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Programs
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Our creative seminars are designed to facilitate
personal empowerment, responsibility, accountability, and self-love by
helping people embrace their own mortality and purpose on earth.
Beneficial outcomes include releasing trauma stored in the
mind/body/spirit due to painful life experiences, combined with
providing transformational tools to convert fears/ obstacles/ blocks
into inspired openings. Our program participants are directed to
lovingly revere their uniqueness and dignity.
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“Awakening”
Seminars |
The
Programs included are:
Concerts for Charity |
Prison Ministry |
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Our curriculum includes
experiential “Awakening” workshops from a multi-dimensional perspective,
including music therapy, dance and movement, and educational awareness
programs connected to becoming centered and mindful.
The Awakening seminar is conducted as an intensive two and one-half day
workshop that provides an opportunity for people to face their fears of
death and loss so they can live their lives “on purpose” and experience
the fulfillment of expressing their love and creativity daily.
Our Awakening seminars involve an eclectic participant
population predicated on the following: re-igniting the life force in
hospice workers and other health care providers suffering from burn out;
encouraging terminally ill individuals to reclaim their vitality during
their remaining time on this planet; helping convicted prisoners (who are
also being kept chained by their internal low self concept) to heal and
acknowledge that they are valuable individuals who can choose to offer
something positive to the world. |
We partner with
other not-for-profit organizations committed to raising awareness through
the enchantment of music.
We recently co-produced (2003, 2004 & 2006), New Year’s Eve benefit concerts in
honor of John Denver’s 60th, 61st, & 63rd birthdays in order to raise money for
feeding the homeless.
We were co-producers of the annual Tribute To John Denver Concerts
performed by John’s band at the historic Wheeler Opera House in Aspen,
Colorado, in October of 2006 and 2007. This tribute
is produced and sponsored by the M.U.S.E. Foundation to benefit
Challenge Aspen, who make available outdoor experiences for the physically
challenged.
Prior to being a sponsor of these concerts, the First Light Huger Foundation and Karmen T. Dopslaff, a devoted friend of the
late John Denver, have been invited to sponsor and present the
John Denver Memorial Award at each year’s show, given to that individual who best
exemplifies the music and the positive impact John Denver had on our
society. John’s music is an integral component of the Awakening program.
(See below.)
Previous Events
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The prison ministry has
combined many of the same components as the Seminars and the Concerts and
brought them into the prisons, most recently in Arizona's Department of
Corrections.
Seminars, such as the Awakening workshops, as well as
concerts by the John Denver Tribute concert musicians have been presented
and/or sponsored by the EAMN Foundation.
Through an intensive 8-10 week Awakening program, the incarcerated men and
women are guided to move through past difficulties, detours and set backs,
embrace their inner light and let their spirit emerge shining. Our
purpose here is to bring healing and relief from self-defeating behavior
by teaching authentic self-expression and trust that they are valuable
individuals who can choose to offer something positive to society. |
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Expect A Miracle . . . Now, Foundation donates the
award and $10,000 annually to benefit Challenge Aspen. The award is
bestowed in the name of the honoree and John Denver at the annual tribute
concert in Aspen's Wheeler Opera House. This donation
enables more than 40 special-needs children to attend a full week of camp
each year. Many of the participants' lives are changed forever.
Through this award, John's spirit continues to live on and inspire others.
To date, the Foundation has given $50,000 to benefit
children.
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The John Denver Music and Humanitarianism Award

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Past winners have included:
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Bill Danoff (Composer of 12 of John's recorded hit songs) - 2007
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Erma Deutchendorf
(John Denver's mother) - 2006
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Kenn Roberts, founder
of the M.U.S.E. Foundation - 2005
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Hal Thau, John's
business manager - 2004
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Tom
Crum, John's
friend and co-founder of Windstar - 2003
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Kris O'Connor,
John's road manager and friend and co-producer of tribute concerts in
Aspen - 2002
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2005, photo by Mark
Fox, Aspen Times |
This year's 2008 recipient will be:
Joe Henry
Joe was a
longtime friend of John Denver's and fellow Aspen-area resident.
With John Denver, he composed some of John's most memorable recordings,
including:
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Windsong
Cool an' Green an' Shady
Higher Ground
A Baby Just Like You |
Eagles and Horses
The Wings That Fly Us Home
American Child
Come and Let Me Look in Your Eyes |
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Joe in the mid-1980's |
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Joe Henry lives in the
mountains of
Colorado, writes country songs and
continues work on his 1000 page novel, Lime Creek. His lyrics have
been performed in over 80 recordings, in films and television specials and
have been recorded by artists such as Garth Brooks, Wynnona Judd, Emmylou
Harris, Tricia Yearwood, Kenny Rodgers, John Denver, Frank Sinatra and
others. The Flame, lyrics by Henry and music by John Jarvis was
sung by Trisha Yearwood in the closing ceremonies for the 1996 Olympic
Games in
Atlanta
. His awards include a Creative Fellowship Award in Fiction from the
Colorado Council of the Arts; the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence
in the Arts and the Conservation Achievement Award from the National
Wildlife Federation for “the celebration of the natural word in his prose,
poetry and song.”
Lyricist/poet/novelist Joe Henry of
Colorado has established himself as one of that state's (and the nation's)
most valuable resources of inspiring words. He has been honored by the
Colorado Council on the Arts and Governor Roy Romer with the Governor's
Award for Excellence in the Arts, and by the National Wildlife Federation
with a National Conservation Achievement Award. Henry is currently
preparing for the premiere and a month-long run at The Denver Center for
the Performing Arts, one of the nation's most prestigious stages, of his
Prelude to Lime Creek.
