Give it up for our new artists this quarter!
Benjamin Wagner - Chris Abad - Jon Simon - Martin Bard - Onungo Pamwe - Paul Wayne - Rachel Zylstra - Tony Maceli
And let's hear it for everyone who played over the last three months-
African Drum & Dance - Al Lee Wyer - Aly Panichi - Ben Godwin - Benjamin Wagner - Chris Abad - Dan Asselin - David Pearl - Gio Stella - Imperial Court - Jami Jackson - Jill Melanie Wirth - Jon Simon - Katherine Montgomery - Katy Pfaffl - Lucinda - Marcus Goldhaber - Mario Spinetti - Markeisha Ensley - Martin Bard - Michael Ashanti - Michael Butler - Noam Weinsten - Olivia Detante - Onungo Pamwe - Paul Wayne - Rachel Garlin - Rachel Zylstra - Secondhand Serenade - Seth Rudetsky - Sonia Montez - Tha Heights - Tony Maceli - Voices In Unity - Willie Davis
And of course a massive shout out to all our wonderful volunteers-
Allessandro Riccarelli - Amelia Waliany - Ashani Rivers - Erin O'Donnell - Gio Stella - Hannah Kim - Jamie Chan - Janete Scobie - Jen Grossman - Jodi Love - Julia Emanuel - Laura Wierbicki - Neysha Vasquez - Max Pacheco - Phoebe Gray - Rachel Hill - Rebecca Love - Sarah Thomas - Shenea Hunt - Sherie Pope - Stephanie Summers - Suzi Blitz - Tamara Johnson - Xi'an Glynn
Artist Spotlight- Sonia Montez
At LIFEbeat we're always talking about the amazing transformation that music can give people- how something as simple as hearing a song you love, beautifully sung, can make your troubles vanish and bring you back to loving life. Sonia Montez, with her smart, heartfelt songs, smooth-as-butter voice and spot-on fingerpicking, makes that happen every time she gets up to play for Hearts & Voices. "I'm always at my top musical game when I play for Hearts and Voices," she says. "The audiences are the greatest and most positive people I've ever played for."
Program assistant Ben Godwin met Sonia while he was working behind the soundboard at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village, and was blown away by her ability to captivate the room- not to mention her repertoire, which includes songs by artists as diverse as Jamiroquai and Kermit the Frog along with those choice original tunes. He immediately invited her to join Hearts & Voices- and when she heard about the program, says Sonia, "it never even occurred to me to say no."
Newly signed to Radian Records, Sonia is working on her debut album and relishing every moment of music making; "Music allows me to feel truly alive.There were always two constants when I was growing up: family and music. Being able to play and share music that I've written, I find, is the way I'm best able to show who I really am with the outside world. I'm grateful for every moment of every day. I'm at a place in my life where I can take the time to enjoy the beautiful and often over-looked simplicities. That's why LIFEbeat is so important to me. Sharing that time with people when I play, it's the greatest thing in the world."
Hear more from Sonia right here.
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All change at LIFEbeat- goodbye to Aly
It's the end of an era. After 3 years, program manager Aly Panichi - AlySun - is moving on from LIFEbeat to pastures new. As of Jan 2nd, Ben Godwin will be the program manager. Aly leaves behind a massive legacy of wonderful shows, has made Hearts & Voices grow and blossom, and will be a very hard act to follow.
We're going to make sure that everything goes as seamlessly as possible- Ben will be booking all of January's shows starting in December and both Aly and Ben will be at all of the holiday shows (more on those later...)
Aly will be missed in the office, and by artists, volunteers and audiences alike. We're hoping that she comes back to play for us regularly though!
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World AIDS Day- Dec 1st, EVERYWHERE!
December 1st is World AIDS day and that’s always a big day for LIFEbeat.
- We’re marking the day with shows all over the city featuring everything from reggae to gospel.
- It’s also the live date for Bid2BeatAIDS 2007 where you can win more rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia than you could shake a stick at.
