Singer Tony Bennett in Concert

 Do you know this Lady? ...  She is the opening act for the singer, Tony Bennett

Singer Tony Bennett has been in the News lately for  his diagnosis of Alzheimers disease.  I saw him in concert the year after his diagnosis (2017, but kept secret by his family).  He was fabulous!! So very thankful I was there. Here was my previous post:

Mr Bennett put on his 38th appearance at Ravinia; and we we were there and saw him for the very first time. His 91st Bday (August 3rd) was the day before the show. Happy 🎂 Birthday, Tony!

He ran onto the stage at his introduction, giving me and the audience a very good first impression of what a 91-year-old can do. He wore his go-to white jacked coupled with dark pants. His appearance glowed under the spotlights.  He could still belt-out the songs and hit the high notes. Amazing!!!  What does he eat, and what is his exercise routine?  I insist that he write a book sharing his health secrets.

The only negative was that he did not sing "I Wanna Be Around" (thus, below is the link to the song on youTube).  He DID sing my very favorite: "The Shadow of Your Smile". Swoon.

Will we ever see  Mr Bennett again?  Only the Lord knows; but I said a prayer for Mr Tony's physical and spiritual health, in Jesus' name.

*Her name is Antonia, and Tony Bennett happens to be her Dad.  She's a pretty red-head with a good voice; and the full-length, tiered black dress that she wore was nice, IMO. 

So, he shows-off his kid's talent, and promotes her by letting her sing at his show. Nice.  How typical of a parent, LoL!

link: Tony Bennett's 4 Kids

I am taking pics before the start of the sold-out show

"I Wanna Be Around"

"The Shadow of Your Smile"

And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. ( Isaiah 46 )

Tony Bennett & Alzheimers Disease

Anthony Dominick Benedetto 

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Ravinia Festival Returns in 2021!

I hope they bring back Pianist, Yuja Wang!!

 Dear Ravinia Patron,

It gives me great pleasure to share with all of you the news that Ravinia plans to reopen in July! While our detailed programming schedule will not be announced until late April, we wanted to share with you a little about our plans today.

The health of audiences, artists, community, and staff are very important to us.  We are taking our guidance from Northwestern Medicine, state and local government, and industry standards for outdoor activity to bring shared live-music experiences back to Ravinia this summer. All concerts at Ravinia this summer will take place outside in the open-air Pavilion, have a reduced audience capacity, and be offered only with reserved-in-advance distanced seating in the Pavilion and on the Lawn. The number of artists on stage will also be reduced, in order to allow for proper distancing between performers.
 
We are thrilled that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will return to Ravinia, its summer home, and that Marin Alsop will lead seven concerts with the orchestra in her first season as Ravinia’s Chief Conductor and Curator.
 
While we know that this summer will look a little different, we look forward to sharing magical summer nights with you once again. Our website will be up to date with the most current details about programming and guidelines for attendance. Thank you all for your steadfast dedication to Ravinia, for your support, and for your understanding over the past year as we continue to navigate a most unusual time.
 
 
Sincerely,

Jeffrey P. Haydon
President & CEO

(A Psalm of praise.) Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

2Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. ( Psalm 100 )

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HuffPost: Musicians Are Smarter Than The Rest Of Us

 

Musicians Are Smarter Than The Rest Of Us

by HUFFPOST

Musicians’ Brains Stay Sharp as They Age

Summary
While it is known that practicing music repeatedly changes the organization of the brain, it is not clear if these changes can correlate musical abilities with non-musical abilities. The study of 70 older participants, with different musical experience over their lifetimes, provides a connection between musical activity and mental balance in old age. “The results of this preliminary study revealed that participants with at least 10 years of musical experience (high activity musicians) had better performance in nonverbal memory, naming, and executive processes in advanced age relative to non-musicians.”

Introduction
Changing one’s lifestyle may postpone the onset of problems connected with old age, like Alzheimer’s disease. These diseases cause cognitive changes like loss of memory, reasoning, and perception. Adequate rest and physical exercise as well as a lifelong habit of stimulating the mind are favorable for clear thinking in old age. Musical activities, undertaken throughout the lifetime, have an impact on one’s mental health during old age. This has been studied in this current research work. Practicing music for a number of years brings about certain changes in brain organization. Comparing the lucidity in old age of those pursued music related activities and those who didn’t may help to understand the effect of the music-related reorganization of brain on successful aging.

