聲動樂團 9月17日 麻州大學藝術中心演出

聲動樂團2014美國巡迴演出即將展開

9月17日將於麻州大學藝術中心演出

  麻州大學安赫斯特分校（UMass Amherst）分校將於9月17日（週三）晚7點半，在該校 Bowker 禮堂，推出台灣“聲動樂團”的表演。

             駐波士頓臺北經濟文化辦事處指出，包括麻州大學在內的「五校聯盟（Five Colleges, Incorporated）」，今年加入文化部「臺灣文化光點計畫」項目，將以合作夥伴身份，在麻州執行長達18個月的光點計劃。

            五校聯盟是一個成立於1965年，包括安赫斯特學院（Amherst College），漢普夏爾學院（ Hampshire College）， 霍山學院（ Mount Holyoke College ），史密斯學院（Smith College），麻州大學安赫斯特分校（UMass Amherst）等五所學校，共有學生30,000人，教職員2,200人的非營利跨校聯盟組織，為五所學校的共約4萬名師生提供文化，藝術交流服務，在美國麻州西部有歷史，有份量。

該聯盟在今年七月中公佈的一份新聞稿中指出，該聯盟獲得台灣文化部撥給五萬元，將在十八個月內，為紐英崙地區帶來世界知名樂團，偶戲團，以及雲門舞集等三個著名的台灣表演團體，以精湛技藝展示台灣傳統文化，民俗的豐富，多元。

聲動樂團的演出將是該校執行光點計畫的今秋重頭戲。

經文處表示，「臺灣文化光點計畫」是潤泰集團尹衍樑捐贈美金400萬元，預定在2013年到2016年間，每年撥款100萬美元來推動辦理的計劃，旨在藉著邀請全球知名學府或相關機構共同合作，藉著文化活動，讓臺灣深入全球社區，與之互動，換言之，也是「用文化點亮臺灣的位置」。

          聲動樂團在世界各地巡演，已有12年。今年已前往捷克、斯洛伐克、波蘭、德國、瑞士、美國、澳洲、紐西蘭等共8個國家演出了20場。 9月起在美國5州將共表演10場， 9月17日的麻州大學演出，將是該團美國行第4站。

聲動樂團由主唱謝韻雅(Mia)與來自紐約的台灣女婿Scott Prairie創立，以二胡、中阮、小阮、鑼鼓等民族樂器、悠遠的人聲吟唱、精緻又活潑的現代編曲，從臺灣在地文化中創造出一曲曲動聽的樂曲。以「世界音樂」型態，讓世界觀眾從多元融合文化認識台灣、欣賞台灣的原創活力！曾於2012年英國最大世界音樂節WOMAD (BBC舞台即時轉播)演出中獲Financial Times評選為前三名，國際知名媒體Discovery、NPR(美國最大的國家公共廣播電台)、BBC(英國知名電台) 等專訪，並獲美國唱片公司MOTEMA簽約發行國際專輯。

聲動樂團在麻州大學演出的票價，全票15美元，敬老與17歲以下孩童優待票10美元。查詢詳情可上網https://fac.umass.edu/Online/。

      麻州大學（UMass Amherst）將邀請來自臺灣的「聲動樂團」於2014年9月17日晚間7點半，於該校Bowker Auditorium演出，歡迎有興趣的民眾前往參與。

麻州大學所屬之「麻州大學五校聯盟（Five Colleges, Incorporated）」係中華民國文化部所推動「臺灣文化光點計畫」於2014年新加入的合作對象。此一非營利跨校組織聯盟成立於1965年，共有師生近4萬名，是美國麻州西部重要的高等學術機構。在執行總監Neal Abraham的領導下，長達18個月的光點計畫將規劃表演藝術活動邀演，結合相關節慶配套如：端午、春節等，串連勾勒整體臺灣意象，以推廣臺灣多元藝術文化；聲動樂團的演出則是該校執行光點計畫於今秋的重頭戲。

由潤泰集團尹衍樑先生捐贈美金400萬元所推動之「臺灣文化光點計畫」，自2013年至2016年每年撥付100萬美元，邀請全球知名學府或相關機構共同合作，使臺灣以文化的方式與全球社區深入互動；「用文化點亮臺灣的位置」是光點計畫的初衷。

         聲動樂團則延續該團12年來推動臺灣文化國際交流的理想，2014年世界巡迴前往捷克、斯洛伐克、波蘭、德國、瑞士、美國、澳洲、紐西蘭共8個國家進行20場演出；繼7月結束歐洲巡迴演出後，於9月分赴美國5州進行10場演出，融合藝術節、大學、社區藝文等型態：「麥迪遜世界音樂節」排行全美前五大，華盛頓州立大學新創的「人類文化藝術節」備受好評；McIntyre Hall、海德中心、林肯市立文化中心，則皆為歷史古蹟建物。除了音樂演出外，並將延伸多場校園示範講座，深入介紹台灣歷史人文、音樂傳統與現代的發展樣貌。9月17日麻州大學之演出為該團美國行的第4站。

