That鈥檚 why he created the annual concert series, Mozart in Jeans, which features an all-Mozart program in a casual setting.

Peled said he believes in a 鈥渄ress down philosophy鈥� in classical music.

鈥淚 really believe that we have to break the barriers between us performers, the music we play, and the audience,鈥� Peled said.

Mount Vernon Virtuosi will bring its next D.C. performance to St. Ann Catholic Church in Tenleytown on Dec. 14, starting at 3:00 pm. The concert is free.

Peled said that he feels wearing a tuxedo creates more barriers and makes the audiences feel like they are in a museum. Peled said his group and other performers wear their 鈥渟pecial shirts鈥� that display the three pillars of which they perform upon: Concerts, Education, and Community.

Katherine Needleman, an oboe player and a member of the Baltimore Symphany Orchestra, will be joining Mozart in Jeans. This is Needleman鈥檚 first time working with Peled and Mount Vernon Virtuosi.

鈥淚 am also so happy that Amit has entertained my somewhat wild cadenza idea, which involves the orchestra, and can鈥檛 wait to explore that with everyone and see how it turns out,鈥� Needleman said.

Peled said this program started years ago, wanting to make the musicians feel a little bit out of their comfort zones. Peled said the performers feel weird wearing jeans when performing Mozart on stage.

鈥淚t created this fun atmosphere with the audience,鈥� Peled said. 鈥淚 always tell the audience the concept before.鈥�

Peled said this event brings more young people because it is such a casual event.

鈥淵ou play the highest level, and you treat it the most serious way, the music, but you don鈥檛 have to create a barrier between you and the audience by wearing something that people wore 200 years ago,鈥� Peled said.

Peled said he originally started his music career in Israel with a crush on a girl who was four years older than him.

Peled said his class only about six or seven students on average, so the relationships with the teachers were very personal. Peled said he chose the cello because that is what his crush played, but he had immediately fell in love with the cello.

Peled said he went to an art-type school in Tel Aviv, but his music career was slightly derailed. Peled was drafted to the army at 18 in Israel but was accepted into the only string quartet that represents the Israeli defense force.

鈥淭here are only four people who are lucky enough to win this position, and then for three years instead of fighting, you play music for soldiers and for the prime minister,鈥� Peled said.

Peled said he could not really practice during his three years of service, but he was able to continue to play music. Once Peled completed his service, he received a full scholarship to Yale University. After Yale, he went to the New England Conservatory and finished his graduate studies in Berlin, Germany.

At 27, Peled had his Carnegie Hall debut recital. At this time, Peled had his first opportunity to teach a masterclass at Baltimore鈥檚 Peabody Institute. At 28, Peled then offered an official teaching position at Peabody.

鈥淚 got this opportunity to be myself, to be an artist, to be a teacher, and to get to know this area of the world, of America and to make it my own and to try to make a change in it,鈥� Peled said.

In 2018, while teaching, Peled had noticed something that bothered him: extraordinary talents are brought here and the day they finish Peabody, they leave. Peled said he felt bad and wanted them to stay here.

鈥淚 wanted this area to be a cultivating ground for great artists to create a better environment,鈥� Peled said.

Peled felt that students that leave universities are not ready for the professional world because they are trained in a classroom and are not truly trained to be performing artists. So, Peled said he created what he calls the 鈥淐ello Gang.鈥�

In a professional setup, Peled does a program called Around the World in six cells. With current students and former students alike, they join together and get paid for it. Peled said the group started touring the world and making CDs.

鈥淚t promotes the ability to be on stage and not just to study with me in the classroom,鈥� Peled said.

After seeing the success, Peled decided to transform the 鈥淐ello Gang鈥� into a chamber orchestra. Peled wanted to expand his mission of keeping more musicians in the area and producing more concerts and professional opportunities for them. Peled also had another thought: keeping the concerts free.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want these people to pay in order to hear this extraordinary young, talent,鈥� Peled said.

Peled thought about equal opportunities for musicians but also equal opportunity for community members, especially underprivileged ones, to hear classical music. This was the start of the Mount Vernon Virtuosi.

鈥淓verybody thought, and still thinks, I鈥檓 crazy, but I thought that if wealthy people in our area or in our world would actually know the mission,鈥� Peled said, 鈥測ou want this in your community for free.鈥�

Peled said that now in its seventh year, they are able to maintain the group through donations. With 52 concerts a year throughout the D.C. area, the group plays nearly once a week. Peled said the goal is to spread the group and mission throughout the United States.

Needleman said the Mount Vernon Virtuosi鈥檚 involvement in the community combined with the opportunities for young musicians had caught her attention.

鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to share the stage with a curious artist who speaks out about the value of music and against the injustice,鈥� Needleman said.

Peled said he is an actor when performing and that the script he plays is written in the language of music. Peled said music is the only language that forces you to listen while speaking.

鈥淵ou cannot speak language of music without learning to listen to what happens while you鈥檙e speaking,鈥� Peled said.

