I was recently very moved by young opera singers who performed at TEDxPresidio in San Francisco this month. Soprano Ariel Bowser performed with tenor Jens Ibsen in the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts Theater, a building that is surrounded by serene lush trees and greenery on all sides.
The duo performed a piece from the 1831 Opera L’Elisir D’amore by Gaetano Donizetti. Ava Soifer accompanied them on piano.
Ariel says:
“Despite assumptions that African-Americans don’t do classical music, I’m proof that that is untrue, as I love singing classical music! It prepares one to learn any type of music and the discipline required imparts an essential life skill.”
Jens was the first African-born member of the world-famous, 514-year-old Vienna Boys Choir.
He has also performed solos at Carnegie Hall, the UN, on German TV, sung in numerous venues from Shanghai to Dubai, on three CD recordings and acted in the feature film, Songs Along The Silk Road and Time.
When someone walks onto a stage in hoodies, one of them carrying a brown bag with a bottle in it, you don’t expect opera to come out of their mouths. It was a beautiful surprise and a top notch performance.
Take a look at a video snippet below from their on-stage performance at the September TEDx event.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