聲動樂團由主唱謝韻雅(Mia)與來自紐約的台灣女婿Scott Prairie創立，以二胡、中阮、小阮、鑼鼓等民族樂器、悠遠的人聲吟唱、精緻又活潑的現代編曲，從臺灣在地文化中創造出一曲曲動聽的樂曲。以「世界音樂」型態，讓世界觀眾從多元融合文化認識台灣、欣賞台灣的原創活力！曾於2012年英國最大世界音樂節WOMAD (BBC舞台即時轉播)演出中獲Financial Times評選為前三名，國際知名媒體Discovery、NPR(美國最大的國家公共廣播電台)、BBC(英國知名電台) 等專訪，並獲美國唱片公司MOTEMA簽約發行國際專輯。

UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center will present

“Sheng Dong: Music from Taiwan” on September 17

UMass Amherst will present “Sheng Dong, a Moving Sound” from Taiwan to perform at Bowker Auditorium at UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center on September 17. This presentation is a collaboration between Five Colleges, Incorporated and the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the project “Spotlight Taiwan”, working in partnership with the Asian Arts and Culture Program at the University of Massachusetts’ Fine Arts Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, to introduce Taiwanese culture to western Massachusetts.

Sponsored by Samuel Yen-Liang Ying, leader of Ruentex Financial Group, Spotlight Taiwan is establishing collaborations with 40 major universities and related institutions around the world to highlight the artistry and richness of Taiwanese culture. Five Colleges, Inc. is the new partner of the Spotlight Taiwan project in July 2014.

The 18-month collaboration of Spotlight Taiwan will bring to the area highly selective artistic companies – one in music, one in puppetry and theater, and one in dance. In addition, Five College area community groups will organize such local celebrations of Taiwan culture as a Chinese New Year Festival and dragon boat races. The performance of “Sheng Dong” company will be a great musical event in Five College area this autumn.

Sheng Dong is a performance company based in Taipei, Taiwan and creates a new musical expression using traditional Chinese instruments such as the bowed fiddle Erhu, the Chinese guitar Zhong ruan, as well as a blend of Western instruments. Transcendent vocals and dance by lead singer Mia Hsieh, transport listeners to and beyond the Far East. Sheng Dong has attracted international attention for opening a door to this unexplored territory with a music that is both ethnic and intensely passionate and creative.  

The world music of Sheng Dong (A Moving Sound) makes use of both Western and Chinese instruments to create songs inspired by traditional Chinese music, Taiwanese aboriginal and folk songs, and the music of Central Asia. Catching the attention of World Music critics around the globe, the modern sound is at once authentic, beautiful, and intense.

Success Boston and Boston Public Schools teach College Knowledge this October with College Month

Success Boston and Boston Public Schools teach College Knowledge this October with College Month

BOSTON – College is a family choice, and college planning begins in Kindergarten. These two themes will guide a City of Boston initiative, College Month, from September 27 through October 31. While College Month 2014 may target Boston high school students across the City, Success Boston and Boston Public Schools plan to spark early college awareness in students and families of the state’s largest school district.

Boston Public Schools and the City of Boston launched College Month in 2006 to promote Get Ready for College Day activities for BPS eighth graders, as well as the distribution of a newly-developed BPS College and Career Guide. Eight years later, College Month is sustained by BPS and the community partnerships of the Success Boston College Completion Initiative. Success Boston, launched in 2008, is a partnership of the Office of Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the Boston Public Schools, the Boston Foundation, the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), and more than 50 higher education and nonprofit institutions. The initiative is working to double – to 70% – the six-year college completion rate of BPS graduates.

College Month is a multi-pronged college readiness strategy that combines the collective ways teachers, community organizations, and higher education institutions are talking with BPS students about their futures. “College Month is entirely student-facing,” said BPS High School Network Superintendent Mary Skipper. “It puts students face-to-face with the reality that college planning begins now – no matter which grade you are in.”

College Month 2014 will begin with a College and Career Fair on September 27 at the Madison Park Technical/Vocational High School in Roxbury. The Fair’s sponsors, BPS and Boston Scholar Athletes, expect more than 800 students and parents to connect with 90 colleges and universities from across New England and as far away as Georgia.

Then, on the night of October 1 at the Boston School Committee meeting, School Committee members will kick off October by showing their alma-mater pride in honor of the City and District tradition.

Each week in College Month will highlight a “college knowledge” theme. Students across elementary, middle, and high schools will participate in age-appropriate college awareness.

Week 1: Empowering Students and Families through Financial Aid: uAspire, a non-profit Success Boston member dedicated to helping students apply for and receive financial aid, will reach nearly 1,000 students during College Month through its Afford College 101 Workshops. Adam Reinke of uAspire wants families to know that financial aid is an accessible process. “The workshops empower young people for whom finances must play an important factor,” Reinke said. uAspire is available free of charge to help all students and families with college affordability needs or questions. Last year, College Month financial aid lessons reached as early as first grade, where students saved pennies to learn decision making and to start individual college savings.

