The Bravest Journey: Behind the scenes with Emily Bear

This video pulls back the curtain and offers viewers a glimpse into Emily’s insights on the creation of her composition, "The Bravest Journey - a salute to veterans". Inspired by the first-hand accounts of Rockford-area veterans and their family members, thirteen-year-old Emily encapsulated the varied emotions of military personnel who had left their loved ones behind in order to fulfill their military duty with their comrades-in-arms. On October 10, 2015, nearly 5,000 people gathered at the Stars & Stripes: A Salute to Our Veterans event in Rockford, Illinois to honor local veterans as well as the men and women currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. Highlights included an address by General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), performances by the Rockford Symphony Orchestra with the Mendelssohn Chorale and the debut of “The Bravest Journey”, an orchestral piece composed and performed by Rockford native, Emily Bear. To see additional interviews with Rockford-area veterans, with music scored by Emily Bear - click on the links posted below to view the full versions of the videos shown at the Stars & Stripes: A Salute to Our Veterans event: Duty. Honor. Country.    • Duty. Honor. Country. - Stars & Stripes a ...   The Making of a Soldier    • The Making of a Soldier - Stars & Stripes,...   Love Letters    • Love Letters - Stars & Stripes a Salute to...   Comrades-in-Arms    • Comrades-in-Arms - Stars & Stripes a Salut...   Coming Home    • Coming Home - Stars & Stripes a Salute to ...   Ultimate Sacrifice    • The Ultimate Sacrifice - Stars & Stripes, ...   More About Emily Bear: Pianist/Composer/Songwriter Emily Bear enjoys arranging, orchestrating, and performing in a diverse collection of styles from pop to classical, jazz, and everything in between. Her performances have taken her to concert halls across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Emily made her professional debut at the Ravinia Festival at five years old, she has since performed at many of the world's most well-known venues including Carnegie Hall, the White House, Lincoln Center, Montreux Jazz Festival, Blue Note, and the Hollywood Bowl, among others. At age six, Emily was the youngest composer to ever receive the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award. Orchestras all over the world have performed her original compositions and she is the 2016 recipient of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer of the Year Award. Emily loves composing for film and television and recently scored six national commercials for Weight Watcher’s “Simple Start” campaign. Establishing herself as a classical artist, Emily performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto, No. 23 K488 at the age of seven. Other pieces in her concerto repertoire include "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin and the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor. Emily has released several CDs of original music, with her most recent, Diversity, produced by Quincy Jones for Concord Music. Emily has helped raise millions for charities across the globe through performances and events.