prize ceremony will move outdoors to the site of the non-profit organization Rocking the Boat (located adjacent to Hunts Point Riverside Park) in honor of Seeger’s long-standing work for the environment, which began in the 1960s. A former illegal dumping ground, the sites revitalization through community action reflects Seegers grassroots approach. Today, the park, which was recently cited with the Ruby Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, is an oasis in the city, offering residents and groups like Rocking the Boat a place for learning and recreation.

Seeger’s Gish Prize award will benefit Rocking the Boat, a program that uses traditional wooden boat building and on-water education to help young people develop into empowered and responsible adults. Rocking the Boats programs directly serve over 2,000 students and community members drawn from a range of New York City public middle schools, high schools and neighborhoods.

Biography: Pete Seeger

Earlier this year, Pete Seeger led a chorus of half a million people in a sing-a-long of This Land is Your Land on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The performance was a testament to the continued power of Pete’s music and to his ability to reach beyond the stage. This community approach to performance is a Seeger trademark. Singing together you suddenly find out theres things you can learn from each other that you wouldnt learn from arguments, that you might not learn any other way, said Pete in a 2005 interview on National Public Radio.

Born in 1919 into a family of musicians, Pete dropped out of Harvard at 19 to bicycle across New England and hop freight trains across the country with Woody Guthrie. Through his father, ethnomusicologist Dr. Charles Seeger, he landed a life-changing job following noted folk archivist Alan Lomax on trips through the South collecting and transcribing songs for the Library of Congress. The experience opened his eyes to the lost gems of American traditional music, which has formed the basis of his work throughout his six-decade career. Pete has not only preserved folk songs and stories through his numerous recordings, he has also invigorated the genre with hundreds of original compositions, including “If I Had a Hammer,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and the folk standard “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” As a leading voice of folk music, Pete was an inspiration to countless artists who followed.

For Pete, music has always been a grassroots effort, a way to unite and inspire people for a common cause. He brought protest songs with pro-labor and antiwar themes to the people at picket lines, schools, colleges, union halls, clubs, concert halls and festivals. He played first with The Almanac Singers, which included Woody Guthrie, Sis Cunningham and Lee Hays, and then with the legendary folk band The Weavers, which Pete formed after World War II when he got out of the army.

During the McCarthy-era communist witch-hunts, The Weavers were blacklisted and barred from major recording contracts, concerts and television. Pete went underground releasing numerous albums on independent labels. In the 1960s, Pete and his wife, Toshi, marched in Selma, Alabama, and participated in Civil Rights workshops at the Highlander Institute. It was there that Dr. Martin Luther King first heard We Shall Overcome. Barred from performing on television and radio, Pete sang at summer camps and private colleges across the USA and Canada. Pete became a vocal opponent to the Vietnam War, and his protest songs found a new, younger audience.

Around this time, Pete began turning his attention to the environment, long before it became fashionable. In 1969, he co-founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization that champions the restoration and preservation of the Hudson River and its estuaries through grassroots activism, music and education. Clearwater also refers to the 106-foot-long sloop Pete helped build. Today, the sloop still plies the Hudson and the Classroom of the Waves program continues to advocate for the environment and the community of the Hudson Valley by taking over 20,000 school children a year out on the river.

On stage or off, Pete continues to be heard. Perhaps poet Carl Sandburg described it best when he called Pete Americas tuning fork. After all these years, Pete continues to resonate with the best part of America, our soul.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the largest awards in the arts. Nominations are welcomed from the arts community and may be submitted through The Gish Prize website, www.gishprize.com. The Gish Prize committee, a group that changes every year, considers all nominations and chooses each recipient. Composed of leaders in the arts community, the committee for this year includes Cora Cahan, president, The New 42nd Street; Graciela Daniele, choreographer; Michael Kaiser, president, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Terrence McNally, playwright; and, Lowery Sims, curator, Museum of Arts and Design.

