Vancouver composer, trumpeter and retired music teacher Ray B. Johnson is returning to his Aberdeen roots for his latest project.
George B. Miller Junior High School in Aberdeen commissioned him to compose one original composition for the school’s band and one for its orchestra. The pieces will be performed in June.
Johnson, who taught music for Vancouver Public Schools for 21 years, looked to his hometown for inspiration for the band composition. Called “Aberdeen,” “it’s a sound painting of the city’s many different moods,” he said. Images of Aberdeen will be projected onto a screen while the band plays the piece.
The orchestral composition is called “The Mystic Dreamcatcher.” It’s a dream sequence that goes from bad to terrifying to peaceful.
Johnson, 71, has composed hundreds of works, including one called “Quetzalcoatl” that has been published, and he has recorded 18 CDs. This is his first commission.
“I’m having great fun with this personal project for my junior high school alma mater and hometown,” he said.
Yoga instructor gets on the page with ‘Off the Mat’ book
Yoga instructor Dana Layon felt “stripped down” after economic woes led her to close her yoga studio in May 2009.
“You’re forced to go, ‘OK, now what.’ There was a lot of inspiration born out of the aftermath of losing my business,” said Layon, 42, a Vancouver mother of two.
She devoted herself to a weekly newsletter she launched for yoga students in 2004. Her “Weekly Oms” grew to reach thousands of readers nationwide. She compiled them into a series of books, “Off the Mat: Confessions of a Yogini,” published by Blooming Twig Books. There will be seven books — one for each chakra. The first addresses the root chakra, located at the base of the spine.
Earlier this month, 70 people attended a release party at Lucy, a store in Portland that sells women’s athletic wear. Lucy will host release parties for the next six books in the coming months.
“Yoga is not about being a pretzel,” Layon writes. “It’s about waking up.”
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