Creative Storytelling with Video
Coventry Carol
Jeanne Pisano vocal ~ Julie Allis Berghofer harp ~ Meg Fox art sequence
The music for the video above is a gorgeous performance by two dear friends, Jeanne Pisano and Julie Berghofer and is from their CD Angel Child—a collection of lullabies and "quiet-time" music for children and adults. Read more about these inspiring musicians below.
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tilizing a slideshow format to combine images, words and music is another wonderful way to tell a story. Like my digital collage therapy work, when using video as a healing therapy, I strive to focus on a free flowing process rather than aim to create a polished work of art. I've been using the Windows Movie Maker software that came installed with my PC. If you have this program, Papa John’s website is a great source of info as are the archives of his newsletter. Mac users with iMovie can find lots of resources to get started by Googling “iMovie tips.” If you don’t have a software program you can upload your own photos to slideshow formats provided by sites such as Picture Trail.
I begin by choosing a song and letting my imagination wander while listening to the music. Then—using free association—I dig through old files of completed artwork, or I snap a few new photos. My plan is to gather images I feel visually describe the thoughts and feelings that come to mind as I listen to the music. I might also browse through poetry or stories for inspiration.
The imagery for Coventry Carol is based upon one photo of my garden. Collage is a relaxing process for me, so I made variations of the photo (one became the Winter Solstice holiday image), adding a few other photos, older drawings and sketches until I had a sequence of frames. Working with a series of unaltered photos keeps it simple and works just as well. An older video of mine—Imagination—includes a few collages, but primarily uses photos including the same garden photo used in Coventry Carol. Time to snap some new garden pix :) ! For Imagination I also added favorite quotes.
The Coventry Carol is a Renaissance carol named after the city of Coventry, England. In medieval times this musical form represented the voice of the masses who, unable to write, expressed their concerns through music and oral storytelling. It remembers the slaying of the innocents under King Herod described in the New Testament, but when I listen to Julie and Jeanne’s performance and the refrain “lullay, lullay” (a medieval phrase for “I see, I see.”), I hear this carol as a universal expression of heartache—a plea to keep our eyes open as advocates for our children, and if indeed we “see,” we must be responsible to take action and protect them from harm. (You can read more historical information about this carol here).
This quote from “If You Could Listen to a Child's Soul…,” was written by a man I so often quote—novelist, attorney and leading authority on child abuse, Andrew Vachss. His incredibly beautiful words also inspired the imagery I created to express feelings I experience when I listen to Jeanne and Julie’s performance of the Coventry Carol:
“Children of the world. Future flowers, now seeds. Some hand-raised, nourished in love-richened ground. Others, tossed carelessly on the coldest concrete, struggling beneath Darwin's dispassionate sunlight.
Each unique, snowflake-individualized. And all the same.
Our race. The human race. One color—many shades. Treasures to some, toys to others. Some will reach the stars—some will stalk the shadows.
What children are, more than anything else, is this: another chance for our flawed species to get it right.”
In addition to their music careers, Jeanne and Julie are also healing instructors.
Jeanne Pisano follows a daily practice of Tibetan Buddhist meditation, is an instructor for meditation practice with The Unfettered Mind and also integrates vocal instruction with meditation practice. Visit the Flying Pisano's web site where you can purchase all the terrific Pisano CDs and Jeanne's blog, Thoughts by Jeanne, for futher meditation information.
Julie Allis Berghofer, NRMT, is Assistant Director of The Music Therapy Wellness Clinic at California State University at Northridge and has over twenty years of experience as a clinician and teacher in the pediatric special needs field. She has a particular interest in early intervention and working with children with autism or profound multiple needs. Julie is one of the authors of The Individualized Music Therapy Assessment Profile, an in-depth assessment protocol developed by a team of six experienced music therapists, newly released and available from Amazon.
I want to mention how honored I am to have some of my collage therapy work included on the new “Endicott Kids” Page and to let anyone purchasing Julie's new book know that they can help Endicott kids in need at the same time by entering Amazon through the link provided under “Book sales for the Endicott kids.”
Here's a brief musical bio of these two dear and giving women:
Julie Allis Berghofer hails from England with classical training in piano and harp, while Jeanne Pisano comes from the midwestern United States and began singing professionally at age ten with her mother's dance band. Julie has played with symphony and radio orchestras in London and accompanied singers from Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to Frank Sinatra and Christina Aquilera. Jeanne Pisano has performed worldwide in the jazz idiom and written lyrics for Grammy winners Dianne Reeves, Dame Cleo Laine and Johnny Mathis. Julie and Jeanne's lives have converged in their musical marriages. Julie is the wife of famed jazz bassist Chuck Berghofer and Jeanne the wife of legendary jazz guitarist John Pisano.
~Meg
Music from Angel Child © 2002 Flying Pisanos Music, Inc (780014482725)
Video © 2007-2008 Meg Fox
The Elder-Tree Mother
