Greetings, One & All~

As the Bear Moon wanes and the Vernal Equinox approaches, restoration and renewal are in the air. My March message is first and foremost one of gratitude for your generosity. You are my soul tribe: I know you know how important your appreciation of my monthly offering is for me, because I read each and every one of your responses and reply in person every month. Still, I want to put my thanks for all these years of uplifting correspondence into words for all to see: THANK YOU, ONE & ALL! With that said, enjoy a bit of mythical, musical, magical medicine in this March issue of your A 440 Newsletter.



Myths & Masks

Myth and mask have taken on new and heretofore unimaginable meanings in contemporary life, yet both retain their ancient mystery and magic. I will delve into all these multifarious manifestations in my solo Myths & Masks performances at Tucson’s iconic Invisible Theatre on March 25th, 26th & 27th, with evening performances on Thursday and Friday and an afternoon matinee on Saturday. Join me for this provocative and evocative exploration of mythopoetic storytelling, world music multicultural mask art.

information & reservations at

http://www.invisibletheatre.com/What-s_on_Stage/Coming_Soon/coming_soon.html





Nakai & Clipman

The Native American flute & world percussion duo R. Carlos Nakai & Will Clipman will reawaken your musical fire with their improvisational wizardry in a LIVE concert on April 7th at the Community Performing Arts Center in Green Valley AZ.

information & reservations at

https://performingartscenter.thundertix.com/events/170731





Restoration & Renewal

I am delighted and excited to announce my return to Canyon Ranch Woodside Wellness Retreat for Rhythms of Restoration & Renewal on Thursday-Sunday May 27th-30th. Nestled among the ancient redwoods of northern California, Woodside provides an intimate and inspiring setting for personal realization and self-transformation. In my featured retreat, we will draw on storytelling, music and poetry to reintegrate with rhythms of the natural world; reawaken our sense of balance, wholeness and harmony; reclaim our innate powers of resiliency and growth; and map our return to a calm and centered way of being in the world.

information & reservations at

https://www.canyonranch.com/woodside/retreats/featured-retreats/rhythms-of-restoration-renewal/







Medicine Arrow

The world needs BIG musical medicine these days, and the global native fusion trio Medicine Arrow exists to provide exactly that. Vocalist & drummer Roman Orona, guitarist, Native American flutist & singer-songwriter Aaron White and world percussionist Will Clipman will record a four-song EP for Buffalo Jump Records in March. We are stoked to work with the GRAMMY-nominated team of producer Stephen “Guru of Groove” Butler and engineer Russ “Mixmaster” Marsden on this project.





Cul-de-Sac Concert

. . . and this just in: the classical/New Age flute & world percussion duo Sherry Finzer & Will Clipman will perform on Sunday April 11th at 3 PM as part of the Heart Dance Records Cul-de-Sac Concert Series: an outdoor show at The Landings gated community in Anthem AZ.

information & reservations at
sherry@sherryfinzer.com




MIM Preview

. . . and now, THIS just in: I am in discussion as we speak with the legendary Musical Instrument Museum Theater in Phoenix AZ about staging Will Clipman: A World of Music, Myth & Mask. The proposed date is Friday April 30th, with a possible additional show on Thursday April 29th. Mark your calendar and watch this space for further details!




Saguaro Boots

A generation of saguaros here at Rancho Improvisoso have become skeletons, which is when the boots can be harvested. These three saguaro boots are asking to be made into a triad of large shakers with a big, soft Sonoran Desert sound like water rushing over dry sand. Gotta get ’em cleaned out first, but listen to this space for a new instrument!





Photos of the Month

One that celebrates the understated sepia tonalities of a female Gila woodpecker in a bare ocotillo against an overcast winter sky, and one that pops with the painterly color and texture of a male Costas hummingbird in full winter sun, both by visionary nature photographer Shery Christopher. Enjoy!


A Wintry Beauty, courtesy Shery Christopher Photography



Play of Light, courtesy Shery Christopher Photography




Poem of the Month


Certain Angels



There are angels of light and angels

of reckoning: those who empower our

flight and those who ground us; one



who came to rest inside the kitchen gate

with a blinded eye, unable to fly, and one

who landed smack in the midst of the glisten



as water poured over the fountain’s globe;

those who answer human music with private

nighttime songs yet remain unseen, and one



who danced a two-step wing-flap on a power pole

and cawed up a storm in broad daylight, saying

even in a poem there are things one can’t reveal.



None of them are bound by physics: the one I saw

from horseback land in a bare tree along the Yakima

may well have been the same one a Walla Walla girl



lying in the rushes and dreaming her life into being

saw fly overhead, tracing the gracefully limitless arc

of what is possible across a cloudless winter sky.



There are some who burn impossibly brightly, only

to flame out all too soon, and some who astound us

with longevity. . . then slip from sleep into eternity.



Some appear unbearably beautiful, while others seem

plain at first, their layers peeled patiently away with

gentle close attention to reveal unimagined subtlety.



All of them give the only gift worth giving. . . time:

more valuable the more it slips away, more

meaningful the more inscrutable its mystery grows.



In whatever form they come, one thing

is certain: we continue by their leave,

and when they leave us it will be for good.







© Will Clipman 2021









~May this Spring be a season of restoration and renewal for all~










Be grateful for the blessings you receive
and generous with the blessings you bestow.

~Guillaume Henri



Will Clipman

poet ~ percussionist ~ maskmaker ~ storyteller ~ performing artist ~ educator

www.willclipman.com
williamclipman@aol.com
facebook.com/willclipman

520.591.0776