{"id":758,"date":"2008-02-10T00:41:04","date_gmt":"2008-02-10T08:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/10\/conscientious-objector-for-better-or-worse\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T18:39:52","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T02:39:52","slug":"conscientious-objector-for-better-or-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/10\/conscientious-objector-for-better-or-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"conscientious objector – for better or worse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his introduction of Eartha Kitt last night, Thomas Lauderdale mentioned that she was long blackballed for having spoken out against the Vietnam War during a command performance at the White House.<\/p>\n

This made me think about the relationship between artists and those in positions of power.\u00c2\u00a0 You hear a lot about celebrities aligning with various political factions, but not so much about artists, and especially classical musicians.<\/p>\n

That’s why this opinion piece by Kennedy Center honoree Leon Fleischer<\/a> is so interesting.\u00c2\u00a0 He chose to attend a White House function that was in honor of those selected for this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, but chose not to make a fuss, and now he’s having to deal with his own conscience for having done so.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t go the route that Eartha Kitt did – but does that make him less of a voice?<\/p>\n

I am a musician, one of five artists — the others being Brian Wilson, Steve Martin, Diana Ross and Martin Scorsese — honored recently by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

The event, a deeply moving and gratifying tribute to the performing arts and artists in America, was broadcast to our nation. But what you couldn’t see in that broadcast was how conflicted I felt about being there.<\/p>\n

Let me be frank: I was flattered to be included in so distinguished a group and to be recognized for whatever contributions I may have made to American life. I was pleased to be part of an event that raises money for an institution as vital as the Kennedy Center and to be with my family and to see their joy at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

What made me unhappy and continues to trouble me was that I was required to attend a White House reception on the afternoon of the gala. I cannot speak for the other honorees, but while I profoundly respect the presidency, I am horrified by many of President Bush’s policies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check out the rest of the column<\/a> and decide for yourself.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Musical Perceptions<\/a> for pointing this out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his introduction of Eartha Kitt last night, Thomas Lauderdale mentioned that she was long blackballed for having spoken out against the Vietnam War during a command performance at the White House. This made me think about the relationship between artists and those in positions of power.\u00c2\u00a0 You hear a lot about celebrities aligning with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[115,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-ce","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":757,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/10\/eartha-baby\/","url_meta":{"origin":758,"position":0},"title":"eartha, baby","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"My, oh, my! Eartha Kitt swept into Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall like a proverbial force of nature last night - I don't think that the place will be the same ever again! What an amazing talent, first of all, and what a consummate professional she is. White-hot intensity for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"eartha-kitt.JPG","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/eartha-kitt.thumbnail.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":754,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/09\/eartha-kitt-rehearsal\/","url_meta":{"origin":758,"position":1},"title":"eartha kitt rehearsal","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not a good idea to take photos while rehearsing (it's basically verboten), but taking a few before things get started are always fun. Here's the view from my chair: And here is principal viola Jo\u00c3\u00abl Belgique zoning out before the start of rehearsal, and a look at our lovely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fun"","block_context":{"text":"fun","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fun\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"2254070534_5b70bf5c17_o.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/2254070534_5b70bf5c17_o.thumbnail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":673,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/18\/eartha-kitt-one-performance-only\/","url_meta":{"origin":758,"position":2},"title":"eartha kitt – one performance only","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Oregon Symphony: ONE NIGHT ONLY: THE INCOMPARABLE EARTHA KITT PERFORMS WITH THE OREGON SYMPHONY (PORTLAND, Ore.) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The seductive Eartha Kitt \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a showbiz icon whose career has spanned more than six decades of stardom in film, theater, cabaret, television and the recording studio \u00e2\u20ac\u201c makes a rare\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ek","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/eartha_kitt.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":438,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/09\/19\/eartha-kitt-tears-up-new-york\/","url_meta":{"origin":758,"position":3},"title":"eartha kitt tears up new york","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo: Richard Termine for the New York Times She's appearing with the OSO this season, and by the sound of this review in the New York Times, you'd better score your tickets sooner than later, she's red hot. Here's an excerpt from the review by Times writer Stephen Holden: It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/kittspan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/kittspan.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/kittspan.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":728,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/01\/cheap-seats-the-oso\/","url_meta":{"origin":758,"position":4},"title":"cheap seats @ the oso","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks for generous support from Symphony sponsor Wells Fargo, now through February 8th, the Oregon Symphony will be offering all seats for the remainder of the season at either $20 or $50 each (except for the Eartha Kitt concert). There's lots of great stuff to grab tickets for, here are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":928,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/16\/a-long-farewell\/","url_meta":{"origin":758,"position":5},"title":"a long farewell?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00c2\u00a0 On Monday the 21st of April we begin rehearsals on Mahler's last completed symphonic work, the Ninth Symphony. \u00c2\u00a0As we rehearse each movement (one each rehearsal) I'll post thoughts on this large and emotionally exhausting work as a preparation for the performances to come. Mahler's Ninth Symphony has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"mahler","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/mahler-en-face-valkeveen.thumbnail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}