“VOICES OF HAITI” IN NEW YORK:
IN SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS FORUMS, THE DEBUT OF ANDREA BOCELLI FOUNDATION’S CHOIR
Guest of Global Exchange, the choir will perform alongside Andrea Bocelli also at United Nations, for the Clinton Foundation and for the royal family of Sweden. Education of artistic talent to overcome barriers is a the heart of ABF music project.
They will be the soundtrack of the “Lincoln Center Global Exchange”, they will be a living example of how art can be instrumental to overcome the barriers caused by poverty and inequality.
In the heart of New York, a world capital for the arts, the singers of “Voices of Haiti” will be the music stars of the “Global Exchange” program organized by the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which will cast light on the relationship between philanthropy and the arts, and more specifically on the importance that the arts can play in overcoming conflicts and increasing the quality of life.
The event is scheduled for September 15th at the Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center. If in the program’s past edition, it was Simon Bolivar orchestra of Abreu’s revolutionary “El Sistema” who performed, this year it will be up to the young singers of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation’s choir “Voices of Haiti” to showcase the linkage between music and empowerment.
A prestigious christening, in front of the whole world, for the ambitious ABF music project, fruit of a consolidated partnership with Fondation St Luc in Haiti, embodied by the vocal group of sixty elements selected among more than twelve thousand students from the schools active in Haiti thanks to the ABF- Foundation St. Luc system.
The tour will continue with a series of events that will mark the first international performance of “Voices of Haiti”. Friday, September 16th, at the United Nations Headquarters, the choir will perform at the opening ceremony of the conference “Solutions to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for Children”, sponsored by the Italian and Swedish Permanent Missions to the United Nations and organized by the World Childhood Foundation USA, on the importance of child protection and education to ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In that same evening, “Voices of Haiti” will perform at the fundraiser “ Childhood Thank You Gala”, in the presence of HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden. This performance will be followed on Monday, September 19th, by another one at the prestigious “Clinton Global Citizen Awards”
“I am honored and happy to be next to these wonderful kids, on the occasion of their debut – has declared Andrea Bocelli – because they are a living testimony of how education can play an essential role in social and economic development…Art and beauty can restore confidence in the future and represent an extraordinary opportunity of redemption for communities.
Singing in Creole, Italian and English, “Voices of Haiti” – whose New York debut was made possible thanks to the support of donors like Robert Book and Book Capital Enterprise, Dsquared2, Calzedonia, D’acquasparta, Fratelli Piccini Gioiellieri , Brian Gold and Sultana Distribution, Kaye Scholer Llp, Massimo and Malita Rebecchi, Lelly Kelly, Denise Rich, Lorenzo Randisi, Micheal Medugno, Barneys New York, Paola Lasagna – will perform songs from the Haitian tradition and world famous pages of classical and pop repertoire, such as “La vita è bella”, “Amazing Grace” and Schubert’s Ave Maria.
Conceived as a structured and stable educational reality, this project offers children and young Haitians coming from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to enhance their talent thanks to a highly specialized training, benefitting also from a wealth of educational, cultural and existential opportunities, precious for their future.
The director of “Voices of Haiti” is Malcolm J. Merriweather, a professor at Brooklyn College Conservatory (CUNY). The organization also relies on a team of Haitian musicians, teachers, and administrators.
To make the experience as meaningful as possible, interdisciplinary activities have been organized for the choir in order to expose the young singers to the local culture and tradition of the hosting country. This will be a regular feature of ABF’s “Voices of Haiti” project.
In New York, the young Haitian singers will experience, among other things, the excitement of a cruise around Manhattan, and will attend the Broadway musical “Lion King”.
Performances have already been schedule in 2017 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, in Miami and in Europe.
The Andrea Bocelli Foundation is active in Haiti with several projects, providing education, food and healthcare to thousands of children. For more information, please visit: www.andreabocellifoundation.org.
– For info and contacts:
www.andreabocellifoundation.org