Peled said he is trying to be as approachable as possible. Peled wants people to have the opportunities that he was able to have because of his parents and upbringing.

鈥淲e are not the Beatles, and we don鈥檛 have thousands of followers and bodyguards,鈥� Peled said, 鈥淚 want to be there for the people.鈥�

More events can be found at the Mount Vernon Virtuosi .

The post Amit Peled and his story to performing Mozart in Jeans first appeared on 最新蜜桃影像.

As part of an initiative that aims to give parents more autonomy in their child鈥檚 education, Trump has promised to sign an executive order that would cut federal funding for schools that incorporate critical race theory, gender ideology or other 鈥渋nappropriate racial, sexual or political content鈥� in curricula. 

Armed with the support of his secretary of education pick, Linda McMahon, he has said he intends to sign an executive order to reinstate 鈥淭he 1776 Commission,鈥� an advisory commission made up of 20 members appointed by Trump that enforces the incorporation of 鈥減atriotic鈥� values in the classroom. 

Among his biggest campaign platforms, however, has been his calls to dismantle the Department of Education as a way to 鈥渆nd education coming out of Washington, D.C.鈥� and 鈥渟end all education work and needs back to the States,鈥� as his campaign website states. 

鈥淥n top of regular educators and paraeducators, we have a lot of staff that are solely here to support very specific students,鈥� said Alessandra Portillo, administrative secretary and financial specialist at Diamond Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. 鈥淭hey know that in cases like this, their programs are the first ones cut, which is really unfortunate.鈥� 

Diamond Elementary School is a Montgomery County public school that hosts a nationally recognized support program for children on the autism spectrum among its standard course offerings. Portillo said that the school relies heavily on funding allocated by the Department of Education and federal grants to keep critical resources and programming available for children with special needs. 

鈥淎 lot of these parents that send their kids here don’t have the specialized skills, training, or knowledge to be able to care for their kids [in] the way that they need,鈥� Portillo said. 

According to Portillo, the tone at most schools in the Washington region hosting specialized education programs has been one of anxiety, shock, and apprehension. Many are experiencing uncertainty about whether the changes Trump has promised on a federal level may influence them on a local level. 

Not all educators are worried about potential changes, particularly those in states with greater local autonomy.

Donna Norton is an 8th grade English teacher at Bonny Eagle Middle School in Scarborough, Maine. She鈥檚 not particularly worried about incoming changes at the federal level, and added that neither is the administrative body at her school. 

鈥淓verybody always just says, 鈥極h my god, I’m so glad I don’t teach in Florida,鈥� or 鈥業’m so glad I don’t teach in Texas.鈥� That’s more what the feeling is,鈥� Norton said. 鈥淔or me personally, I don’t know how much would be affected at the state level, or even at our local level, because a lot is done at our [local level]. 鈥� So I’m not hugely worried.鈥� 

In contrast to Portillo鈥檚 concerns, Norton said that she was doubtful anything would be affected at Bonny Eagle, even if Trump was able to get Congress to enact legislation shuttering the Education Department. 

Norton added that after the Common Core Learning Results were implemented under President Ronald Reagan and further developed under President Barack Obama, they were 鈥渒ind of done away with鈥� in Maine on a district-by-district basis.

鈥淚 think everybody’s just about providing a good education,鈥� Norton said. 鈥淚 know in Maryland, [curriculum is determined] by county, but a lot of people don’t even have faith in the public school system there. I don’t think that’s because of [anything at] the national level. I think that’s because the districts are so huge, they鈥檙e just absolutely difficult to manage.鈥� 

Christina Cropper is a school counselor at Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Similarly to Norton, she is skeptical about whether Trump鈥檚 promises will be fully carried out in schools when so many decisions around education happen at the state and local levels. 

鈥淚’m really not worried about the Department of Education closing,鈥� said Cropper. 鈥淲hat worries me is the shift in rhetoric that will then actually affect policy on a state and local level.鈥�  

School administrators sent out resources for teachers to help them navigate the intricacies of politically charged discussions among students, including guidance on when to intervene and shut conversation down if it became too combative. 

Other than mitigating the immediate emotional impact on students, however, Cropper said that the school administration at Dunbar High School has largely been waiting to see what comes of Trump鈥檚 promises.

鈥淗e’s not in office yet. The impact鈥檚 not quite there yet,鈥� Cropper said. 鈥淭his might just be me personally, but I think we’re all kind of waiting just to see what’s going to happen, what he’s actually going to be able to accomplish,鈥� she said.

The post Educators anticipating changes during a second Trump administration first appeared on 最新蜜桃影像.

Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax are among those jurisdictions impacted by the fire weather watch.听

In , a fire weather watch is announced when there is potential for a red flag warning to be issued in the near future. A red flag warning is issued when relative humidity is less than 30%, wind speed is over 20 miles per hour, and temperatures are above 40 degrees.听

A watch is also issued so land managers, such as National Park Service campsite managers, and fire officials can call attention to increased fire danger in the area when weather conditions support extreme fire danger, according to the National Weather Service.听听

Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency on Nov. 7 in response to two fires in Madison and Patrick counties. These fires, plus the Matts Creek wildfire near Lynchburg, continue to pose a threat to public health in Northern Virginia.听

The weather watch comes as the area currently has 鈥�鈥� drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.听听

Luis Rosa, meteorologist for the NOAA, said there will be dry, breezy conditions, with smoke making its way to the area this afternoon accompanying wind from the southwest.听

鈥淥utdoor burning is not recommended tomorrow anywhere in the region,鈥� Rosa said.听

Rosa said the low humidity and strong winds are a recipe for the spread of wildfires, which is why he recommends limiting outdoor grilling, bonfires, and fireworks this weekend. 听听

Lindsey Long, a community forestry specialist with the Virginia Department of Forestry, said as long as community members practice fire safety, common fall activities involving fire do not have to be off the table.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 really important to watch any fires that you do start,鈥� Long said. 鈥淢ake sure you鈥檙e doing any proper steps to put out any fires if you do start them.鈥�听

These steps include clearing all flammable material away from burn areas and making water and tools readily available to extinguish the fire in case of emergency, according to the United States Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service.听

A , created by these organizations, shows the counties in Virginia where fires are not permitted at this time.听

Shawn Maddox, vice president of the Virginia Fire Prevention Association, calls them 鈥渂urn bans.鈥� He said weather conditions similar to those in Northern Virginia 鈥� strong winds, low humidity and dryness 鈥� prompt local authorities to enact these bans.听

鈥淚t is just to reduce the risk of fire,鈥� Maddox said.听听

Arlington resident William Richardson said he has never had any experience with fire in the Northern Virginia area. However, a fire weather watch did not shock him.听

鈥淚 know that we鈥檝e had very little rain here,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淚鈥檓 familiar with the Canada problem and West Coast problem, but all I know is that we have not had much rain.鈥�听

Both Madison and Culpeper counties near Northern Virginia have issued 鈥渂urn bans.鈥� 听

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While many states and territories automatically shifted to sending blank ballots to their voters by mail during the pandemic, many voters had to manually request a ballot from their state or county鈥檚 board of elections.

This is still the case for Virginia. To get a mail ballot, voters must, then send the form to their Registrar鈥檚 office to receive a ballot before election day. These requested ballots must be mailed or delivered back to the Registrar鈥檚 office before polls close on election day. Polls are open across Virginia from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Ann Nelson, 74, said she voted early in person so she could work the Virginia Democrats table all day. 鈥淚 went by the Registrar鈥檚 office a few days ago and thought I might as well. It was convenient.鈥�

Nelson added that her husband, also working the Virginia Democrats table, hadn鈥檛 voted yet but planned to once he had a free moment.

The Virginia Republican party was also represented with a table outside the door to the high school. Fauquier High School in Warrenton, Virginia, is one of 25 polling places across Fauquier County.

Bill Divello at the Republican table and the Nelsons at the Democrats鈥� are stationed there to direct voters to the correct entrance and to hand out sample ballots for their party, all in the interest of helping people get in and out efficiently.

Divello, 75, said he did vote early at the Registrar鈥檚 office this time so he could be at the table this morning at 6:00, but he prefers voting in person on election day. 鈥淭radition,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 grew up that way.鈥�

While it is likely many polling places across the country have seen increased tension among voters, volunteers, and poll workers the last few election cycles, that has not been the case at Fauquier High School this morning. The only tension happened earlier in the day when the entrance to the voting area had been moved to a different door than people were accustomed to.

Nelson said there was some confusion due to a girls鈥� basketball tournament that had forced school organizers to redirect voters through a different door on the side of the building to access the voting area. She said people are used to a specific entrance, and some voters were visibly upset by the change, some even complaining of voter suppression.

Organizers eventually moved the entrance back to the original door.

There have been over cast in Virginia for the 2022 General Elections this November. Since early voting began in late September, many more people in Virginia have decided to vote early in person or by mail than in past years. In the 2018 midterms, less than 350k people voted early.

In the states where early voting is available, the rates vary according to voter demographics, such as party affiliation, gender, and age.

Since 2018, the rates of mail-in ballot use in Virginia have increased for Democrats while largely staying the same for Republicans. Virginia does not use partisan voter registration, so this data is based on modeled party.

When considering age demographics, voters in Virginia aged 50-64 have consistently voted by mail from 2018 to now, while those in the 65-74 range have been voting by mail more consistently in 2022 than in past years. People aged 18-49 have voted early or by mail less consistently.

While election officials are still counting, this year鈥檚 numbers so far pale in comparison to the 2020 General Election. Nearly 3 million people voted early during the 2020 Presidential election, compared to less than half of that for both 2016 and 2018.

While other areas of the country may be seeing a more significant shift from in-person to mail-in or early voting, it is clear that has not yet been the case in at least this area of Virginia.

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