Voices from the Heart
will celebrate their 18th year of singing on the seacoast and the launch of
their third international tour with their concert, “Women with Wings….Vamos a
Cuba!” on June 2 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at South Church in Portsmouth.
Celebrate this very
special concert with “Voices” as they prepare for their July 1 launch. “We
celebrate our 18th year of making music together and our send off to Cuba with
this concert,” said Joanne Connolly, director. “We will sing our hearts out with all our special songs from
the last two decades. Long time
friends of “Voices” will hear their favorites, and new audience members will
get to enjoy a great selection of fabulous “Voices” repertoire from around the
globe; South African freedom songs, Yoruba songs of peace and welcome, American
civil rights songs, spirituals, gospel, Native American and Japanese chants,
and more.”
“Women with Wings” will
be accompanied with their own drumming troupe, Drumamma; Nancy Hotchkiss,
Jeanne Russell, Cheryl Booth, and Gail Berneike along with guest musician,
Randy Armstrong. “Our audiences
are in for a special time of exuberant, hauntingly beautiful singing, along with
the African heart beat of the djembe and the colorful sounds of rains sticks,
ocean drums, shakuhachi, and Lakota Courting flute,” said Connolly.
“Voices” has had a very
rich season of singing which will be echoed in this concert.
“Voices” opened at the
Music Hall for the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa in February to welcome
the choir and to honor the African Burying Ground on Chestnut Street. And in May in preparation for their
trip, Digna Guerra, the director of the National Choir of Cuba, stayed with
Connolly for five days planning their exchange, visiting the seacoast and
directing a “Voices” rehearsal.
“This trip is a real exchange” says Connolly, “in every sense of the
word. During my March visit to
Cuba, Senora Guerra and I were able to imagine and plan the exchange; her visit
to the Seacoast, our tour of Cuba and, still in the works, her visit here in
the fall with the National Cuban Choir – it’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
If you would like to
support this trip and exchange, you can find out more about preferred seating
prices, c.d. packages, an opportunity to direct a “Voices” song at the concert,
or have “Voices” perform a special concert just for you by visiting
voicesfromtheheart.org. When
travelling to Ireland “Voices” supported Friends Forever and women’s refuges
through Ireland and then in 2007 Voices travelled through Croatia, Bosnia and
Slovenia where they raised $140,000 to clear land mines left from the Balkan
war. Your support of “Voices”
supports their work in the world.
Tickets are available
now at Serendipity, 41 Pleasant Street in Portsmouth or online at
voicesfromtheheart.org. Pre-purchased tickets are $10 and tickets at the door
$12. Please call “Voices” at
207-451-9346 with any questions. (courtesy photo)
