Kate Miranda

Vaneeesa left me a long list of people she wanted me to blog about. She said she was sorry she didn’t write it all before she left, but sometimes the astral plane just won’t wait.

The very first name on the long list is Kate Miranda. Vaneeesa says Kate is her hero. She met her just 10 days before her ascension, at a “What are the EDU’s & Non-Profits gonna do now?” meeting at Rockcliffe University.

Kate was the full-time Orchestra Manager for the Toronto Philharmonia. Then she started programing concerts on Music Island in SL. Kate thought the work she was doing in SL was so compelling, that she stepped down from her full-time job, took a part-time job and a 5-figure pay cut so she could devote more time to her work in the virtual world.

Some people might think Kate’s crazy, and some people might never be able to afford to do that, but it’s an incredible story of love and dedication. I think Kate saw a bigger picture of her life and what was meaningful and found a way to make it happen.

Kate told Vaneeesa:
[2010/10/06 13:50] Kate Miranda: I saw a lot of musicians and music students gaining a lot from participation in Music Island

Here’s an excerpt from the Toronto Star article that John Terauds wrote on Kate & Classical Music in Virtual Worlds:
http://www.thestar.com/Entertainment/article/593643

At the modest Music Island, Linda Rogers co-ordinates a live concert most Saturdays at 3 p.m. There is new music, piano recitals, an orchestra and experiments in the simultaneous creation of music and visual art. This afternoon’s bill features “Professor Blackmountain,” a synthesizer artist “who weaves a meditative spell of ambient music that will take you on an inner journey of exploration.”

Rogers says she welcomes about 2,000 visitors every month to Music Island – in line with a real-world venue like the Jane Mallett Theatre. Except that you can’t teleport yourself from China into the St. Lawrence Centre.

One of Music Island’s regular performers is early-music specialist Thomas Coard (Thom Dowd in Second Life). He greets avatars from the stage and chats amiably between pieces.

Kate’s Blog:
http://music-island.blogspot.com/

Cedar Island News:
http://www.cedar-island.org/

Music Island Twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/Music_Island

Upcoming Performances:
SATURDAY OCTOBER 16 @ 11 am
Isaac Cerise, jazz piano

FRIDAY OCTOBER 22 @ 6 PM
Full Moon Lunacy
AldoManutio Abruzzo

SATURDAY OCTOBER 23 @ 12 PM
Arimo Teixeira, classical and contemporary guitar

FRIDAY OCTOBER 29 @ 1 PM
Fingersatz Barbosa, Classical Guitar
Bach and Albeniz

FRIDAY OCTOBER 30 @ 12 pm
Thom Dowd, Recorders

SATURDAY NOV 6 @ 1 PM
JooZz Magic, jazz piano

SUNDAY NOV 14
Women in SL music festival
full day event in cooperation with Minerva sim & Ohio State University Women’s Studies

SUNDAY NOV 21 @ 6 PM SLT
Full Moon Lunacy with AldoManutio Abruzzo

SAT NOV 27 @ 12 PM SLT
Thom Dowd plays Handel

One of the things Vaneeesa said on Saturday was that her biggest mistake was spending any energy at all thinking about what Linden Lab does. She said it’s hard not to because they constantly do things that affect your world and your life, but in the end, they just don’t really matter. All the negativity that shrouded over her started when she started to pay attention to Lindens. She said if you just looked at people like Kate and places like Music Island and Cedar Island, it’s incredible how much love and beauty there is in this world.

Music Island / Cedar Island is part of a 6 above-water-region archipelago all joined by a central water region. Maybe some time I can write some stuff about the other areas, Better World and those regions. They’re such amazing places. The talk about war and the cycle of life and so many sad and happy and amazing things. I kinda wanna live on those islands now. They’re so far away from all the stores and the sex clubs and all that SL stuff. I could just curl up here for a long time.

xoxo, Aero