Greetings, One & All~
Many thanks to all for your magnanimous March missives: what a treat for yours truly! Illuminated by the waning Eagle Moon, April has come into sharper focus since we corresponded last; so there is both a continuation of that good news and a fresh infusion of new good news in this issue of your A 440 Newsletter. Be well, be of good cheer and be in touch!
Nakai & Clipman
Our never-ending Awakening the Fire world tour brings R. Carlos Nakai & Will Clipman to the Community Performing Arts Center in Green Valley, Arizona for two performances on Wednesday April 7th. The 7 PM show sold out so quickly that CPAC added a 4 PM show, for which I believe there is still a ticket or two available:
https://performingartscenter.thundertix.com/events/170731
Finzer & Clipman
Take a space between breaths and let your heart dance with Sherry Finzer & Will Clipman at our outdoor Cul-de-Sac Concert at The Landings in Anthem, Arizona on Sunday April 11th at 3 PM. Appropriately enough, our sonic celebration of Spring in Northern Sonora will be staged at North Celebration Court! Email Sherry for more info and the gate code:
sherry@sherryfinzer.com
MIM M,M&M
MY FEATURED APRIL EVENT is Will Clipman: A World of Music, Myth & Mask at the world renowned Musical Instrument Museum Theater in Phoenix, Arizona at 7 PM on Friday April 30th. This stage has become my favorite venue on the planet to play over the course of many previous concerts there with various other artists and ensembles, so I am beyond thrilled to bring my solo show to this temple of world music and culture.
https://mim.org/events/will-clipman-a-world-of-music-myth-and-mask/?utm_source=mimmusictheater&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=will-clipman
photo courtesy Shery Christopher Photography
Restoration & Renewal
May we look ahead to May? Mais oui! These times call for restoration and renewal, and in that spirit I am delighted to return to Canyon Ranch Woodside Wellness Retreat in Woodside, California to conduct a weekend retreat appropriately titled Rhythms of Restoration & Renewal on Thursday-Sunday May 27th-30th. Nestled in the ancient redwood forests just south of San Francisco, Woodside offers a perfect environment for personal growth, transformation and wellness. Over the course of our retreat, we will map our return to a calm and centered way of being in the world through a creative immersion in nature, music, poetry and personal storytelling.
https://www.canyonranch.com/woodside/retreats/featured-retreats/rhythms-of-restoration-renewal/
Medicine Arrow
The native world fusion trio Medicine Arrow (Aaron White, Will Clipman & Roman Orona)
knocked it out of the park in the recording of their first batch of four songs for Buffalo Jump Records with the GRAMMY-nominated team of producer Stephen “Guru of Groove” Butler and engineer Russ “Mixmaster” Marsden”. The EP is being mixed and mastered as we speak, so watch the space for release news!
Crystal & Clay
After a lengthy pandemic hiatus, the perfectly healthy duo Tryshe Dhevney & Will Clipman are set to record their crystal bowl-and-udu collaboration with master engineer Jim Blackwood on April 9th. Keep an ear to the ground and an eye on the sky for further revelations of their celestially sound-grounding vibrations!
photo courtesy Robert Doyle Photography/Canyon Records
Mask Up!
Wow, my trifecta of Myths & Masks concerts at Invisible Theatre was IT! Many thanks to Artistic Director Susan Claasen, Lightmaster James Blair, the entire IT crew, Underwriter Anne F. Cavanagh, and all the members of my mythic tribe who brought their keen perception and enthusiastic participation to the experience for making IT truly magical. Watch this space for the announcement of a return engagement this summer. Thanks also to Cliff Cunningham of Sun News Tucson for this stellar review:
https://sunnewstucson.com/2021/03/27/mask-up/
Photos of the Month
Shery Christopher, nature photographer and CDO of Perspire Sauna Studios, happened to step out of her office for a breath of fresh air after closing a major franchising deal recently with camera in hand and captured both ends of this rare desert rainbow. Mere coincidence or the concurrence of clear intention and right action? You decide!
Arc of Abundance 1, courtesy Shery Christopher Photography
Arc of Abundance 2, courtesy Shery Christopher Photography
Poem of the Month
Mending Fences
Barbed wire is a strict instructor:
it does not excuse inattention.
Clamped in the come-along
the stretching string sings taut
as the ends of the break
are brought close enough
together to splice: one ratchet
too many and a gunshot recoils
further down the strand, unleashing
loose Medusa coils of snaking steel.
Mule deer freeze in dappled sun,
turn their huge ears independently
to locate the source of the sound;
aspen leaves flutter to summon
a breeze, which cools hot blood
on bare forearms where barbs
bit. Above nine thousand feet
on the Uncompahgre Plateau
among the vestiges of ancestral
Ute hunting camps, a spring-fed
pond is danced upon by dragonflies
while up from its murky depths
a tiger salamander rises
stealthily as an ancient myth,
and a mountain lion’s topaz gaze
sparkles in a cool dark pool of shade.
Truth appears in many guises
but beneath the surface it is still
truth. Blood. Sweat. Steel. The long
arc of friendship and shared work:
these are lines that define
a life story, and in the end
what has been broken will be
mended and made whole again.
© Will Clipman 2021
~May your April be astounding and abundant~
Featured April Event
Will Clipman: A World of Music, Myth & Mask
Musical Instrument Museum Theater
Phoenix, Arizona
Friday April 30th at 7 PM
https://mim.org/events/will-clipman-a-world-of-music-myth-and-mask/?utm_source=mimmusictheater&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=will-clipman
Music, myth and mask together express the deepest essence of human experience.
~Guillaume Henri
Will Clipman
poet ~ percussionist ~ maskmaker ~ storyteller ~ performing artist ~ educator
www.willclipman.com
williamclipman@aol.com
facebook.com/willclipman
520.591.0776