SingingPoetry

Credits: Lyrics (2004): Julia Donaldson Composers: Andriy Voloshchenko and Vasyl Ovchynnikoy Instrumental: Osinki Vocals: Onyie / Andrey Lavrushkin Original Ukrainian melody: Нiч яка мiсячна (What a Moonlight Night) Video production: Maria Ignateva / Andrey Lavrushkin Technical Supervision: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project Conceptualization and Oversight: Moti Nissani

Here is a self-actualization manifesto, compiled mostly from the writings of people who themselves came close to reaching that level of human development. Credits: Background music: Jay Unger, Ashokan Farewell Performers: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Reader: Donna Nissani Video montage: Maria Ignateva Background image: Auguste Rodin, The Thinker Lyrics Inspired for the most part by: Confucius, R. Buckminster Fuller, Eugene Debs, Rudyard Kipling, Walt Whitman, Bertrand Russell, New Testament, W. H. Davis, Democritus of Abdera, John Donne, Pericles of Athens, Thomas Jefferson, Marcus Garvey, Anton Chekhov, Martin Luther King, Jr. Singing Poetry Project, Conceptualization and Oversight: Moti Nissani Recommended Reading: R. Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path. Democritus of Abdera, cited in: Daniel W. Graham, The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy, pp. 672-681. Eugene Debs, The Canton Speech, Statement to the Court. https://jacobin.com/2020/06/eugene-debs-statement-court-sedition-act-september-1918 Bertrand Russell. A History of Western Philosophy. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass. Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream. https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety Moti Nissani, Eight Billion Cheers for Direct Democracy.

Lyrics: Thomas Hood (1799–1845) Melody: Ramón Ayala (born 1927) Original song: “El cosechero” Vocals: Andrey Lavrushkin Viola: Agustín Cárdenas Audio recording: Andrey Lavrushkin Video montage: Maria Ignateva Technical supervision: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project conceptualization and oversight: Moti Nissani

Lyrics: William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) Melody: Folk song, State of Oaxaca , Mexico Original melody: La Llorona Vocals: Onyie Instrumental: CaboStrings Video Montage: Maria Ignateva Technical oversight: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project Conceptualization and Oversight: Moti Nissani

Lyrics: Amnon Abutbul, Yair Dalal, Fathi Kasem Melody: Amnon Abutbul Vocals: Yaron Sofer Instrumental: Yair Dalal Languages: Arabic; Hebrew Subtitles: English; Russian

Lyrics: Anonymous Melody: Igor Matvienko Original melody: «Конь» Vocals: Onyie Viola: Agustín Cárdenas Performance inspiration: Moscow Cossack Choir Video Montage: Maria Ignateva Technical oversight: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project Conceptualization and Oversight: Moti Nissani

Credits: Lyrics: Samuel Rogers (1763–1855) Melody: Yakov Prigozhyi (1840–1920) Vocals: Onyie Instrumental: Chant populaire Russe Video Production: Maria Ignateva Technical oversight: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project conceptualization and oversight: Moti Nissani

This poem follows the millennial tradition of anti-war art, a tradition which goes at least as far back as Aristophanes. We can, however, put an end to war: “It is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on Earth at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary. War is obsolete. It is a matter of converting the high technology from weaponry to livingry. . . . This is not an opinion or a hope — it is an engineeringly demonstrable fact.” — R. Buckminster Fuller Credits: Lyrics: Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) Melody: Evgeny Rodygin (1925–2020) Vocals: Tayu Videla Musical production: Andrey Lavrushkin Video Production: Maria Ignateva Background image: Anti-War Graffiti: Dove with Bullet-Proof Jacket Technical oversight: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project conceptualization and oversight: Moti Nissani

Before, long after, and during World War I, Ireland was a conquered country, under the heel of the English ruling class. English occupation involved genocides, death and exile of millions, theft of land, food, and other resources, and the transformation of the remaining Irish into strangers in their own land. The Irish tried to revolt, again and again, but failed. The narrator of the poem, a young Irishman, foresees his own and his neighbors’ never-ending life of poverty and quite desperation, regardless of who emerges victorious in that senseless war. Death, he feels, is better than such a life. So, instead of committing suicide, he decides to die gloriously among the clouds, fighting for the pillagers of his people. Credits: Lyrics (1918): William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Melody (1912): Vasily Agapkin (1884–1964) Vocals: Andrey Lavrushkin Musical Inspiration: Dina Garipova Video Production: Maria Ignateva Technical Supervision: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project Conceptualization and Oversight: Moti Nissani

By appealing to our love of the natural world, this classical poem helps us see something as common as springtime daffodils with a fresh eye. Credits Lyrics: William Wordsworth (1770–1850) Melody: Eduard Kolmanovsky (1923–1994) Vocals: Hari Mason Musical Production, Recording, Mastering: Josue Arias, Kymátika Studio, Argentina Video Montage: Maria Ignateva Technical oversight: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project Conceptualization and Oversight: Moti Nissani

This video is part of the Singing Poetry Project. The present poem focuses on the magnificent whooping cranes of North America. By 1941, the numbers of these once-numerous birds reached a nadir of just 23. Since then, protective measures and conservation efforts led to a precarious recovery: by early 2023, the total number of whooping cranes in captivity and the wild rose to 836. Credits: Lyrics: Cori MacNaughton, 2015 Melody: Yan Frenkel, 1969 Musical Inspiration: Mark Berns Vocals and Recording: Andrey Lavrushkin Video Montage: Maria Ignateva Sounds of nature — “The Unison Song of Cranes” from savingcranes.org Video sources: 🔹 “Journey of the Whooping Crane” uploaded on youtube by SargentBoulder 🔹 “Crane Wreckers Promo” uploaded on vimeo by B&E Media 🔹 “Whooping Crane 5 Fascinating Facts” uploaded on youtube by Badgerland Birding 🔹 “First Crane Hatchlings” uploaded on vimeo by Gabe Giffin 🔹 “Flight to Survive Saving Whooping Cranes” uploaded on youtube by NFWF

This video is part of Dr. Moti Nissani's Singing Poetry Project. Credits: Lyrics: Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) Melody: A Russian folk song "Oy, to ne vecher" (Ой, то не вечер) Vocals: Hari Mason Viola: Agustín Cárdenas Musical Production, Recording, Mixing, Mastering: Josue Arias, Kymátika Studio, Argentina Video Montage: Maria Ignateva Technical Supervision: Donna Nissani Producers: Donna and Moti Nissani Project conceptualization and oversight: Moti Nissani Visual sources: Photos of Donna Nissani, open-source and AI generated images, paintings of John Brett, John Everett Millais, Johan Christoffer Bayer, Isaac Levitan, Abbott Handerson Thayer, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Narcisso Virgilio Díaz de la Peña and unknown artists of English School.