We believe there is no single thing more important to
the celebration of human potential and the advancing of meaningful
dialog across difference than the act of singing together.
To Cuba With Love
Join
us for this exciting chapter in PME’s history as we embark on our
landmark collaboration with Cuban artists in the creation of “To Cuba
With Love” a new performance work for our chorus.
“To Cuba…” begins with a
musicological question and embarks on a cultural odyssey. Afro-Cuban
Rumba and the African-American Spiritual are instant cultural
identifiers. Yet neither Rumba nor the Spiritual traces its roots to the
country that claims it. Both are African in origin (of similar region)
and are built over centuries, simmering in the complex situation of
enslaved Africans holding on to cultural traditions through the inhumane
dismantling they endured in America and Cuba.
Where are the
African retentions in these different forms? Can creating work out of a
dialog about Cuban Rumba and the African American Spiritual bring Cuba
and America closer together during the first thaw in tensions between
our two countries since the cold war?
We’re going to Cuba to find out!
We
will commission internationally renowned choral composer Roberto Valera
and folkloric Cuban dance and music master Manuel Suarez, to make a
performance work for our chorus and Suarez’s company 7 Potencias. It is
our first collaboration with a dance company!
We’ve brought
together artists who share this interest, are inspired by each other’s
work, and who understand the complex situation of vocal music and dance
as carrying different and yet inseparable elements of this history.
In
Cuba, we will work with masters of Rumba and related folkloric forms,
identified through our growing relationship with UNEAC (Unión Nacional
de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba) and our Cuban American contingent who
have connections deeper in community than tourists can access. We will
bring our own mastery of African American Spirituals as our offering to
this rich conversation.
Our research in Cuba will become the underpinning of the work we will be making with our collaborators and bringing home to you.
When
it comes to touring and research, like the Cuba project, we need to be
sure everyone who brings heart and soul to this group has the
opportunity to join in this process. We are raising money to be sure
every aspect of this project can be done at the highest level of
artistic integrity, made possible by the full participation of all of
our members.
There are three phases of this project and each has a financial goal. You can support us in the following roles:
Collaborator:
Support our research and collaborations in Cuba working with master artists and performing our repertory as a cultural exchange between our two countries. We’re raising $3,000 per chorister to get to Cuba – please consider a pledge to help get your favorite PME member on the plane!
$75K goal.
Commissioner:
Supporting Roberto Valera and Manuel Suarez in their creation of work for our chorus and the 7 Potencias dance company, and our rehearsal process!
$15K goal.
Producer:
Supporting the world premiere of the new work on our season and on tour.
$20K goal.
We
are happy to discuss with you which part of this process you may want
to support and to direct your contributions to your area of interest. We
have producer credits available to those who want to support the
premiere performances and naming opportunities for those who are excited
about the commissioning project. Consider how you might want to engage
and give us a call!
You may donate online (see below) or call (650) 226-3831 ... or send us a check the old-fashioned way to:
The Pacific Mozart Ensemble
P O Box 5635
Berkeley, CA 94705
Thank you for supporting us in our mission!
Donation $50
Donation $100
Donation $200
Donation $500
Donation $1000
