Celebrating the Millennium with St. Louis

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The EQUINOX CHAMBER PLAYERS, officially designated White House Millennium Council Partners, were endorsed by the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum as the selected performing ensemble to represent St. Louis and participate in the national initiative, Continental Harmony: New Music for the Millennium. Throughout the millennium year, the Equinox Chamber Players performed 15 concerts and workshops to schools, adult centers and concert halls in the St. Louis City and County regions, along with internationally recognized composer, Phillip Kent Bimstein, who wrote a spirited work, The Bushy Wushy Rag, for and about St. Louis.

Celebrating life in St. Louis, The Bushy Wushy Rag includes sounds and influences ranging from a St. Louis Cardinals game to the ragtime music of Scott Joplin. As boisterously American as ragtime and the game of baseball, it bridges the gaps between art and pop culture, the concert hall and the ballpark, the salon and the honky-tonk, and between music and storytelling.

Click here to read about The Bushy Wushy Rag.

PBS filmed The Equinox Chamber Players' participation in the Continental Harmony Project. Visit PBS' Continental Harmony Project website. At the page highlighting the Equinox Chamber Players one may hear a sound clip of The Bushy Wushy Rag.

Visit the Friends of Scott Joplin home page.

The Equinox Chamber Players with Bushy Wushy

What is the Continental Harmony Project?

The Continental Harmony Project is a 50 - state commissioning and residency project celebrating community life at the millennium through musical works. The Equinox Chamber Players were selected as the performing ensemble to represent St. Louis in this national endeavor through July 4, 2000. The partnership with Crossroads School, our host organization, and composer Phillip Kent Bimstein brought workshops and performances to a broad spectrum of people throughout the St. Louis City and County regions. Drafts of the New Work for and about St. Louis were performed throughout the year along with discussions, demonstrations and explorations of the creative process. The Continental Harmony Project culminated in a live performance at Fair St. Louis, 2000.

The Continental Harmony is a partnership of the American Composers Forum and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional funds provided by the John S. & James L. Knight Fnd., Rockefeller Fnd., William & Flora Hewlett Fnd., Land O' Lakes Fnd., Posey Family Fnd., E. Desmond Lee Music Education Collaborative, Regional Arts Commission, Fair Saint Louis, Crossroads School, Mrs. Fred Oberheide, Oasis-BJC, Lazarus Memorial Fund,Christ Church Cathedral, Tyler Place Presbyterian Church, Delmar-Harvard School, and private donors.

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