Methods
-- Seventy healthy participants, aged between 60 and 83, were divided into three groups, based on their degree of involvement in musical activities, over their lifetimes.
-- The three groups were similar in average age, education, handedness, sex ratio, and physical exercise habits.
-- The first group, namely the non-musicians, never received any formal musical training. The second group, the low activity musicians, had one to nine years of training. The third, the high activity musicians, trained for more than 10 years and played regularly afterward.
-- All were tested for brain strengths such as memory, attention, and language prowess, using standardized tests. Their mastery on the use of language, ability to remember, and ability to express oneself were tested.

Results
-- Verbal intellectual ability and learning, as well as recall of verbal information, were found to be similar across the three groups.
-- The high activity musicians were significantly better at performing tasks based on visual inputs.
-- Although language prowess seemed to be similar across the groups, the high activity musicians’ memory for words was significantly better than that of non-musicians.
-- The age at which musical training started affected visual memory, while the number of years of training affected non-verbal memory.

Read the full article H E R E < ------

This Pup agrees?!! 😄

O sing unto the LORD a new song: 

sing unto the LORD, all the earth.

Psalm 96

Musicians Are Probably Smarter Than The Rest Of Us

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Dogs of Summer 3: Tony Bennett & Happy, the Maltese

Singer Tony Bennett owns a Maltese dog; and because of the sweet dog's  personality, was given the name of "Happy".
He was carried on stage by Mr Bennett as he took his final bow at the Ravinia concert. Hubby was in the restroom of the time -- trying to beat the sold-out crowd and all -- so my official Photographer with his much-nicer camera was nowhere to be found.  Sorry for my poor-quality pictures of the big screen tv, but Happy deserves a post of his own.

Happy, the Pup, in Tony's arms

Waving bye-bye from the stage with Happy, the maltese

---> At the Ravinia concert of

 Entertainer, Tony Bennett

pc: Tony Bennett, fb

pc: Tony Bennett, fb

I think our very own Shih-tzu might possibly have some part-MALTESE in her, hmmmmm.

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.  2 Corinthians 7:1

SIU Weekend: Chapter 6 - Acappella Vocal Band Concert

Boy Groups Unite! Here's a fabulous group of guys called   Chapter 6 .  My DDs have seen this Boy Acappella Group perform, but not the rest of us. Here was our chance during SIUe's Family Weekend.  No regrets --- the Group must have spent a LOT of time together practicing to get this good.  Two thumbs up from us!

Luke Menard, a founding member, was one of the Top 8 Men of American Idol, Season 6

Christian Rock Concert: Superchick, Barlow Girl, Vota

Girl Bands Unite!!! This is our Yr 2009 3rd installment of  Look-Ma-I-Won-These-Tickets, courtesy of our always-on-the-lookout children.  A big Thank You goes out to Radio Station  K-LOVE

Click on the song  Cross the Line by Superchick.  I like it, but not as much as  Stand in the Rain --- which has no official music video ( why??) .  Click on the link for the un-official video of  Stand in the Rain

Our children and their friends were super-impressed with  Barlow Girl.  Plus, they're originally from Elgin.

Superchick

Barlow Girl

Christian Rock Concert: Jars of Clay, Audio Unplugged, Thousand Foot Krutch, This Beautiful Republic, B Reith, FM Static

Our DD Kristi, and DS Jared attended  Creation Festival The Tour at Wheaton College last night. They WON their free tickets when Jared entered his name on a raffle ticket at the   Phil Stacey Concert  we attended a couple of weeks ago.   Hooooray:  at this concert, Kristi WON another set of free tickets, this time to a concert by  Barlow Girl  and   SuperChick  on October 4th.   

 Not MY type of entertainment, but the two  enjoyed themselves (their ears are still  recovering, though).  Here we go ---

Jars of Clay (here they are on  YouTube )

Audio Unplugged (here they were as  Audio Adrenaline on YouTube)

Thousand Foot Krutch (on YouTube) 

B. Reith (rapping! on YouTube) 

This Beautiful Republic ( "My God"   on YouTube)

FM Static (  official video  on YouTube)

Watch this on YouTube, a fan's version of :   "Boy Moves to a New Town... " by FM Static