Day 2 - 362 -- A Stunning Musical Evening

The day was spent in mundane pursuits. The highlight of the day was unexpected. I chose to watch the Kennedy Center Honours -- and wow, just wow. There was music everywhere! Miss Cecely Tyson, who sang in The Trip to Bountiful on Broadway and did so many stunning performances in film and television, was clearly enjoying the performances on the stage. In particular, a youth choir from a program named for her, performed the hymn she'd sung in the play. Beautiful. Rita Moreno was honoured for her acting and musical career. She is perhaps best known for her breakout role in West Side Story, that presented the social oppression of Puerto Rican immigrants. George Lucas was honoured and one speaker noted that he loved music and had found a way for music to be a character of sorts in film. Very true. Star Wars or Indiana Jones without the music would be far less. Seiji Ozawa, famed conductor, has lived music his entire life. Yo Yo Ma played Tchaikovsky for him and it was stellar. The final honouree of the evening was Carole King -- and for her, music has been at the centre of her life. Parts of the musical biography play were shown and she was truly surprised by who showed up on stage and moved to tears with images of her mother. The culmination of the evening was the final song written by Goffin and King (with Wexler). From the wings came Aretha Franklin, who sat down at the piano and began to sing. She rocked the song. I urge you to Google the performance -- it brought tears to even the president's eyes. Considering I'd waffled on whether to watch or not, I'm so glad something directed me to this event. Simply stunning.

All of the honourees are strong role models for aging adults -- not sitting in rockers and handing things over to others to carry on. Aged 71-91, these folks are still active in their fields and in advocacy for a better world. I'm sure these stories will find their way into my Nutrition and Aging class when we talk about 'what is old' <smile>. The definition is definitely changing.  The song for today comes from the awards program. It closed out the evening in a giant sing along <g>.This version was the one I listened to a lot -- and loved the singer and her Telemachus on the cover. Enjoy!

I Feel the Earth Move -- Carole King