The Only Response to Violence is Art
"...This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." - Leonard Bernstein
With the release of the JFK-related FBI files and the upcoming anniversary of JFK’s assassination, and vehicle terrorist attack in NYC, not to mention other shootings and violence around our country, we can look back to the famous letter crafted by Leonard Bernstein, from which the famous quote has been often repeated:
"...We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime. But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rather they will inflame our art. Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before. And with each note we will honor the spirit of John Kennedy, commemorate his courage, and reaffirm his faith in the Triumph of the Mind”.
These words ring every bit as loud and true today as they were when they were written in 1963 and are very applicable today and to all art forms.
Let’s remember these words as we all create our art and we look forward to the next Harmony & Hope concert, which is scheduled for Sunday May 6, 2018.
