Briefly Legal PDX, July 28, 2011
Pet project: Anthony Burrell flies high with aerial arts group
Interview by Melody Finnemore
Paisley Rose Music Video with Pendulum Dancers - Anthony Burrell with Paisley on the left, Suzanne Kenney with Luis Torres on the right.
* How did you get involved with Pendulum?
My involvement with Pendulum grew out of a combination of synergistic events. I first met Suzanne Kenney, Pendulum’s executive director, a couple of years ago at a non-profit fair for the Northwest Business for Culture & the Arts (NWBCA) here in Portland. At the time, I was interested in learning about the local arts community and potentially getting involved as a volunteer/board member. Pendulum left an impression on me with its beautiful aerial artistry and spectacular cirque-style shows. Suzanne and I exchanged contact information at the fair and I followed Pendulum’s newsletter. A year or two passed. I was quite busy as a newer associate, among other things.
My spouse (Paisley) and I are recording artists and late last year, we were looking for local artists to feature in our music video to showcase themes of grace, elegance, and strength. Without any knowledge of my previous introduction to Pendulum, Paisley found Pendulum online (http://www.pendulumaerialarts.org/index2.htm) and thought that Pendulum’s aerial dancing would be perfect for the video. She sent an email to Suzanne to see if she was interested in performing. Suzanne liked the idea and we met at Stage 13 in Northwest Portland to shoot the video with Suzanne and her dance partner Luis Torres. I was delightfully surprised to be reacquainted with Pendulum in such a setting. The synchronicity of our meeting again triggered my interest in learning more about Pendulum. We met for tea a couple of times to talk about Pendulum and my potential joining of the board. I attended a board meeting as a prospective board member and was elected to the board at the following meeting.
* Are you an artist/performer as well as a board member?
I do not currently perform with Pendulum, however, I am passionate about the arts in general and particularly enjoy music. I play various instruments, primarily the piano and guitar, and sing. Paisley and I have a musical project called Paisley Rose and we are recording our debut album for release later this year. The album will feature songs from a variety of genres and includes performances by several talented musicians that play regularly here in town.
As for performing with Pendulum, anyone can aspire to be an aerial performer through Pendulum’s own unique educational program that offers classes at all skill levels. For example, Pendulum offers open aerial classes for ages 8 to 18 that start in the fall, a two-week summer intensive for ages 9-18, and a two-year apprentice program for those who would like to train to become company members. Private lessons are available as well. More information about the classes can be found at http://www.pendulumaerialarts.org/classes.htm.
* What are your responsibilities as a board member?
Our board meets monthly to address the challenges common to many non-profit art groups here in town including fundraising, finances, assessing the cultural scene in the region, strategic planning, development of our education program, collaboration with other art groups, performing/touring, and raising awareness of Pendulum in our community.
This year, outside of the board room, I reached out to several Portland businesses who partnered with Pendulum to support fundraising efforts and I also served as a hands-on volunteer at three separate performances. For example, at a community day event in April that showcased the talents of the younger students (who are amazing!), my daughters sold raffle tickets while I helped with tickets at the door together with another board member. My family helped set up and break down for the event. I am responsible, in part, for establishing connections with those in the community who share a common passion in the arts to join in supporting Pendulum’s mission, which is to strengthen the art community by collaborating with diverse artists from around the globe, to expose the public to a unique form of moving art through live performance, and to enrich the global community by inspiring and educating youth. We are actively seeking supporters. If you are interested, let me know. The board is a very enthusiastic and hard-working board. It is truly a pleasure serving with them.
* What do you enjoy most about your work with the organization?
I love what Pendulum does, educationally and artistically, in our community. Our community has suffered a tremendous loss of the arts in our schools. I have witnessed first-hand the alarming cuts to arts programs over the past decade. For example, music programs have been dramatically cut in our children's schools. Although Paisley and I have been able to share music with our own children to supplement their education, many children do not have this opportunity and their only meaningful exposure to the arts is through school. Non-profit art groups and community volunteers can work to meet this need. For example, to address the failure of our educational system with regard to music, Paisley and I volunteered to teach an elective ‘singing-in-the-studio’ class for 6th-8th graders this past year. It was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life. With only a small keyboard, a guitar, and a classroom of eager voices, we explored a variety of songs each week in the classroom focusing on basic vocal techniques. At the end of each course, we took the entire class on a walking field trip to a local recording studio to record one or two of our favorite original tunes. The class quickly became popular and had a long waitlist. The greatest reward was seeing the enthusiasm of the students when they shared their developing musical skills in each class, performed in front of the entire school at an all-school assembly (K-12), and sang their hearts out in the recording studio. There is a vital need in the community for those who recognize the value of the arts to become involved and share these types of experiences with the rising generation.
Pendulum fills a similar need in our community. Suzanne’s passion to teach her wonderful form of art to the youth in our community is contagious. She clearly loves her students dearly and wears her heart on her sleeve when talking about them and her hard-working company members. Pendulum’s students are not only amazing performers who dedicate very many hours to their craft, they generally maintain excellent grades in their school coursework as well. I believe that non-profit art groups like Pendulum create well-balanced individuals that are familiar with the passion and discipline needed to inspire others with their soul-expanding expression.
* Does it complement your legal practice, or is it a total escape?
My service on Pendulum’s board complements my patent practice in almost all respects. I enjoy working with creative people in all fields including technology and the arts. The field of intellectual property is rich with imaginative creators such as inventors and artists that are changing the world with their ideas and artwork each day. I feel fortunate to work with such people. My service with Pendulum is complementary in that it provides another opportunity to work with such wonderfully creative people.
I am grateful to the individuals in my firm that not only allow me to serve on Pendulum’s board, but have encouraged me from day one to get involved in the community and give back in a way that aligns with my passions and skills. My firm has generously sponsored Pendulum’s fundraising efforts this year with a grant and provided use of a conference room for our board meetings. My colleagues also provide a wealth of community connections to others who share a similar passion for the arts. I am grateful for them and this opportunity to be a part of Pendulum’s development in this community.
Can you tell me how you got interested in playing music and when you first started?
I started on the piano at age 4. I have loved music for as long as I can remember. My parents both love music and I enjoyed listening to everything from the Beatles to Beethoven with them as a child. They encouraged me to continue with the piano until I was able to play any song in the hymn book we had in our home. I played the trumpet through middle school and picked up the guitar in high school. My friends and I had a garage band that consumed much of our free time after school each day.
During my college years, I met Paisley in Chile and discovered that we were both fans of folkloric Andean music and had similar musical taste. I picked up several Andean instruments (quena, zampoña, and tambor). Paisley and I vowed to make music together one day. We were married in 1996. That year, Paisley was conductor and I was pianist for a local congregation near our school. We started a family together and for a decade we were quite busy with both of us attending school and raising our three younger children. After we both completed school (I got my law degree at L&C law school and Paisley graduated summa cum laude in psychology from PSU in 2008), we had the extra time to devote to our music. We started playing together regularly around that time frame and we play and write music together most nights.
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