Shortz will speak about how he began with puzzles on NPR and lead some original audience-participation word games at the gala that will take place Tuesday, May 7, at 6 p.m. at The Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke.
Will Shortz, puzzle master for National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday and crossword editor of The New York Times, will be the keynote speaker at New England Public Radio'ÂÂs fifth annual Arts and Humanities Award Gala.
HOLYOKE –One across: Puzzle master for National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday and crossword editor of The New York Times who will be the keynote speaker at New England Public Radio’s fifth annual Arts and Humanities Award Gala (two words, 10 letters).
Will Shortz.
“Crosswords may be the best puzzle ever invented, because they connect with practically everything in the world -- vocabulary, literature, TV, history, geography, movies, art, music, etc.,” he says. “And they are endlessly flexible. They can be made easy, medium, or hard; small or large; tricky or straightforward; funny or not; and so on. There is a crossword suitable for every type of person.”
Shortz will speak about how he began with puzzles on NPR and lead some original audience-participation word games at the gala that will take place Tuesday, May 7, at 6 p.m. at The Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke.
“We've been lucky to have so many great NPR voices with us for the Arts and Humanities Awards over the years, including Susan Stamberg, Carl Kasell and Liane Hansen, who worked the Sunday Puzzle with Will for many years as host of Weekend Edition Sunday,” said Vanessa L. Cerillo, marketing and communications director for New England Public Radio. “We thought it would be great fun to bring Will in as the keynote, and we can't wait to do some puzzles with him as part of the fun on May 7.”
Shortz says there is something appealing about a crossword's pattern of black and white squares: “As humans, I think we like to fill empty spaces. If you're a puzzle person, you feel almost compelled to fill in the empty squares of a crossword grid. Moreover, there is something very satisfying about filling in the last square of a crossword. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment -- that you've achieved something, that for a brief moment you're in control of life. And that's a great feeling to have.”
Crosswords still work best on paper, says Shortz, who is the former editor of Games magazine and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, because it is easier to move around the grid and see all parts of the puzzle when solving it with a pencil or pen on paper than on a computer. “Also, there's something aesthetically pleasing about moving a writing implement over paper that you don't get by clicking keys on a keyboard,” he said, surmising that newspapers today owe a significant portion of their print readership to crosswords for this reason.
Yet, crosswords have made the leap to digital. “The New York Times charges $49.95 for an annual subscription to its crossword, and I'm told that more than 50,000 people have subscribed,” said Shortz who has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since it began in 1987.
Crosswords also are a particularly valuable form of mental exercise, “because they exercise so many parts of the brain -- your vocabulary, your memory of things you learned in school, your knowledge of the modern world, even your mental flexibility and sense of humor,” Shortz said. “Solving a crossword is like going to the gym and working out on every machine.”
Established by the New England Public Radio Foundation Inc. in 2008, the New England Public Radio Arts and Humanities Award recognizes the rich and varied arts scene in the region. The award recognizes the contributions of local talent and brings greater public awareness to the critical role played by musicians, artists, dancers, actors, writers and teachers in western New England.
The 2013 Arts and Humanities Award honorees are: June Millington, musician and co-founder of The Institute for the Musical Arts; Michael Mucci, chairman and director of instrumental music for the Longmeadow High School Music Department (Outstanding Individuals); Enchanted Circle Theater of Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley Symphony (Outstanding Organizations).
"The NEPR Foundation is thrilled with the community response to the Arts and Humanities Award," said Dennis Bromery, chair of the foundation's Outreach Committee. "Like always, it was a difficult choice, but this year's recipients truly exemplify what the award is intended to recognize."
Millington is a musician, founding member of the all-girl rock band Fanny, and co-founder and artistic director of The Institute for the Musical Arts in Goshen. A musician, songwriter and producer, the founder of The Institute for the Musical Arts is a force for empowering women in their pursuit of careers in the field of music and promoting social justice and equality within the music industry and in other social and cultural spheres.
Mucci has lead the Longmeadow ensembles to perform at the National Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall and Boston Symphony Hall, the National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, an the International Association of Jazz Educators Convention. The Longmeadow High School Symphony Orchestra won the 2010 American Prize for secondary school orchestral performance; and the Longmeadow High School Music Department has been awarded three Grammy Signature Awards by the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences.
In addition to his work at Longmeadow High School, Mucci is currently in his 15th season as director of the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble at the New England Conservatory of Music.
Founded in 1976, Enchanted Circle Theater is a non-profit professional educational theater company dedicated to engaging, enhancing and inspiring learning through the arts. This past year Enchanted Circle Theater incorporated arts integration into more than 80 classrooms throughout Western Massachusetts, positively affecting the lives of more than 1,500 students and their classroom teachers. Its resources have been utilized to form partnerships not only with local public schools but with organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Holyoke, The Care Center for Pregnant and Parenting Teens and Homework House.
For 74 years the Pioneer Valley Symphony has presented first-class classical music concerts in the Pioneer Valley. This mostly volunteer orchestra and chorus is one of the oldest community orchestras in the country. Its 200 players and singers range from high school age to people in their eighties, and represent 36 towns in Western Massachusetts as well as six towns in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.
“Each year the New England Public Radio Foundation's Outreach Committee sits down together and pours over dozens and dozens of nominations from listeners. The process is never easy, because there is such an incredible range of talent here western New England,” Cerillo said. “But this year, the committee was especially impressed with the dedication of each of the chosen recipients to their craft and to the teaching of that craft to young people.”
“This is truly the spirit of the Arts and Humanities Awards,” she said.
Tickets for the gala are $75 and are available at www.nepr.net and by calling (413) 545-0100. Proceeds will benefit the programs and services of New England Public Radio.
For more information, call 413-545-9717 or visit www.nepr.net.