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Loreena McKennitt: The Queen Of Celtic Soul Music

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Loreena McKennitt: The Queen Of Celtic Soul Music

By External Source

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My starting point is the belief that, in one way or another, we are all an extension of each other’s history. Wanting to learn about our neighbours is also a desire to learn about ourselves. I have simply chosen the Celtic vehicle in which to do this. No doubt I could have chosen another conduit for my music – let’s say the history of hats – and experienced just as interesting a journey as I have had with Celtic history. But that vehicle has taken me to so many places and people worldwide and also down paths and into themes with little Celtic connection whatsoever.

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But music is not only a marvelous medium for self-education and creative expression. I am also in awe of music’s unique capacity to induce and enhance moods and psychological states and the great linkages it has to physiology. This is illustrated in the field of music therapy, not only for humans but also for animals. I think of dairy farmers who pipe in classical music to induce cows to give more milk, or of a recent film set in Mongolia called The Story of the Weeping Camel, in which a mother camel rejects her calf only to reclaim it following a musical ritual. I think of the MIT professor who uses MRI scans to study the impact on the brain of the meditation and chanting of Kundalini yoga.

I am deeply interested in these connections between physiology and our spiritual and psychological beings, and the many events and experiences that inspire us. Surely some creativity comes from this set of intersections..."

Excerpted from 'About Loreena McKennitt' and written by Loreena McKennitt

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Oscar Voting, Nominations Announcement Delayed Again Due to L.A. Wildfires
Awards

Oscar Voting, Nominations Announcement Delayed Again Due to L.A. Wildfires

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has announced updates to its 2025 Oscars key dates and schedule of events due to the impact of the Los Angeles-area fires. The Oscar telecast is still set for March 2, but the nominations announcement is being delayed for the second time to Jan. 23 — and will now be held virtually. The Oscars nominees luncheon, always an A-list event, will not be held this year.

“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.

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