Contact Information
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City / Town
San Diego -
State
Ca -
Country
United States -
Website
http://musicalsocal.com
Biography
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About
Curtis Long, originally from Philadelphia, grew up in an atmosphere of a city known for its dedication to culture. Culture that wrapped it’s observers in the beaux arts, and the essence of both art and science museums; and theaters housing symphonies, plays, musicals and ballets, with schools offering subjects leading to possibilities within a wide array interests. Curtis left Philadelphia well-inculcated in the value of writing, poetry, a passion for languages, music, dance, theater and the graphic and sculptural arts. He was a member of the Philadelphia Experimental Group of New York’s Katherine Dunham School of Cultural Arts. Since leaving Philadelphia, he has pursued the study of multiple languages, including French, Spanish and Japanese. He has also been able to study and master voice, piano and guitar. These skills lead Curtis to participate in a number of outstanding choral groups, most notably the Hall Johnson Choir in Los Angeles, and as a founding member of the (now the Master Chorale).
During his life, Curtis spent time abroad by residing for extended periods in both in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Mexico City, Mexico offered the opportunity for Curtis to engage in what has become his trademark skill: the translation (or creating other-language versions) of song lyrics and poems. Those tenures gave him the opportunity to collaborate with many notable artists, including Nydia Caro of Puerto Rico and Armando Manzanero of Mexico. Available on Amazon.com is his memoir, “Manzanero, Mexico, My Dear Old San Juan, Moi.” a memoir of his life and times in the foreign language music scene. On this same musical front, for more than 20 years, Curtis has been collaborating with musician Tommy Dodson in the creation and performance of original stage musicals and other works, under musicalsocal.com. In addition, he has written and staged a narrative play covering the extent of the African American Experience, “Strange Land / Strange Brand” with his words and music of an accompanying song, “Journey.”
From all of Curtis’ international travels and the skills he learned along the way, Curtis has never stopped expanding his fellowships around foreign languages. Curtis has belonged to both the American Translators Association and the American Literary Translators Association, continuing to amplify his knowledge through attendance at seminars in the U.S. and abroad. As a further extension, he obtained a Certificate in Translation from San Diego State University (SDSU). The final outcome of that certification SDSU published his translation of the Mexican novel, “Donde las voces se guardan,” by Marco Antonio Samaniego. The title in English is, “The Whispering Voices of Atabalpa.”
During his life, Curtis was also part of an early digital marketing company named RosArt Multimedia, Inc. This is when Curtis ventured into the new and emerging digital web. During this period, Curtis was involved in massive translation projects for digital marketing including the basic understanding of wording for both foreign languages and for more sophisticated keyword selection and placement for the client’s websites to perform in the Search Engines, which turned into a very successful online marketing program for his clients. During this time, Curtis became legally blind. This did not stop Curtis from continuing on the web. He wrote personal-opinion essays under the title of “Synapse-Shots,” which were published on his now-defunct, personal website.
Today, Curtis volunteers at the San Diego Braille Institute for the Blind. He continues to use and share is language skills by offering classes in Spanish. He also enjoys keeping himself and other colleague’s current by running an ongoing discussion group about Current Events and Politics. Finally keeping his love of music alive, he also works with fellow Braille institute members on Piano lessons.