Week 12: Signing Off

Hi all,

Throughout the past few months, it has been an honor getting the chance to explore my love for concerts in a way I’ve never really thought to do before, and even getting to organize my own! Though my humble show in Ellenville pales in comparison to the blockbuster spectacles of Live Aid or other such mega-events, I believe it to be a good stepping stone for what hopefully is to come in undergrad and beyond. Working on my final deliverable, I outlined an idea for a project centered around homelessness in NYC. With sky-high rent prices and record-low vacancy rates, indicating a severe housing shortage, NYC is in trouble, and homeless people are perhaps feeling it the worst. To this end, a benefit concert calling for action from City Hall and the local administration to counteract homelessness seems like a worthwhile project to pursue.

I also, of course, created my Senior Project Final Presentation. While it was rather long, both in rehearsal and in the real deal, I believe my enjoyment of the subject shined through and hopefully made people interested enough to follow along.

I have learned far, far more about musical history through this project than I may have ever otherwise. From the creation of charity singles like We Are The World to the origins of the Secret Policeman’s Ball with Monty Python and Amnesty International, there are so many rich nuggets of information that altogether form one big web, with multiple timelines seeming to intersect as the worlds that are the egos of 80s rockstars collided. In any case, if it wasn’t clear already, that’s awesome, and I feel overjoyed to have glimpsed into this slice of musical history in such a fulfilling and involved way, even if Ellenville is not on the map yet. I give my thanks to Mr. Rappelfeld for his advice throughout the project, to BASIS Independent Brooklyn for letting me pursue this project, and to Mr. Goldman for being my close co-organizer for the concert itself. That’s all I’ve got. I’ll see you someday.

Gustavo