July 7, 2007
WALKABOUT 2007

The Pritchard School of Digital Arts helped sponsor the 1st Annual NJ Walkabout to raise awareness about caring for the Earth. Kids between the ages of 9-17 from the Gatherer Institute walked 194 miles over 14 days. They planted over 1000 trees along the Walkabout route and were supported by thousands. One of the highlights for the kids was receiving a letter from Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, congratulating them on their efforts to save the environment. Visit website

March 23, 2007
New VyZ CD: TORNADO

The "VyZ - improVyZed music for movies" band has released a 43 minute CD of non-stop improvised music. It has received 5 stars on Amazon.com and reviewers have called it "Lightning in a bottle" reminiscent of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and early Weather Report. Preview the CD (mp3)

August 18, 2006
VyZ CD: Live Sessions
2003-2005

The "VyZ - improVyZed music for movies" band has released a CD of their best music recorded between 2003 and 2005. The 13 tracks on the album represent a wide spectrum of the band's improvisational sound that ranges from jazz to classical to electro funk, avant garde, and be-bob. This is an album for adventurous music fans who love to have the status quo of sonic limitation pushed away by fresh, spontaneous creativity.
Preview the CD (mp3)

July 16, 2006
New website and short film about Native American storyteller and musician, Kenneth Little Hawk

The Pritchard School just completed a 6 minute short film and launched a new website for MicMac/Mohawk tribal elder Kenneth Little Hawk. The film, "From the Heart of Little Hawk," has been entered in the "Seeds of Tolerance" contest and can be seen to the left. Kenneth Little Hawk has shared his Native American culture with over 2 million people in the past 20 years. His highly acclaimed storytelling album, "In a Good Way" contains Native American stories of respect for all living things. Check out the new website with video clips and mp3s at: www.kennethlittlehawk.com.

February 2, 2006
PRESS RELEASE
New DVD Release
"Star Cycles - The Timeless Wisdom
of Pythagoras

This new DVD Release created by the Pritchard School of Digital Arts mixes entertainment with youth education, exposing students of all ages to the teachings of the legendary Greek Master, Pythagoras, inspiring enthusiasm for Math, Music, Geometry and Astronomy. It also contains interactive links that directly access an educational companion website when viewed on a computer.

Williamstown, MA. (February 2, 2006) – In its new DVD Release, "Star Cycles - The Timeless Wisdom of Pythagoras," The Pritchard School of Digital Arts has successfully achieved an unusual blending of youth education and entertainment, bringing fun back into learning.

The Pritchard School of Digital Arts, a multimedia education and production company, in concert with their in-house "music for movies" filmmaking band, "VyZ," announces the release of this new innovative DVD title, which was created to expose students of all ages to the teachings of the legendary Greek Master, Pythagoras, and inspire enthusiasm for Math, Music, Geometry and Astronomy. Animation from the Space Telescope Science Institute, NASA, and The European Space Agency is seamlessly blended with state-of-the-art music visualization using G-FORCE by Soundspectrum, Inc. Educators will be interested to know there are context-driven, interactive links from the DVD that directly access a companion website when being viewed on a computer. The original music performed by "VyZ" is presented in dolby digital 5.1 surround sound.

To facilitate learning and classroom integration, the website provides detailed study guides and essay questions for students to answer and email back to teachers and/or parents. Educators are also provided with national curriculum guidelines that are relevant to the new DVD release. "Star Cycles - the Timeless Wisdom of Pythagoras" is designed as a springboard for learning about both the mathematical and musical nature of the Universe, as well as, the Pythagorean roots of our modern world in democracy, science and art...

read entire press release as a pdf download.

Go to starcyclesmovie.com to learn more, watch previews and purchase the dvd.

september 22, 2005
STAR CYCLES
is the new name for the Pythagoras DVD Project

The Pythagoras DVD project that began last summer as "ANNUIT COEPTIS - the Beginning Has Begun," has been re-titled, "Star Cycles - the timeless wisdom of Pythagoras."

Thanks to some excellent feedback from a variety of students, teachers, and college professors, the filmmakers and production team have decided to change the name so the DVD can be more accessible to the academic and home-schooling markets.

"Star Cycles" is all about celebrating the mathematical and geometric harmony of the Universe from both a scientific and musical perspective. As Pythagoras taught 2500 years ago, there is indeed a "music of the spheres," whether it be with galaxies and solar systems or at the molecular and atomic level of human DNA. This harmonic, vibrational perspective has developed solid scientific evidence that life on earth is greatly influenced by the electromagnetic cycles of the sun, moon, planets and stars. New frontiers in astrophysics and quantum mechanics are just beginning to confirm the ancient Pythagorean wisdom of harmony and the interconnectedness of the universe.

