NEW AUDIO

So far we've had an extremely successful 2008! We actually pulled off our KATRINA BALLADS marathon this March, bringing two performnaces to New Haven and two performances to New York City, as well as spending two fun-filled days in Avatar Studios under the production leadership of Lawson White. Our CD should be available this summer. We also performed the chamber version of Katrina Ballads to a packed house in Chicago in January.

BODY SOLDIERS, our latest exploration of the ways black South African choral music is being used in the struggle against HIV-AIDS, was also a huge success. Here are some sample clips:

SAPHELA ISIZWE
traditional Xhosa
taught to us by the Durban Westville Prison Women's Choir
and Bongani Dubazana, director

sung by Allison Semmes, Aviva Mitchell, Josephine Lee, H. Roz Woll

Mollie Stone has made a translation of this text:
Our nation is failing from HIV.
Our Lord, save us, give us a cure.
What have we done, my Lord?
Our Lord is here, the epidemic must pass.
Our land is in trouble, Lord, our God.

MAKE IT OUT
by Ted Hearne
lyrics by SKIM
performed by Josephine Lee and SKIM
David Hanlon, piano; Ron Wiltrout, drums; Nathan Koci, horn
David Hanlon, piano and Jody Redhage, cello

THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD
traditional African-American spiritual
sung by Anthony Turner
with Allison Semmes, Isaiah Robinson, Josephine Lee,
Aviva Mitchell, Adrian Dunn, H. Roz Woll, Garret Johannsen

KATRINA BALLADS
Wed 5 March 2008 7pm
Trinity Lutheran Church
292 Orange Street (at Wall St.)
New Haven, CT

Sat 8 March 2008
two performances: 7pm and 9pm
Greenwich House
46 Barrow St.
New York, New York

Fresh from rave reviews at the 2007 Spoleto Festival, this new collection of songs by Ted Hearne sets to music primary-source texts from the week following Hurricane Katrina. This includes the words of Barbara Bush, Dennis Hastert, Mary Landrieu, Kanye West, Anderson Cooper, and George W. Bush's emblematic "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" - as well as the testimonies of survivors and relief workers. Channeling the diverse spirit of American music, Katrina Ballads calls us to remember New Orleans and the rebuilding still so desperately needed on the Gulf Coast. We hope to see you at the performances!

TICKETS $15/adults; $8/students and seniors
AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT KATRINABALLADS.COM

TWO CHICAGO EVENTS

KATRINA BALLADS
A Fundraising Performance for Yes is a World
Fri 11 January 2008 8pm
Fine Arts Building, Suite #833
401 South Michigan Ave.

performances by
Isaiah Robinson, tenor
Allison Semmes, soprano
Anthony Turner, baritone

David Hanlon, piano
Nathan Koci, horn/electronics
Taylor Levine, electric guitar
Jody Redhage, cello/voice
Ron Wiltrout, drums/percussion

TICKETS $40/person - food and drink included

Fresh from rave reviews at the 2007 Spoleto Festival, this new collection of songs by Ted Hearne sets to music primary-source texts from the week following Hurricane Katrina. This includes the words of Barbara Bush, Dennis Hastert, Mary Landrieu, Kanye West, Anderson Cooper, and George W. Bush's emblematic "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" - as well as the testimonies of survivors and relief workers. Channeling the diverse spirit of American music, Katrina Ballads calls us to remember New Orleans and the rebuilding still so desperately needed on the Gulf Coast.

Movements from Katrina Ballads will be performed along with music by other members of the Yes is a World Ensemble, an extremely varied and talented group of young professional musicians. Food and drink will be served, generously donated by the genius chefs at Flo Restaurant (1434 W. Chicago Ave.) Come and show your support by celebrating six years of Yes is a World!

BODY SOLDIERS
Music and HIV in South Africa
Sun 13 January 2008 7pm
Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer
4945 South Dorchester Ave.

TICKETS $15/adults; $8/students

In 2006, thanks to a generous grant to Yes is a World from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Mollie Stone led a coalition of students of music, film and medicine to South Africa in search of people using choral music to fight the spread of HIV. Drawing upon the activist tradition of anti-apartheid music, new songs are helping many people accent their status, while educating and inspiring those most at risk. People of all ages use music as a powerful tool of communication. Tradition, strife and hope are embedded in each song, transmuting the decades of struggle against apartheid into determination and perseverance in the fight against AIDS.

BODY SOLDIERS is the first full performance of the material we collected in South Africa, and a melding of American and South African traditions, integrated throughout with documentary footage from our trip by Anthony Morrison and Charlotte Royer. Featuring a fantastic choir, new music by Ted Hearne, and the brilliant poetic stylings of hiphop artist SKIM.