The Gish Prize was established in 1994 by The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Trust. Stars of the silent screen, Dorothy and Lillian Gish brought their unique sensibilities and talents to early film, shaping the development of that art form. The sisters made their motion picture debut together in D.W. Griffiths An Unseen Enemy in 1912 and went on to appear in over 100 films each. They also received accolades for their work on stage and in television. Lillian Gish died in 1993 and Dorothy Gish died in 1968. Their legacy lives on today in The Gish Prize, and in their desire to give the recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve, to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Recipients

2009 Pete Seeger, folk musician, singer and social activist
2008 Robert Redford, filmmaker, activist, Sundance Institute founder
2007 Laurie Anderson, multimedia performance artist
2006 Shirin Neshat, visual artist and filmmaker
2005 Peter Sellars, theatre and opera director
2004 Ornette Coleman, jazz innovator
2003 Bill T. Jones, dancer/choreographer
2002 Lloyd Richards, theatre director
2001 Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer
2000 Merce Cunningham, dancer/choreographer
1999 Arthur Miller, author/playwright
1998 Isabel Allende, author
1997 Bob Dylan, singer/songwriter
1996 Robert Wilson, artist/director
1995 Ingmar Bergman, film director
1994 Frank Gehry, architect

The post Musician/Activist Pete Seeger, A Voice Of The People and The Environment (part 2) appeared first on Good News!.

The 2009 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

Hunts Point Riverside Park, South Bronx

It is my desire to give the recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve,
to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path Lillian Gish

My job is to show folks theres a lot of good music in this world, and if used right,
it may help to save the planet. Pete Seeger, 2009 Gish Prize Recipient

New York, NYFolk musician and environmental activist Pete Seeger will be presented with one of the largest awards in the arts The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prizeat a special outdoor tribute on Thursday, September 3, 2009. The tribute will take place in the newly-revitalized Hunts Point Riverside Park, South Bronx, in partnership with Rocking the Boat. Seeger, who supports Rocking the Boat, will be joined by his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and the children participating in the non-profit program which overlooks the scenic Bronx River. Seeger will receive a $200,000 legacy from silent film stars Dorothy and Lillian Gish and a silver medallion.

Seeger was selected from a pool of nominations submitted each year by The Gish Prize Selection Committee, which is composed of leaders in the arts. In her will, Lillian Gish specified that the prize should be awarded annually to a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankinds enjoyment and understanding of life. Now in its 16th year, The Gish Prize continues to reflect the spirit of the pioneering sisters, paying tribute to artistic trailblazers. Gish Prize recipients, from Robert Redford to Arthur Miller and Frank Gehry, have shaped the cultural landscape in drama, music, dance, art, architecture, lighting design, film, and literature. (See full list of Gish Prize recipients below.) JPMorgan Chase Bank is Trustee for The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

One of the most influential musical and social voices of the 20th century, Seeger used his talents not only to entertain but also to unite people and support causes, from labor to the environment. The Gish sisters legacy recognizes the power of art to inform, entertain and encourage generation after generation, said Seeger.

This year, the Gish Prize ceremony will move outdoors to the site of the non-profit organization Rocking the Boat (located adjacent to Hunts Point Riverside Park) in honor of Seegers long-standing work for the environment, which began in the 1960s. A former illegal dumping ground, the sites revitalization through community action reflects Seegers grassroots approach. Today, the park, which was recently cited with the Ruby Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, is an oasis in the city, offering residents and groups like Rocking the Boat a place for learning and recreation.

Seegers Gish Prize award will benefit Rocking the Boat, a program that uses traditional wooden boatbuilding and on-water education to help young people develop into empowered and responsible adults. Rocking the Boats programs directly serve over 2,000 students and community members drawn from a range of New York City public middle schools, high schools and neighborhoods.

Biography: Pete Seeger

Earlier this year, Pete Seeger led a chorus of half a million people in a sing-a-long of This Land is Your Land on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The performance was a testament to the continued power of Petes music and to his ability to reach beyond the stage. This community approach to performance is a Seeger trademark. Singing together you suddenly find out theres things you can learn from each other that you wouldnt learn from arguments, that you might not learn any other way, said Pete in a 2005 interview on National Public Radio.