As the father of mathematics, music and astronomy, Pythagoras made significant contributions to the entire spectrum of human knowledge. He gave the Greek Golden Age of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle much of the scientific and spiritual wisdom that carries through to the present day. Great scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler, and legendary artists such as Da Vinci, Shakespeare and Mozart all share in common the Pythagorean perspective. Not only is Pythagoras credited with inventing words like "philosopher" (lover of wisdom), or "cosmos" (the whole universe), but he also created the world's first University in 526 B.C. (which was way ahead of its time being both coed and vegetarian).

"Man know thyself; then thou shalt know the Universe and God." - Pythagoras



The "Star Cycles" DVD provides a rare opportunity to promote inter-disciplinary academic curricula. Each of the ten sections of the film include animated text and graphics hilighting the curriculum connections provided within an official "Star Cycles" Study Guide. The Study Guide expands on the key concepts and illustrations featured in the movie and provide web links for further study and academic enrichment. The goal is to provide an easy way for students, teachers, and parents to expand on the knowledge presented in the film.

Two versions of the DVD will be released on February 2nd...one as an academic DVD with 10 educational modules and the other as a "visual music" entertainment DVD featuring the 5.1 surround sound soundtrack (listen to a full 6 minute mp3 sample of the soundtrack below)...

>>Music of the Spheres (mp3)

For further information or to request a pre-release copy to review, please contact John: john@pritchardschool.com

june 13, 2005
Press Release:
The Williamstown Chamber Announces New Marketing Tool for the Northern Berkshires.

Williamstown, Massachusetts USA, June 13, 2005 - The Williamstown Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the release of a video postcard of Williamstown and North Adams on a miniature CD (about the size of a business card) designed to automatically play itself on a personal computer.
>>read entire press release ...

april 7, 2005
In Production:
"A Part Apart"
DVD featuring Bill Bruford

PREVIEW DVD VIDEO CLIPS


DVD opening with drum solo
(60 sec. requires flash)


"It's all about an exchange..."
(60 sec. requires flash)


"I'm a British drummer..."
(1:38 sec. requires flash)

january 13 , 2005
In Production:
ANNUIT COEPTIS
-The Beginning Has Begun-
Connect the DotZ - part 3

After many months of research and preparation we are pleased to announce that production has finally started on our third movie in the "Connect the DotZ" series, ANNUIT COEPTIS - The Beginning Has Begun. The movie celebrates the genius of Pythagoras, the ancient Greek Master of Music, Math and Astronomy. This educational documentary/art film will be distributed on DVD to high schools and colleges for the fall semester 2005.

One of the most exciting developments in pre-production was learning how to use Motion, the amazing new animation software from Apple Computer. Motion has allowed us to jump to a much higher level of creativity and visual storytelling. Motion features new procedural animation technology — called behaviors — that allows us to create sophisticated movement and simulations without keyframes. Coupled with its "real-time" nature and seamless integration with Final Cut Pro, we have developed a whole new style of digital filmmaking! We can finally improvise visually like the way we improvised the music that serves as the movie soundtrack.

Check out the still frames below from the the movie's opening that set the stage for communicating key Pythagorean concepts about man, music, geometry, and the cosmos.

november 17, 2004
Music Ready for New Film Production on Movie About Pythagoras
The 12 music tracks for the soundtrack of ANNUIT COEPTIS - The Beginning Has Begun have been just been mastered for pre-production to begin on this educational documentary art film that celebrates the genius of Pythagoras: Father of Music, Math, and Astronomy. This is the third film in the "Connect the DotZ" DVD series produced by the Pritchard School of Digital Arts. A free MP3 download is available below for the track "Dance of the Universe-part 2" The track is 6:30 minutes long and features the innovative playing of Charlie Tokarz on sax/windsynth/flute, Rich Damone's special effects on electric bass, and John Pritchard on drums and synth with special guest Adam Holzman adding keyboards to blend perfectly into the improvised music.

The soundtrack continues to inspire the kind of adventurous filmmaking and animation that has been a trademark of the "Connect the DotZ" film series.

To quote Pythagoras himself: "There is geometry in the ringing of strings. There is harmony in the spacing of the spheres."

After three months of pre-production research and storyboards, the film is scheduled to commence production on November 29th in honor of the forgotton 13th sign of the Zodiac, the constellation of Ophiuchus which is known as the "Serpent Handler."
>>download mp3:
Dance of the Universe (9mb)...