June 2005
Christopher Hedge Composes for PBS Series,
The New Heroes
- Robert Redford hosts stories about social entrepreneurs
around the globe
The New Heroes, a PBS documentary series hosted by Robert Redford aired June 28 and July 5, 2005 nationwide. Christopher Hedge created the soundtrack of the entire program. The same title CD was released on June 14, 2005.
The four-hour TV series travels the globe to explore the ideas and impact of “social entrepreneurs” who measure their bottom line in lives. In India, a man rescues brutally enslaved children in daring raids and promotes a radical vision to end forced child labor. In Kenya, two men introduced a low-cost, manual water pump that doubles the yield of a small farm. In Bangladesh, a man founded a bank that has loaned billions of dollars to millions of poor families, all without any collateral. In Egypt, a woman has broken through cultural taboos to create quality schools for children with disabilities.
Hedge’s approach to creating the soundtrack to The New Heroes—and any music that he crafts—is a challenge to capture on paper. The series producers outlined the stories and characters that would be revealed in the documentary, and Hedge sketched out some compositions that he sent to each of the directors as they went into the field to shoot their segment of the series, just to give them of an idea of what he was looking for. He asked the directors to keep their ears and mics open for audio snapshots that represented the experiences and moments they were capturing on video.
Hedge brought in musicians like flutist Paul Horn, percussionist Titos Sompa, violinist Julian Smedley, sarod player Alam Khan, and tabla player Debopriyo Sarkar. The first thing he had the musicians do was watch segments of the series. And throughout the recording of the soundtrack, they watched the video, interacting with the story line, while they improvised and interpreted the feelings and moments on their instruments.
"It's not about us,” concludes Hedge. “These notes, this music, these sounds, they're not about me or Paul or Titos or any of the musicians or PBS or Robert Redford. If you knew anything about these entrepreneurs, we're just a speck, the smallest part. They are the giants ... and each of them would tell you that they are nothing compared to the people they see every day. If you get just a hint of who they are and what they're doing, it will change your life. These are the New Heroes, the real Heroes."
More information about The New Heroes can be found at www.pbs.org/thenewheroes
www.christopherhedge.com