Born in 1919 into a family of musicians, Pete dropped out of Harvard at 19 to bicycle across New England and hop freight trains across the country with Woody Guthrie. Through his father, ethnomusicologist Dr. Charles Seeger, he landed a life-changing job following noted folk archivist Alan Lomax on trips through the South collecting and transcribing songs for the Library of Congress. The experience opened his eyes to the lost gems of American traditional music, which has formed the basis of his work throughout his six-decade career. Pete has not only preserved folk songs and stories through his numerous recordings, he has also invigorated the genre with hundreds of original compositions, including “If I Had a Hammer,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and the folk standard “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” As a leading voice of folk music, Pete was an inspiration to countless artists who followed.

For Pete, music has always been a grassroots effort, a way to unite and inspire people for a common cause. He brought protest songs with pro-labor and antiwar themes to the people at picket lines, schools, colleges, union halls, clubs, concert halls and festivals. He played first with The Almanac Singers, which included Woody Guthrie, Sis Cunningham and Lee Hays, and then with the legendary folk band The Weavers, which Pete formed after World War II when he got out of the army.

During the McCarthy-era communist witch-hunts, The Weavers were blacklisted and barred from major recording contracts, concerts and television. Pete went underground releasing numerous albums on independent labels. In the 1960s, Pete and his wife, Toshi, marched in Selma, Alabama, and participated in Civil Rights workshops at the Highlander Institute. It was there that Dr. Martin Luther King first heard We Shall Overcome. Barred from performing on television and radio, Pete sang at summer camps and private colleges across the USA and Canada. Pete became a vocal opponent to the Vietnam War, and his protest songs found a new, younger audience.

Around this time, Pete began turning his attention to the environment, long before it became fashionable. In 1969, he co-founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization that champions the restoration and preservation of the Hudson River and its estuaries through grassroots activism, music and education. Clearwater also refers to the 106-foot-long sloop Pete helped build. Today, the sloop still plies the Hudson and the Classroom of the Waves program continues to advocate for the environment and the community of the Hudson Valley by taking over 20,000 school children a year out on the river.

On stage or off, Pete continues to be heard. Perhaps poet Carl Sandburg described it best when he called Pete Americas tuning fork. After all these years, Pete continues to resonate with the best part of America, our soul.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the largest awards in the arts. Nominations are welcomed from the arts community and may be submitted through The Gish Prize website, www.gishprize.com. The Gish Prize committee, a group that changes every year, considers all nominations and chooses each recipient. Composed of leaders in the arts community, the committee for this year includes Cora Cahan, president, The New 42nd Street; Graciela Daniele, choreographer; Michael Kaiser, president, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Terrence McNally, playwright; and, Lowery Sims, curator, Museum of Arts and Design.

The Gish Prize was established in 1994 by The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Trust. Stars of the silent screen, Dorothy and Lillian Gish brought their unique sensibilities and talents to early film, shaping the development of that art form. The sisters made their motion picture debut together in D.W. Griffiths An Unseen Enemy in 1912 and went on to appear in over 100 films each. They also received accolades for their work on stage and in television. Lillian Gish died in 1993 and Dorothy Gish died in 1968. Their legacy lives on today in The Gish Prize, and in their desire to give the recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve, to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Recipients

2009 Pete Seeger, folk musician, singer and social activist
2008 Robert Redford, filmmaker, activist, Sundance Institute founder
2007 Laurie Anderson, multimedia performance artist
2006 Shirin Neshat, visual artist and filmmaker
2005 Peter Sellars, theatre and opera director
2004 Ornette Coleman, jazz innovator
2003 Bill T. Jones, dancer/choreographer
2002 Lloyd Richards, theatre director
2001 Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer
2000 Merce Cunningham, dancer/choreographer
1999 Arthur Miller, author/playwright
1998 Isabel Allende, author
1997 Bob Dylan, singer/songwriter
1996 Robert Wilson, artist/director
1995 Ingmar Bergman, film director
1994 Frank Gehry, architect

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