Art joins us in a union of feelings and
is indispensable for the well-being of humanity. -Leo Tolstoy
Cultural Media Collaborative Inc. is a production organization dedicated to creating films, television programs, DVDs and live events, specifically designed to increase and enhance public awareness of music, art and culture.
Shrinking attendance at symphony orchestra concerts (especially among the young), severe cutbacks in music and art education, plummeting sales of classical music recordings are all indicators that the public’s appreciation and respect for the arts is diminishing.
Cultural Media Collaborative Inc. is seeking to meet this challenge by creating productions that will explore artistic masterpieces in ways that illuminate and honor the creative spirit. Working hand in hand with world-renowned artists, each production is intended to be unique in form and tone so as to reflect the particular emotional and intellectual world of the artwork being explored. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, historical, biographical and cultural perspectives combine with insights into the structure and inner logic of the artwork revealing pathways to a direct personal experience of the work.
While each production is intended to popularize a great work of art, CMC productions maintain respect for the integrity and depth of the featured artwork by respecting our audience. Rather than simplifying or “dumbing down”, CMC productions dramatize an artwork by emphasizing its immediacy, expansiveness and complexity. Without assuming audience interest, the productions are designed to tickle the curiosity and goad the intellectual appetite of future concertgoers and art lovers. The larger aim is to inspire and guide the development of cognitive skills transferable to other works of art, thus advancing a broad appreciation across the cultural spectrum.
CMC productions are distributed through numerous channels, including educational institutions (working with school districts for curriculum integration), DVD home video, web streaming and international broadcast.
A copy of the Cultural Media Collaborative, Inc. application for tax-exempt status and annual reports may be obtained upon request from our office: 303 West 66th Street, Ste 20-HE, New York, NY 10023, tel: (212) 579-8696, or from the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271, Tel: (212) 416-8400.
Current Projects
The Resurrection of Gustav Mahler
When Gustav Mahler began his Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” in 1888 he was a 28 year old itinerant conductor and virtually unknown as a composer. But by the time of its first complete performance in December 1895, Mahler was an increasingly celebrated maestro, having advanced his career with a combination of talent, cunning and sheer will. His own compositions however were still largely ignored. Reviewing an early reading of the first three movements of the Second Symphony, critics had dismissed Mahler’s work as “noisy and bombastic pathos” and “atrocious, tormenting dissonance.” Continue Reading »
In Search Of A Universal Language: Beethoven in Ho Chi Minh City
In the thirty years since the last helicopter lifted off the U.S. embassy roof in what is now Ho Chi Min City, the relationship between Vietnam and the United States of America has undergone a remarkable transformation. After a period of recrimination, followed by an excruciatingly slow thaw, the two countries are now poised for an entirely new relationship that promises the benefits of collaboration and mutual respect. Continue Reading »
Recent Projects
Mahler Symphony No. 2 Concert Video
The musicians were all but fighting to get in. Top players from some of the best orchestras in the United States were vying to perform for free during precious vacation days! Continue Reading »
Neeme Järvi 70th Birthday Jubilee
If the arts offer profound joy to the human experience, there is hardly an orchestral musician alive who would not agree that maestro Neeme Järvi has devoted his life to expressing that joy through his music making. Continue Reading »
What the Universe Tells Me:
Unraveling The Mystery of Mahler’s Third Symphony
Music, philosophy, and dramatic images combine to create an all-encompassing experience in this in-depth exploration of Gustav Mahler’s stirring and questioning Third Symphony:
How did we get here? What is our life’s purpose? Does God exist? Why do people suffer? Continue Reading »