"The free play of art is the result of mastery. " --Ernst Fischer, The Necessity of Art

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." --Ladybird Johnson

"...a well-trained ear, a well-trained intelligence, a well-trained heart, and a well-trained hand...." --Zoltan Kodaly

7/15/10

Celebrating Killian Mansfield's Life...

Killian Mansfield was one of the amazing teen musicians who came to Ashokan's Western & Swing week for several years. His irreverent good humor and sheer joy in life soon endeared him to everyone in our community, even as we watched with sadness as each year saw the cancer he was battling begin to take its toll.

He was--and continues to be--an inspiration for people of all ages.

This coming Sunday, there'll be a big celebration of Killian's life on what would have been his 17th birthday. (Sunday, July 18th, 2-6pm, Shokan, NY) Music, potluck, hanging out: it looks to be a great time to benefit a great cause.

From the website:
Live music, POT LUCK, community and BIG FUN
to benefit the charity Killian founded in the last months of his life, the Killian Mansfield Foundation.

Performances include (to date & subject to change):
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Amy Helm & Jay Collins, Robert Burke Warren, Bruce Katz, Jon Braman, Jon Coghill & Los Chingones, Mark Donato, Catskill Ukulele Group, Byrdsong, We Can Lele and more!

More information? Check out the website: http://killianmansfield.org/

Interested in knowing more about Killian? Check out this NY Magazine article:
http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/60127/

2 comments:

Phil Mansfield said...

Killian, too, was inspired by the spirit held dear at Western Swing. Breath in nature, exhale joy--remain open to connecting. The Mansfields are so happy to have experienced what Killian termed as "his peeps."

Karla said...

Babs--You all are a part of our community, too... Killian was the kind of person who helped other people to be awake and glad, in each moment. I wish that kind of energy could spread to everyone.

Looking forward to the celebration tomorrow...and thanks for reading this!