upcoming releases by yoko ono for 2009
Don't Stop Me! - iTunes exclusive digital four song mini-album out on June 9th
Between My Head And The Sky - 15 song CD and 2 lp record out in September
From the label website: "At 76 years young, Yoko continues to kick ass -- and is preparing to release Don't Stop Me!, a career-defining album made with her new Plastic Ono Band. The record is a gorgeous, mind-melting blend of styles, restating and sharpening themes while plunging into the always-mysterious future."
 Listen to The Sun is Down! (Cornelius remix)
day of the sunflowers (we march on) with yoko ono's vocals
The Times (May 22nd 2009): Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx: "Our version of Day of the Sunflowers features vocals by Yoko Ono, who we got in touch with after finding out she was a fan of another of our songs, Romeo. I think she was a bit wary of going into the studio with a bunch of DJ/producers, but she was great. She said: “Do you want me to do the Yoko Ono thing?” and we said: “Yes please!” She went off with her wails — I love all that: it’s freedom and expression and it’s human. She’s 76, getting on, but she looked very well and youthful. I’d really like to hear other people play the song. They can interpret it themselves without any preconceptions, and then hear what the Yoko Ono recording sounds like."
Record your own rendition of Day of the Sunflowers (We March On).
istanbul modern celebrates its 5th birthday
One of the spectacular characteristics of the renewed collection exhibition is the donated work titled "Ex It"
seeking haikus for london
London Evening Standard (May 28th 2009): "A unique competition to find the best haiku to sum up summer in London has attracted thousands of entrants. The would-be poets send in their entries via online messaging service Twitter. The haikus have been submitted — or tweeted — to what the organisers are calling the world's first “interactive mobile social-media poetry competition”. Topics so far range from the Woolwich ferry to crowded trains; from sweltering offices to skimpy bikinis. The haikus are checked for decency before they are projected on to a giant screen at King's Cross and St Pancras. The winner will be chosen by Yoko Ono and the poet, playwright and novelist Jackie Kay."
national dance institute: a celebration of john lennon
"The entire family can enjoy this theatrical event, while at the same time supporting National Dance Institute (NDI), a nonprofit organization that inspires school children through arts education. Children of NDI’s advanced team celebrate John Lennon with a performance that weaves together vignettes of Lennon’s life with original, energetic choreography set to his masterful music. The young dancers, ages 9-15, present a moving portrait of Lennon’s enduring legacy with music including “Imagine,” “Day Tripper,” “A Day in the Life,” “Help!,” “Come Together,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “Imagine.” Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door and can be purchased online or by calling (212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111"
john lennon: the new york years opens on may 12th
From the press release: "This feature exhibit explores John Lennon’s passion for music, art, politics and film, with New York City as his backdrop. Capturing a time in Lennon’s life that was full of political and social activism, the exhibit reflects the spirit of the era during which he created some of his best work. Highlights of Lennon’s artifacts include his inimitable fashion statements, iconic photographs, legendary instruments, original handwritten lyrics and artwork."
Photos of the artifacts in the exhibition on Yoko Ono's Flickr
constellation: photographs of the 1960s avant-garde art scene in london
From the press release: "In the midst of 1960s ‘Swinging London’, Clay Perry was the photographer for the avant-garde art scene, documenting a constellation of the most innovative international artists of the period, including Yoko Ono, David Medalla, Liliane Lijn, Robert Rauschenberg, Sérgio Camargo, Gustav Metzger, Jesús Rafael Soto, Takis and Mark Boyle.
Constellation also includes Perry’s previously unpublished photographs of Yoko Ono’s 1967 exhibition Half-A-Wind at the Lisson Gallery. John Lennon backed her exhibition and also discreetly participated with a series of empty glass bottles that were shown on a high shelf labelled ‘J. L’. Ono’s main installation, titled Half-A-Room, was a simulated apartment in which everything had been painted white and then cut in half: half a painting, half a cabinet, half a chair, half a teapot, and so on – half-objects suggesting the ability of memory to complete the physical presence of the whole object. David Medalla recalls that Ono ‘went around Portobello Road with a group of people and collected lots of furniture and cut each piece in half - I remember she had half a cake, I always wondered what happened to the other half – I think it was her best show.’ Ono herself has said that ‘it was so innately connected with my private life... I realized that there was a half empty space in my life. I’m presenting that to John. John’s filling the other half. That happened not only in the art dialogue, but it happened in my life. Isn’t that amazing?’"
Perry's beautiful photos of Yoko Ono and the show
yoko invited to niagara falls
Business First (May 7th 2009): Yoko Ono has been invited "to come back to the Southern Ontario honeymoon capital on May 30 as a promotional tie-in with the “All We Are Saying” musical showcase at the Lundy’s Lane Historical Museum. “All We Are Saying,” key words from Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” -- a song he first recorded and released in 1969 -- will feature music from various Southern Ontario youth groups."
fashion against AIDS
From the press release: The "second ‘Fashion against AIDS’ collection together with H&M, that will be in almost 1000 stores in 30 countries from May 28 with designs by artists including Katy Perry, Roisin Murphy, Pharrell Williams/N.E.R.D., Estelle, Yoko Ono, Dita Von Teese, Cyndi Lauper, Tokio Hotel, Yelle, Robyn, Dangerous Muse and Katharine Hamnett."
