A great man is one who collects knowledge the way a bee collects honey and uses it to help people overcome the difficulties they endure - hunger, ignorance and disease!
- Nikola Tesla

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
- Franklin Roosevelt

While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.
- Woodrow Wilson

LeitmotivArts presents Aleksandra Denda EP release show

LeitmotivArts is thrilled to announce the release of the debut EP DREAMER from Aleksandra Denda available worldwide on March 17th 2016.

Two years after having her single "In the Dark" selected as The Song Of The Day on Jon Oliver's The Main Ingredient Radio, Aleksandra releases her debut EP. DREAMER - wonderful patchwork of acoustic and electronic elements, intertwining Neo Soul, Jazz, World Music and Electronica into Aleksandra's own ethereal sonic canvas.

Dreamer is a luscious six-track introduction to the distinctive artistry of this Serbian native, as her sultry voice daydreams about the perfect lover, forgiveness, inner bliss and artists’ place under the sun. Aleksandra’s enchanting blend of celestial harmonies, captivating melodies and insightful lyrics will undoubtedly speak to all those seeking for truth and authenticity in music.

Recorded in Boston, all songs on the were written by Aleksandra and produced by the innovative, LA-based producer Giosue Greco; apart from the collaboration with Indian singer-songwriter Vasuda Sharma on the single "Already Here", that immediately picked up support from India's MTV and Rolling Stone Magazine after its video release on February 29th.

After performing across NYC at the variety of humanitarian events organized by Leitmotiv Arts, the established arts organization and Aleksandra deepen their collaboration through other musical occasions, including the release show of her debut EP Dreamer, scheduled for March 16th at 9PM at DROM in New York's East Village.

Joining Aleksandra’s regular rhythm section as a special treat for this unique performance, are a 4-part horn section, a duo of captivating back vocalists, and some surprise guests.

Besides the music from the EP, Aleksandra and her international 10-piece band will also perform some unrecorded material.

For more information about the album release performance on March 16th at Drom visit the venue’s website here - http://www.dromnyc.com/events/4637/leitmotivarts-presents-aleksandra-denda-ep-release-show#.Vt-LQMczMlI

Aleksandra Denda is an internationally recognized, New York-based vocalist, bandleader and songwriter. Besides performing, recording and touring throughout USA, Europe and Asia, she performs steadily on the East Coast as a leader and as featured artist in the wide array of musical genres, spanning from Soul to World Music, Brazilian, R&B, and Jazz. Some of these projects include performances with American Idol's Michael Lynche (aka Big Mike) as his background vocalist, recording with the flamenco star Jose Merce on the Latin Grammy nominated album Mi Unica Llave, and co-founding ROSA -the only traditional Serbian all-female a cappella group on this side of the Atlantic.

www.aleksandradenda.com
www.facebook.com/LeitmotivArtsNYC


SA

 

People Directory

Tom Jurich

By Sandi Radoja

[This article originally appeared in the American Srbobran, April 5, 2017]

LOUISVILLE, KY – On an unseasonably hot February day, Tom Jurich welcomed us to his third floor office on the campus of the University of Louisville. We were 2-1/2 hours early, but his door swung open wide despite our inability to jump time zones correctly.

Born and raised in Southern California, Tom Jurich of SNF Lodge #95-Lovcen-Los Angeles, was apologetic for the heat as if it was his fault. “We don’t turn the air conditioning on this early,” he said, an explanation we already heard from his receptionist who called her desktop fan her “new BFF.” We were immediately at ease, and the friendliness of the entire office far outweighed the heat.

It was Mercia Martich of Northridge, California, who sent us in the direction of the Tom Jurich story initially. She said he was a SNF member and someone to hoot about, adding, “He is not only successful, but a fine gentleman and a family man, too.”

Read more ...

Publishing

My Brother's Keeper

by Fr. Radovan Bigovic

Rare are the books of Orthodox Christian authors that deal with the subject of politics in a comprehensive way. It is taken for granted that politics has to do with the secularized (legal) protection of human rights (a reproduction of the philosophy of the Enlightenment), within the political system of so-called "representative democracy", which is limited mostly to social utility or to the conventional rules of human relations. Most Christians look at politics and democracy as unrelated with their experience of the Church herself, which abides both in history and in the Kingdom, the eschaton. Today, the commercialization of politics—its submission to the laws of publicity and the brainwashing of the masses—has literally abolished the "representative" parliamentary system. So, why bother with politics when every citizen of so-called developed societies has a direct everyday experience of the rapid decline and alienation of the fundamental aspects of modernity?

In the Orthodox milieu, Christos Yannaras has highlighted the conception of the social and political event that is borne by the Orthodox ecclesiastical tradition, which entails a personalistic (assumes an infinite value of the human person as opposed to Western utilitarian individualism) and relational approach. Fr Radovan Bigovic follows this approach. In this book, the reader will find a faithful engagement with the liturgical and patristic traditions, with contemporary thinkers, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, all in conversation with political science and philosophy. As an excellent Orthodox theologian and a proponent of dialogue, rooted in the catholic (holistic) being of the Orthodox Church and of his Serbian people, Fr Radovan offers a methodology that encompasses the above-mentioned concerns and quests.