This blog post is for all of the nice folks who are attending the Baltimore Womens Film Festival the weekend of October 23-25th. Stella Sung and I wish we could be there for what sounds like a wonderful event, but our day jobs teaching at the University of Central Florida prevented us from making the trip. However, we would like to use this blog to tell you a little bit more about the making of Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy.
How the idea for the music came about. The Orlando Museum of Art was planning to host an exhibit of Norman Rockwell's illustrations in the spring of 2008. Maestro Christopher Wilkins spoke with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence, Stella Sung, about the possibility of her composing some music inspired by any illustrations in the exhibit of her choice. The result was Rockwell Reflections, a suite with five movements, each inspired by a different illustration. Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy was the last movement of the suite. When the OPO performed the suite as the final work for its concert on March 1st, 2008, the audience was extremely enthusiastic and gave the OPO and the work's composer a standing ovation.
The music on film. Meanwhile, backstage, Lisa Mills and one of her documentary students were filming Dr. Sung pacing nervously as her work was performed in Orlando for the very first time. Dr. Mills actually had several cameras in the Bob Carr Auditorium that night for a documentary she is filming about the OPO's Young Composers Challenge. The footage from the performance was so stirring, she and her husband/editor Tim Brown edited the entire concert together as a gift for Stella Sung and Mastro Chris Wilkins. When Sung and Wilkins received the gift they were delighted, and suggested that something else be done with the footage.
Winning Outstanding Cultural Achievement a MOFILM. Maestro Wilkins suggested that Mills edit together a special five-minute film and submit to the Mobile World Congress Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain. This film festival receives submissions from filmmakers who believe their short works would be good choices for cell phone subscribers to view on their mobile devices. Dr. Mills felt that the film about the birth of a new music piece should say something about the creative process. She was editing the film during the election of the Fall of 2008, and was inspired by its outcome. In January, 2009 actor Kevin Space presented the Outstanding Cultural Achievement Award at MOFILM to Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy. Dr. Mills, Dr. Sung and Maestro Wilkins hope that anyone who views the film will be inspired to make connections between creativity and leadership.
Thank you for reading our blog post, and enjoy the festival!
