Blue Mountain Center

In September Andy celebrated the release of his latest CD on Naxos America. Andy’s work has been described by The New York Times and The Village Voice as “magical,” “ingenious,” and “superbly crafted.” In his new CD, music rises from strings open to the crossings of a world of forces, drawing inspiration from Balkan, Appalachian and Jewish influences, the music of Bartók, and setting the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish and Robert Service. Teirstein's music is recorded by the Alaria Ensemble, the Cassatt Quartet, the Kiev Philharmonic (Robert Winstin cond., Danielle Farina soloist), the Cygnus Ensemble, Naaz Hosseini, Yuri Vodovoz, and others.

The Library of Congress has acquired Joyce's artist's book, Steal Away. A 2005 creation, Steal Away merges visual art, spoken word and song to tell a story about slavery times.

I'm off to the west coast of Ireland for a very quiet and introspective 2 month residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. http://www.ballinglenartsfoundation.org/ Did I mention the village is comprised of 200 people and the pub is directly across from the art studios?

Laznia CCA 3rd Edition of the International Competition of the “Outdoor Gallery of the City of Gdansk” – FIRST PRIZE WINNER "Scent of Color," Gdansk, Poland -to be built in 2011 at Dolna Square, as part of the Revitalization of Gdansk! http://www.laznia.pl/english/?id=62

May 16, 2009: Just wanted to send greetings from Gloucester as I prepare to leave tomorrow with my third Simmons College group for South Africa where we will again research and write about human rights in South Africa. No book this time, but we plan to blog as well as produce a series of articles for the student newspaper next fall and several programs for our new web-based radio. Here's the blog link:
http://www.simmons.edu/reconnect/dan-connell/
My website has links to the books and other stuff.
http://www.danconnell.net/

Los Angeles Times June 11, 2009
Guantanamo haunts released detainees
Released without support or resources, these often shunned, destitute and depressed men make easy recruits for radicals.
By Laurel Fletcher and Eric Stover
Laurel Fletcher is a clinical professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law, and Eric Stover is an adjunct professor of law and public health at UC Berkeley. Their book, "The Guantanamo Effect: Exposing the Consequences of U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices," is due out in September.

Anne Basting's eagerly received new book, "Forget Memory", is published by Johns Hopkins Press.

The memoir, Rocky Comfort, that I worked on in two sessions at Blue Mountain, is coming out in June.

Two of our bills, elimination of Mandatory Minimums (vetoed 2 straight years) and Probation Violation Reform (the bill I wrote, vetoed last year)- both are ready for the governor to veto again :( But we keep knocking. At our final hearing on Probation Reform, we had over 100 people in the room and testimony went for over 2 hours! Similarly, its good to see how much media attention has grown over a "gateway drug" on the Drug War (marijuana decriminalization) and now Rep. Barney Frank has introduced a bill to nationalize the local struggles.

My story on a child laborer in Bangladesh was broadcast on public radio's Marketplace June 18. If you want to see the accompanying reporter's notebook or photos, go to:
http://marketplace. publicradio.org/segments/ working/

It is the story of Ismael "Babu" Hussein, a 13-year-old worker in the shipyards of Bangladesh, told without narration, just in his own voice and in the sounds that make up his world. Here's a description.

Babu Hussein works as an assistant in one of Bangladesh's shipbreaking yards, where armies of laborers dismantle huge old vessels with little more than hammers and blowtorches. The work is perilous, the bosses abusive, the hours exhausting. Babu's reward? Just over two dollars a day, and nightmares about being crushed by giant sheets of steel. Pretty heavy stuff for a 13-year-old kid.

Missy and I wanted to let you know that our performance, Song From the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt, was premiered on Friday May 29 here in New York and it went really really well.

You may recall that the project was in its early stages while we were up at BMC last summer, and that the time we spent there was crucial to our achievement, and so I can't express my thanks enough to you and everyone who makes the Blue Mountain Center possible. Being there was one of the best experiences of my life, and completing this project is one of my proudest achievements, and the two will be forever linked in my mind.

Also, you'll be happy to know that we had eight of our fellow BMC-ers in attendance at the show, and everybody else seems to be doing very well, too!

Here is a nice review from May 31 Times as well: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/arts/music/01isla.html?ref=music

Peter Maass's book CRUDE WORLD will be published 9/09 by Knopf.

Ginnah Howard's novel, NIGHT NAVIGATION, published by Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt (HMH).

In June Tanya worked on a shoot for a new Carrie Mae Weems/Geri Allen project. The piece won't premiere until early 2010, but you can catch a behind the scenes peak and interview with Carrie Mae here: http://culturebot.org/2009/06/06/talking-with-carrie-mae-weems/

This June Jeffrey is off to Kosovo, Bulgaria and Macedonia. He has received additional funding from the Jerome Foundation to study with several master folk musicians and instrument makers.

Shires Press recently published Netsuke Days: Poems, a collection by Stephen Sandy.

Ina will be a fellow at The Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria this summer from mid-June thru the end of July. http://www.civitella.org/default.aspx

Just returned from the Prague Fringe Festival, where his performance DECAFFEINATED TRAGEDY (written in great part at BMC) won the Inspiration Award.

Christopher's graphic novel, Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush (Cinco Puntos Press) is scheduled for release this summer. A 5-page preview was printed in the January
issue of The Comics Journal #295. It is an adaptation of a short story by the widely acclaimed author Luis Urrea.

Laurie's graphic memoir, The Impostor's Daughter, will be in bookstores July 27th.