The Wilson Center Celebrates the Fourth with “America the Beautiful: A July 4 Music Video by Joe Sohm and Roger Kellaway”
In celebration of America’s birthday, we take a time out from analysis and research to provide you with a music video that combines stunning world-famous imagery with beautiful music from a Grammy Award winning artist.
The iconic images come from the lens of photo historian Joe Sohm (www.joesohm.com). Music is provided by legendary pianist and composer Roger Kellaway (rogerkellaway.com/). Produced on behalf of the New West Symphony for Presidents Day 2018, the video was shot and edited by Rick Vaughn, and features Sohm’s images and time-lapse footage along with Kellaway’s original piano interpretation of Katharine Lee Bates, “America the Beautiful.”
We hope you’ll enjoy this break from the usual Wilson content and we wish you a happy and healthy Fourth of July holiday!
BIOS
Roger Kellaway is a Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominated pianist/composer. He has recorded more than two hundred and fifty albums and has worked with everyone from Ellington to Elvis, Carmen McCrae to Barbra Streisand, and Quincy Jones to Yo-Yo Ma. Kellaway is not only a major pianist, he is a composer of protean ability, writing in the music fields of jazz, classical, and “pop,” while also scoring for films and television. Roger’s acclaimed “Cello Quartet” albums are described by some as “crossover,” “chamber jazz,” and by others as the beginning of “New Age” music. His commissions include a ballet for George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet, orchestral pieces for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the New American Orchestra, and a concerto, “Songs of Ascent,” commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. He wrote a variety of chamber works for Carnegie Hall performances and served as musical director for Stephane Grappelli’s 80th Birthday Tribute, which included Yo-Yo Ma’s first entry into Jazz. Later, Stephane, Yo-Yo, and Roger traveled to Paris to record “Anything Goes”, produced by Ettore Stratta. Roger also performed at and served as Musical director for “Tribute To Oscar Peterson” at Carnegie Hall in 2007. Among his vast and impressive list of credits, he served as musical director for Bobby Darin and in 1968 arranged (and conducted) Darin’s album of songs from the film “Dr. Doolittle”. He has written (and conducted) twenty-nine film scores including Barbara Streisand’s “A Star Is Born,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He was honored with a Grammy Award for his music on the album “Memos From Paradise” for Eddie Daniel. Roger conducted the world premiere of Sir Paul McCartney’s “Nova” in Buenos Aires with The Youth Orchestra of the Americas, and later toured with Tony Bennett as his Musical Director. Kellaway’s most prized television credit is, “Remembering You”, the closing theme for the groundbreaking, “All in the Family.”
Busier than ever, he began 2017 with a new Trio CD recording followed by another performance of “Many Moods Of McCartney” in March at the launching of the new Sheen Performing Arts Center in NYC. In May, he joined singer Roberta Gamborini for a tour of Japan. In July, Roger opened the Ventura Music Festival, and then went back to NYC for the prestigious “Jazz in July at the Y” series. He will perform “Many Moods Of McCartney” at Zipper Hall in LA. For more on Roger’s legendary career, visit his website, rogerkellaway.com.
Joseph Sohm is an American history teacher turned photo-historian. Over 30 years, he photographed the 50 states and has published his images more than 50,000 times in such publications as National Geographic, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, as well as on CNN, ABC, PBS, and MSNBC. His photograph of Bill Clinton is featured on the back-cover of the former president’s autobiography, “My Life,” and is also prominently displayed at the Clinton Presidential Library. Sohm’s images are featured in Frederick J. Ryan’s “Ronald Reagan, The Great Communicator,” on “Real Time with Bill Maher, in Al Gore’s Oscar-winning film “An Inconvenient Truth,” in NBC’s 9/11 memorial, “Concert for America,” and on the cover of John Grisham’s novel “King of Torts.” His photos appeared on the covers of both Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report during the contested aftermath of the 2000 presidential election. The U.S. Department of State displays his work in more than ten embassies worldwide. He has spoken at the National Press Club (televised by C-SPAN) and at more than 100 colleges, universities, and trade associations across America. He and his work have been profiled in Esquire magazine, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times,The New York Times,The San Francisco Examiner, and at the NEWSEUM in Washington, DC. His multimedia credits include producing a 1993 Presidential Inaugural music-video for MTV and multiple performances of his “Visions of America” show which has been accompanied by both the Philly Pops and the Boston Pops. Since 1978, Joseph Sohm has delivered keynote speeches and multimedia presentations at more than 100 venues across America.