- We’ll be tabling at Virgin Union Square and Virgin Times Square from 11-5, handing out buttons and our sexy (but safe) new condom packs, which come with lots of essential life-saving HIV prevention info. You can take care of your whole Christmahanukwanza list in one go and get yourself protected all at the same time. See how we make it easy for you?
- This isn't exactly LIFEbeat news- but we couldn't send this out without telling you that Hearts & Voices stalwart Maria Davis has just recorded an excellent new PSA for Cable Positive, launching on World AIDS Day. Check Maria's PSA out here, and click here for everyone else's.
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Live Beats- Dec 4th @ Highline Ballroom- featuring Mary J Blige!
Stephen Hill isn’t just the man behind BET's massive success. Stephen is also a karaoke freak. But because he’s so rock and roll, when he sings karaoke he hires the sweetest venue around, scores the best musical director in town AND gets Mary J. Blige to agree to come sing. It all happens in the Highline Ballroom, and it's a rare treat to see someone of MJB's caliber in such an intimate venue. And the whole thing is a LIFEbeat benefit.
Could Stephen be the Chuck Norris of karaoke? We think so! A few tickets are still available. Click here for more details.
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Hearts & Voices Holiday Season
Hearts & Voices always makes a special effort from the holidays, and we’ve got everything from drag queens to gospel choirs coming down to make the season sizzle. (We even tried for a drag queen gospel choir, but they prefer to lip-sync.) All the holiday shows are going to be special, and H&V artists and volunteers are cordially invited to join in the fun- email us for dates. These are also Aly’s last shows, so we are planning on making it a PARTY!
As if that wasn’t enough, we’re putting on our Santa hats for our audiences too. So far the donor list includes Boost Mobile Rock Corps, Glassnote Records and Macy's- thanks for providing festive swag for our peeps! As always, the real gift is the music, though- and Cassandra Kubinski, Katy Pfaffl, Marcus Goldhaber and Grace Garland are just a few of the artists donating tracks this year to the second annual Hearts & Voices Superstars CD. (Last year’s is still getting some heavy rotation.)
And, of course, if you’re blessed with any sort of corporate resources and would like to donate to the gift pile, drop us a line- we can accept donations for the holiday shows until December 14th. Tis the season, and all that =)
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LIFEbeat Open House, Dec 21st
Well, after all that holiday madness, we thought we'd turn the last LIFEbeat workday of the year into a little bit of a social occasion. We're throwing open our doors on Friday Dec 21st from 4-7 pm, and we'd love you to drop by the office to say hi. Rumor has it there will be cookies, and maybe more. All rumormongering aside there will definitely be lots of LIFEbeat staff, all tired out after playing Santa and ready for a cup of tea and a nice sit down. No RSVP necessary- just turn up!
We're at Suite 1010, 630 9th Ave- check here for a map.
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Volunteer Appreciation Party 2007
It seems like a long time ago, but we are still savoring the afterglow from the love-in that was our Volunteer Appreciation Party 2007. Thanks for making it such a party- and thanks for everything you do for the cause. We're looking forward to 08 already...
Special thanks and congratulations go to Lucinda, the recipient of the Bob Caviano Service Award. Lucinda, along with guitarist Michael Connolly, are some of our very favorite people and we were thrilled to have the chance to honor their massive contribution to Hearts & Voices.
We also gave the inaugural Philip Williams Medal of Compassion to star volunteer Jen Grossman. We think Jen’s great. And we think Philip would have liked the rainbow-colored lanyard.
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Afterword
2007 is evaporating before our very eyes. What a rollercoaster year- so many amazing shows, wonderful new artists joining the program, and sad goodbyes. It's all a bit overwhelming when you look back at a whole year of it all. Thanks to every single one of you for supporting Hearts & Voices and making it amazing. We couldn't do any of it without you. We're thankful.
Ben and Aly
live LIFE / beat AIDS