The work is a theatrical production combining readings of excerpts from
his novel in progress, Lime Creek, with performances of new songs
cowritten by Joe and Gary Burr, ASCAP's 1995 Country Songwriter of the
Year. The work was conceived by and stars film and television actor
Anthony Zerbe, a friend and admirer of Henry's, who has done extensive
dramatic readings from Lime Creek for a number of years. Performing the
Prelude to Lime Creek songs is singer/guitarist and ASCAP songwriter Greg
Barnhill.
Joe Henry is a unique figure in the music world, a truly rugged adventurer
and individualist who paints breathtaking natural landscapes with his
lyrics. His enduring collaboration with fellow Coloradoan and ASCAP member
John Denver has yielded some of Denver's most memorable recordings,
including "Windsong," "Cool an' Green an' Shady," "The Wings That Fly Us
Home" and "A Baby Just Like You." Henry's other songwriting partners and
vocalist interpreters are a diverse group, from singer songwriters like
Peter Yarrow, Guy Clark and Mickey Newbury to Hollywood composers Bill
Conti, Lee Holdridge and Steve Dorff, to country and pop music stars
Emmylou Harris, Steve Wariner, Donna Fargo, Roberta Flack, Bobby Darin,
Frank Sinatra and Ashford & Simpson.
The life that created Joe Henry the songwriter has been anything but run
of the mill. The ex-professional hockey player and prizefighter has spent
most of his years, as he puts it, "working in the weather," on
construction sites, cattle ranches and merchant vessels around the world.
His entry into the lyric writing field came about by chance and not design
-- listening to a friend casually play a new melody on the guitar caused
Joe to visualize a set of lyrics. As acquaintances began taking notice of
his abilities, they urged him to try to market his work, and by 1969 he
was in New York, working construction and training as a pro boxer. At the
same time, Joe hooked up with a publisher who placed one of his songs,
"Brown Arms in Houston" with a top psychedelic-era band from Boston called
Orpheus.
Joe recalls waking up after emergency surgery to repair his nose after his
first (and last) pro fight and being handed a full page Billboard ad for
the single. "My boxing career ended the same hour that my professional
music career began. That was a big day in my life," says Henry. "Brown
Arms in Houston" became a Northeast regional Number One hit.
For the past 13 years, Henry has devoted the major part of the year to
traveling to Los Angeles, Nashville and New York to pursue songwriting,
reserving his winters for working on Lime Creek, which he thinks is
finally nearing completion. Increased anticipation for the book is sure to
result from the production of Prelude to Lime Creek.
Anthony Zerbe offers his analysis of what makes Joe's work so vital: "It's
very original in the sense that it is Joe's heart. It's very American,
rough-edged and it ricochets. It's not stylish and it's not svelte but has
force and a very natural profundity -- all his metaphors are drawn from
nature." Composer Gary Burr, who is new to writing for the theater but has
enjoyed massive commercial success, reveals that, though each song was
written to support or refer to the narrative readings, "We wanted each
song we wrote to be a potential hit on the radio. I really think Joe has a
wonderful gift with words and it was not hard to come up with the songs
that captured that spirit."
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2007's Recipient was:
Bill Danoff

Bill (left) with John
(and former wife Taffy) in the 1970's
As he walks out
on stage, you may not recognize this quick-witted, energetic performer
with the custom-made Ferrington Guitar. However, when he launches into
some of his tunes like "Afternoon Delight", "I Guess He'd Rather Be In
Colorado", "Boulder to Birmingham" (written with Emmylou Harris) and "Take
Me Home Country Roads" it suddenly hits you that Bill Danoff has been part
of your life since the seventies. "Hey, didn't this guy used to tour with
John Denver in a group called Fat City? . . . or was it the Starland Vocal
Band?" Well, actually, both. Bill was half of Fat City and the leader of
Starland. Bill's songwriting and performing talents are now being
showcased in a new format as a solo act and, like everything Bill does,
it's top-notch.
Bill started writing in college and, upon his graduation from Georgetown
University with a degree in Chinese, he took the obvious next step . . .
and went into full-time music. He formed a duo with Taffy Nivert called
Fat City. They co-authored "Take Me Home Country Roads" with John Denver
while sharing a gig with him in D.C. at the Cellar Door. After recording
the song with Denver, they went on TV shows and tours with Denver. John
first recorded Bill's song, I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado, and
eventually went on to record a total of 12 songs penned by Bill, including
the popular "Friends With You," the last one being "Potter's Wheel."
In January 1998,
just four month after John Denver died, Bill Danoff co-produced with Kenn
Roberts the first of many John Denver Tribute Concerts. This one was the
first to reunite John's many loyal musicians. It was called "The Cellar
Door Gang Remembers John Denver" and was staged at The Birchmere in
Arlington, VA. It was filmed and widely watched by John Denver fans
the world over.
A new solo album was released in 2002, titled
"I Guess He'd Rather
Be In Colorado," featuring Danoff performing the dozen songs of his
recorded by John Denver. Bill continues to share his music with John's
fans worldwide in tribute concerts to John. Bill is friendly and
easy to know, and in his warm open way, he'll share with everyone his
wonderful stories about how his and John's lives intersected to enable
John to achieve his fame and success and enrich both of their lives.
More about Bill at his web site:
www.billdanoff.com
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Bill Danoff listens as Karmen reads the
inscription during the award's presentation in 2007. |
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Erma Deutchendorf receiving the 2006 Award
from Karmen, with Houston Cowan (of Challenge Aspen) and Kenn Roberts on either side |
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Kenn Roberts receiving the 2005 Award from
Karmen, for his continued support of using John's music through concerts
to help others. |
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