In April, Adilei, a yodeling-based a cappella group from the Republic of Georgia, performed at Childs Elementary School as part of the Lotus Blossoms educational outreach program presented by the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation. Childs fifth-grader Stella, 11, reviewed the performance for Limestone Post, calling it "an eye opener.” Click here for Stella’s review and a brief video of Adilei.
After January’s polar vortex gives way to February’s cold, gray weather, it might seem like spring will never arrive. But don’t let cabin fever set in. LP’s Editorial Director Lynae Sowinski has compiled a list of expos, games, concerts, films, and other February activities all across our community that will “get you out of the house.” Click here to read the full story.
With all the world music being performed this week at Lotus, at least two acts have powerful messages for our own country. Raye Zaragoza’s music often conveys political, social, or environmental messages folded into song, while Making Movies portrays the struggles of immigrants, writes Sara Sheikh, marketing director of the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation. Click here to read the full story.
The Lotus World Music and Arts Festival is upon us, when performers from around the world fill the downtown streets with music. In part 4 of our series, writer Benjamin Beane profiles a young singer-songwriter from Scotland and an even younger brother/sister Indian-American duo who are rising stars in bluegrass. Click here to read the full story.
Music speaks. And it can tell stories. Musical acts Meklit (Ethiopia) and Sabha Motallebi (Iran) will showcase their own forms of musical storytelling this year at the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival. In part 3 of his series, writer Benjamin Beane explores their genre-bending and -expanding music — and the stories they want to tell. Click here to read the full story.
Grammy-nominated oud player Rahim AlHaj, an Iraqi political refugee since 1991, was invited by the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation to participate in the Lotus Blossoms outreach program in March. He performed at various Bloomington locations and also at Owen Valley High School in Spencer. Filmmaker TJ Jaeger recorded the trip.
