Anton Armstrong
Greetings to the swarm of Saline Fiddlers and their friends invading the Fredösphere today (because of yesterday's post). If you guys crash my server, I'll never say another nice thing about anyone.
My friend Alan alerted me to MPR's live interview with Anton Armstrong of St. Olaf's College. In case you don't know, Armstrong is the choral educator par excellence. I listened live; you can listen to the archival recording.
Armstrong says students arrive at college today with less of the fundamental training in place that in years past. He also places great emphasis on an ensemble mentality, and he says sometimes he turns down superior voices to get it. He thinks some churches' search for relevance has become "narcissistic;" "feel good" seems to be a favorite put-down. Finally, he lauds the arts role as a prophetic voice -- oh, yes! -- but then drops a fly in the ointment of an otherwise inspiring interview by citing Paul Robeson, who was "accused by Senator McCarthy" of being a communist. Yikes. We need to remember the rule: just because McCarthy called you a communist doesn't mean you're not one.
From Anton Armstrong to animated talking organic produce. (Thanks for the link, Jeremy.) From the sublime to the ... to the ... even more sublime!
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
1 Comments:
1) I'd have to see a more credible source than Wikipedia, or "Rutgars University's new Conservative magazine."
2) Who gives a damn if Robeson was a member of the Communist Party? The problem with McCarthy and the HUAC wasn't that they were wrong about Communist sympathizers. It was that they were playing thought-police and viiolating the First Amendment rights of countless Americans.
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