Music in the Air

It is summertime in Northern Virginia, and the livin’ is easy! Summer always puts me in the mind of concerts and music festivals. I love spending a Saturday afternoon outdoors at a concert, allowing myself to be carried away on the sounds of the music floating through the air. If any of you are interested in music, or perhaps taking one of ELI’s Music Appreciation classes then you have to check this out!

Did you know that NOVA Libraries’ has access to the NAXOS Music Library? It requires you to enter your MyNOVA ID and password, but then you have access to a number of musical recordings from Classical to Blues to Chinese Music. You can stream these directly onto your computer to listen to.

For a couple of other great ways to bring music to your life, check out our guest blogger’s July 12^th article on Recommended Apps. This post highlights some customizable web radio options that can be added to your phone or accessed via the web.

Are you interested in creating your own music? Check out the Petrucci Music Library. This site offers musical scores, books and recordings organized by genre, time period and composer. Download one of the scores, and practice creating your own music on your own instrument.

If you’re like me and enjoy experiencing music at concerts, check out some of the upcoming free concerts in the Northern Virginia area:

·    Potomac Overlook Summer Concert Series takes place every other Friday. Held at Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, it includes such performances as Andrew Acosta performs Bluegrass and Michael Mulvaney performs Americana Blues and Roll.

·    Friday Night Live! in Herndon offers free live music every Friday evening from May 6 to August 26. This Friday, Drop Dead Sexy will be providing an over-the-top stage show of anything from “Abba to Journey to Queen to Twisted Sister”.

·    The Alexandria Citizens Band offers free concerts every Friday night at Market Square in Old Town Alexandria. This all-volunteer band was incorporated in 1912. It holds regular concerts with a variety of music played.