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The NixWorks News January 2009
Performances:
The Pioneer Consort, "World Chamber Music"


-Saturday, Feb 21, 8 pm, PACE Theater, Easthampton, MA  $12 for the public, $10 for members.
The Pioneer Consort will perform at P.A.C.E (The Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton) 41 Union Street Easthampton, MA on Saturday, Feb 21, at 8 pm. Tickets are $12 for the general public, and $10 for members. 

Catch a high energy Pioneer Consort show in this Pioneer Valley venue.


-Feb 23, 2009, 9 pm    WGBY, WGBH and other local PBS Stations PBS American Experience "A Class Apart"
Michael Nix, Chris Devine, and Greg Snedeker, members of The Pioneer Consort are heard Steven Schoenberg’s film score to the PBS An American Experience “A Class Apart” segment airing at 9 pm on local PBS stations.


PBS American Experience "A Class Apart"

Michael Nix, Chris Devine, and Greg Snedeker, members of The Pioneer Consort are heard Steven Schoenberg’s film score to the PBS An American Experience “A Class Apart” segment airing Monday, February 23, 2009 at 9 pm on local PBS television stations. Nix plays classical, steel string and electric guitars; Devine plays violin and Snedeker, cello. Other artists on the sound track include
classical guitarists, Freddy Bryant and Jose Gonzalez, and  bassist T-Bone Wolk. 

Check your local PBS Station for air times. More information can be found at the American Experience website: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/.

A Class Apart (1 hour)
In the tiny town of Edna, Texas, in 1951, a field hand named Pete Hernandez murdered his employer after exchanging words in a gritty cantina. From this unremarkable small-town murder emerged a landmark civil rights case that would forever change the lives and legal standing of tens of millions of Americans. A Class Apart tells the little-known story of a band of underdog Mexican-American lawyers who took their case, Hernandez v. Texas, all the way to the Supreme Court, where they successfully challenged Jim Crow-style discrimination against Mexican-Americans.
In the landmark legal case, prosecution lawyers forged a daring legal strategy, arguing that Mexican-Americans were "a class apart" and did not neatly fit into a legal structure that recognized only blacks and whites. As legal skirmishes unfolded, the lawyers emerged as brilliant, dedicated, humorous and at times terribly flawed men. This film dramatically interweaves the story of its central characters -- activists and lawyers, returning veterans and ordinary citizens, murderer, and victim -- within the broader history of Latinos in America during a time of extraordinary change.
Carlos Sandoval, Producer and Director
Carlos Sandoval was co-producer/director of the documentary Farmingville, which won numerous awards and honors including the Sundance Special Jury Prize and the Council on Foundations' Henry Hampton Award. A lawyer and writer, Sandoval has published work in The New York Times and other publications. Sandoval worked on immigration and refugee affairs as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, and as a program officer for The Century Foundation. Of Mexican-American and Puerto Rican descent, Sandoval grew up in Southern California and is a graduate of Harvard College and of the University of Chicago Law School.
Peter Miller, Co-producer
Peter Miller has worked as a producer on several of Ken Burns's films including the The War, Jazz, and the Peabody Award-winning Frank Lloyd Wright. His other work includes the just-released Sacco and Vanzetti, The Internationale (Oscar short-list), and Passin' It On (shown on P.O.V., and the winner of over twenty film festival prizes). Miller was a producer on Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning American Dream, and has worked on dozens of other historical and social issue documentaries.

Videos of a Pioneer Consort concert at Kimball Union Academy this winter here:  http://www.youtube.com/drdivine44

Michael Nix, solo Banjar and Guitar
Saturday March 21, 2009 7 pm   "All Cooped Up" Coop Concerts winter concert.  Michael Nix will join in a round-robin Coop Concerts end of winter concert at All Souls Church, Main Street, Greenfield, MA.   Join Coop Concert artists for their unique kalidascope of local music!
More info  413-772-0328. 




NixWorks CD's


World View, The Pioneer Consort, World Chamber Music
http://cdbaby.com/cd/pioneerconsort

Barton Cove, Michael Nix solo seven string Banjar
http://cdbaby.com/cd/nixworks2
Elderly Instruments, which specializes in plucked strings:
http://www.elderly.com/recordings/60.htm

Prelude, Airs and Dances, Michael Nix, solo Guitar
http://cdbaby.com/cd/nixworks

The Moser/Nix Duo, Michael Nix, Guitar   Charles Moser, Mandolin
http://cdbaby.com/cd/mosernixduo
You can download mp3's from DigStation:
http://www.digstation.com/Michael Nix

You can also send $15 for each disc and $2 for S&H to NixWorks, PO Box 400, Greenfield, MA, and we'll mail you a disc.  Let us know if you would like an autographed copy---a great gift idea!

Children's and Educational Programs

Recent research on music and the brain has shown just how important early childhood exposure is to development of musical concepts for playing, singing and the deep enjoyment of music later in life.  Michael and children's librarian Linda Hickman have developed an interactive program "Music and More!" featuring songs, books, finger play, movement, animal puppets, bells, shakers, guitars and banjos. We foster the love and fun of music, and an interest in musical instruments in the youngest generation of music makers. Michael and Linda   have also been performing "Mother Goose on the Loose" rhyme, movement and music programs at libraries.  These concerts are all free.  Some may be at capacity attendance, so it might be a good idea to call ahead.

Mother Goose On the Loose
10:30 Am
Carnegie Public Library
Turners Falls, MA
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More information can be found at these websites:
www.NixWorks.com
www.PioneerConsort.com
For Booking information on NixWorks programs, Michael Nix, The Pioneer Consort,  and Educational Programs contact:
Michael Nix  413.772.0328       mnix@NixWorks.com



 

 

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