Week 2: Ensuring Student and Family Planning and Preparation: The Boston Scholar Athletes, a non-profit organization partnering with A-List Education to offer SAT preparation in 18 BPS high schools, will host College Admissions Awareness week. Along with college and university open houses, and scholarship and college essay strategies, Boston Scholar Athletes expects that College Month will help students and families think about the benchmarks of college planning before sophomore year, such as PSAT and SAT testing. Boston Scholar Athletes will launch its scholarship during Admissions week and hold Tweet Chats along with other non-profits to engage students via social media.

To support students’ college planning, BPS has partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), and the Department of Higher Education to launch an online post-secondary planning portal, Your Plan for the Future (YPFF), available at 22 high schools in its pilot year. Each student will have access to individual college readiness data and a wealth of information, tutorials, and application tracking through YPFF. 

Week 3: Bringing BPS Alumni Home: University of Massachusetts-Boston student and BPS graduate Jean Charles is one of 1,800 students supported by transitional coaching models through Success Boston. A Success Boston Student Leadership Committee member, Charles developed an alumni engagement strategy with the National College Advising Corps. Placing recent college graduates as college advisors in 15 BPS high schools this September, the National College Advising Corps’ Boston Chapter and BPS alumni leaders will reach nearly 8,000 students during Alumni Engagement week.

According to Charles, a graduate of the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science, BPS alumni bring a powerful message of college success. “BPS graduates represent different languages, cultures, and high schools,” he said. “That diversity translates well into college and career success. There are BPS graduates everywhere doing amazing things. I want to share that and help promote the great opportunities that college offers. There’s an entire network of people out there who can help every high school student build a future.”

Week 4: Connecting College and Career Readiness: Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), also a Success Boston member, will distribute student take-away cards with degree attainment and total lifetime earnings, and “hot jobs” in sciences, technology and healthcare. According to PIC’s Josh Bruno, teachers used the cards last year in math lessons to conceptualize the value of a college education and career options. Students in early grades will meet with professionals across industries to understand connections between college and career.

Students and families can ask questions pertaining to college, financial aid, and career by using the hashtag, #CollegeMonth.

Boston Public Schools and non-profit partners will extend the lessons of College Month well beyond October 31. In collaboration with Success Boston, BPS is planning follow-up College Boot Camps and in-school initiatives to ensure college knowledge is a daily lesson.

Learn more about and engage with College Month:

www.successboston.org

facebook.com/successboston

Twitter: @CollegeMonth

Twitter Chat: #CollegeMonth #SuccessBoston

Instagram: @CollegeMonth

GOVERNOR PATRICK LEADS LIFE SCIENCES INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP FORUM IN DENMARK

GOVERNOR PATRICK LEADS LIFE SCIENCES INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP FORUM IN DENMARK

Governor Patrick Promotes Global Collaboration with Massachusetts  

COPENHAGEN – Monday, September 15, 2014 – As a follow-up to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Massachusetts and Medicon Valley in 2012, Governor Deval Patrick today spoke at a Life Sciences Innovation Partnership Forum in Copenhagen. The forum was part of the Governor’s innovation partnership mission to Denmark, the United Kingdom and France to expand opportunities between the Commonwealth and these three European countries for economic development and job creation in the innovation economy, clean tech, digital gaming, financial services, workforce training and education sectors.

In June 2012 Governor Patrick signed a MOU with Medicon Valley, a region that includes eastern Denmark, in an effort to stimulate economic, industrial, technological and commercial cooperation between the two leading life sciences regions. The goal of today’s forum was to explore ways in which the two regions can best implement the MOU through international collaboration programs recently developed by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

“Lasting growth in the 21st century global economy will come from our competitiveness in global markets,” said Governor Patrick. “Thanks to the investments we are making and the relationships we are building, Massachusetts has become the global leader in the life sciences.  We look forward to ongoing growth and a strengthened partnership as we continue to collaborate with Medicon Valley’s thriving life sciences cluster.”

During the event, Governor Patrick spoke about the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s (MLSC) International Collaborative Industry Program (ICIP), through which Massachusetts companies can secure grant funding for joint R&D projects with partner companies in six geographic regions around the world, including Medicon Valley, matched by funding for the partner company from their region. Additionally, the Governor spoke about the MLSC’s recently announced Universal Partnerships (UP) program, through which companies in Massachusetts can seek grant funding to support R&D collaborations with partner organizations all over the world.  The MOU signed in 2012 also allows the parties to be eligible for Horizon 20/20 funding from the European Union.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Medicon Valley are both centers for life sciences innovation with economies driven by entrepreneurship,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki. “Our strengths in industries such as life sciences and digital technologies have positioned us as a global leader, and by working together, we will ensure economic growth in our regions for generations to come.”

“No one country or region can address on its own the urgent health challenges that still face our global community,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the MLSC. “In Massachusetts we believe that the life sciences breakthroughs of tomorrow will be grounded in new models of international collaboration, like the strategic alliances that we’ve helped create, and that we are promoting as part of this trade mission.”

“Our agreement has strengthened the collaboration on research and has fostered an exchange of talented researchers between Massachusetts and Denmark. It is our strategy that the Capital Region of Denmark be an international knowledge region that collaborates with the best research institutions and companies in the world. The agreement with Massachusetts is an important milestone in that strategy,” said Sophie Haestorp Andersen, Regional Chairman of the Capital Region of Denmark.