yoko ono's acorn peace spring 2009
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first mailing event of Acorn Peace by John & Yoko Spring 1969: "On Saturday 2nd May 2009, 40 years after the original mailing of John & Yoko’s 1969 Acorn Peace, Yoko Ono will mail 123 Acorn Peace boxes to world leaders and heads of state, hoping they will plant them in their garden and grow two oak trees for world peace."
yoko ono plastic ono band live in london on june 14th
Ornette Coleman's Meltdown will feature Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band with Sean Lennon, Cornelius and more at Royal Festival Hall in London, UK
anton’s memory
Yoko Ono's new exhibition will be open in Venice Italy May 28th - September 20th 2009. From the press release: "The Bevilacqua la Masa Foundation is proud to host the solo exhibition, Yoko Ono’s “Anton's Memory", by an artist who on 6th June will be presented with the Golden Lion for Career Achievement at the Venice Biennale."
"The sadness in Yoko Ono’s latest work"
yoko ono to be honored at national dance institute's 32nd annual gala
From the press release: "National Dance Institute holds its annual Gala this year Celebrating the life and legacy of John Lennon on April 30th 2009.
Ono will be honored, and there will be dance performances featuring the children of National Dance Institute. Proceeds will benefit National Dance Institute, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1976 by world-renowned New York City Ballet dancer Jacques d’Amboise. NDI’s award-winning dance education program transforms the lives of 35,000 New York City public school children and their families each year. Benefit tables range from $10,000 to $30,000. Individual tickets begin at $1,000. For more information, please call (800) 807-1787."
eco-friendly films coming to an internet near you this earth day
Wallet Pop (April 16th 2009): "What better way to celebrate Earth Day (April 22nd) then to stream five environmentally-conscious films right onto your computer." One of the films features an interview with Yoko Ono.
a new john lennon & yoko ono bed-in book
ROOM 902 Amsterdam 1969 - By Nico Koster Photographer
the beatles’ remastered albums due september 9th 2009
The Rolling Stone (April 7th 2009): "After a nearly 22-year wait, digitally remastered versions of all of the Beatles studio albums will be released, a press release has confirmed. Each album will feature the track listings and artwork as it was originally released in the U.K. and come with expanded booklets including original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited time, each of the Fab Four’s 12 proper albums will be “embedded” with a brief documentary about its making."
john lennon film sparks 'plagiarism' law suit
The Telegraph (April 4th 2009): "It is the debut film by Sam Taylor-Wood, the fashionable artist, and has already been spoken of as a possible Oscar contender by Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul, who bought the American rights.
Mandrake can disclose that Nowhere Boy, which stars Aaron Johnson as John Lennon and Kristin Scott Thomas as his Aunt Mimi, faces a fight to reach the screen, however, as it is to be the subject of a legal action by a biographer who claims that it is based on his book and that he has not been paid or credited. Geoffrey Giuliano, who co-wrote John Lennon, My Brother with Julia Baird, the half-sister of the late Beatle, alleges that she used material from their book in another memoir, on which the screenplay of Nowhere Boy is based, without his permission.
A spokesman for the film says: "There is no merit to this claim. We are looking forward to the release."
ono turns métro into peace train
The Montreal Gazette (April 7th 2009): "Starting yesterday morning, the Montreal Transit Corp. began broadcasting a 17-second message of peace and love from the artist and wife of late Beatle John Lennon on its public address system throughout the métro network. "Bonjour Montréal, ici Yoko Ono!" it begins. Odder still in a province where all but emergency evacuation warnings must be broadcast in French under Bill 101 regulations, the rest continues in English. And it's intelligible. "Hi. This is Yoko! It's time for action, and action is peace. Think peace; act peace; spread Peace and tell your friends to imagine peace. "I love you!" The message is an accompaniment to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts free exhibition Imagine: The Peace Ballad of John and Yoko, which presents 140 pieces of memorabilia and comes on the 40th anniversary of Lennon and Ono's Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in May 1969. Because it's a cultural production with no commercial connotations and Ono doesn't know French, it can be broadcast in English.
"My colleague in the marketing department, Sylvie Bussières, said: 'Imagine if we had a message from Yoko Ono,' " MTC spokesperson Marianne Rouette said. Ono thought it was an excellent idea and the underground mantra of peace was born. It's a world first, Rouette said."
promise piece
Yoko Ono's Promise Piece is being auctioned at Autism Speaks Promise Project and Auction. The auction ends on April 22nd 2009.
a new exhibition publication
The publication for the Chinese Yoko Ono Fly exhibition.
chimera music presents: the GOASTT live
A live gig at The Living Room, New York City, April 4th 2009
imagine: the peace ballad of john and yoko
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Canada: April 2nd - June 22nd 2009.
From the press release: The exhibition "will retrace the story of these two major figures, from their meeting in 1966 to their first creations promoting peace, which culminated in the May 1969 Bed-in. The exhibition will examine the legacy of such anthemic songs as 1971’s “Imagine” and “Power to the People,” or such albums as Imagine and 1972’s Some Time in New York City. A musical soundscape will be the backdrop to this look at the ballad of John and Yoko, while rare documents—drawings, unpublished photographs, videos, films, artworks and interactive materials will convey the couple’s message of universal peace."
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yoko
ono news: april/may 09
