The Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook Kick-Off Party!

 
    

SATURDAY OCTOBER 11
The Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook
Kick-Off Party!

Join the Composers, Writers and Performers who are creating the Chicago AIDS Quit Songbook for cocktails and conversation from 8-11PM this Saturday, October 11 at Hydrate, 3458 N Halsted St, Chicago!

This very special cocktail party supports the creation Chicago AIDS Quit Songbook, a fundraising event for Season of Concern, presented by Chicago Opera Vanguard at the Court Theatre on World AIDS Day 2008, December 1.

Your $10 donation to the Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook includes and OPEN BAR & Hors D'Oeuvres from 8-10PM Courtesy of Chicago Opera Vanguard, Budweiser, Red Bull & Stoli Vodka.

All proceeds raised at this event will be used to defray the production and publicity costs associated with the December 1 Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook concert.

The Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook: 18 Chicago based and associated composers and writers have contributed new songs premiering on World AIDS Day, Monday Dec 1, at Chicago's Court Theatre in support of Season of Concern,Chicago's fundraising arm for the performing community.

For more information, please visit: www.ChicagoVanguard.org.

              
WORLD AIDS DAY
December 1, 2008
The CHICAGO AIDS QUILT SONGBOOK
A Benefit for
Season of Concern
At the
Court Theatre
Presented by
Chicago Opera Vanguard

Featuring Songs by
Laurence Axelrod
Natasha Bogojovich
William Bolcolm
Seth Boustead
David Cerda
Lisa Dillman
Amos Gillespe
Greg Gliena
Ricky Ian Gordon
George Howe
Evan Kuchar
Patricia Morehead
William Jason Raynovich
Eric Reda
Josh Schmidt
Robert Steel
Augusta Read Thomas
4NOW

Music Director
Jimmy Morehead

Conductor
Chris Ramaekers

    
TICKETS ON SALE SOON!
          
    
The first day of December has customarily been designated as "A Day Without Art". However, the concert tradition of The AIDS Quilt Songbook was started in 1992 by the late baritone William Parker, himself a 1993 casualty of AIDS related illness, for which he invited composers to add a "song panel" to a quilt of remembrance commemorating those infected or affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. Unfortunately, in recent years, the idea of presenting these concerts has largely fallen by the wayside.

In the face of this still prevalent epidemic, a number of Chicago based or associated composers and writers have committed to creating new songs as a continuation of this important artistic legacy.

The first two incarnations of this project, The AIDS Quilt Songbook and Heartbeats: New Songs from Minnesota for the AIDS Quilt Songbook, both from 1992, featured a number of today’s most respected composers, writers and performers, including WIlliam Bolcom, Craig Carnahan, Chris DeBlasio, Melvin Dixon, Ethyl Eichelberger, Eve Ensler, Ricky Ian Gordon, John Harbison, Lee Hoiby, Aaron Jay Kernis, Libby Larsen, John Musto, Kurt Ollmann, Ned Rorem, William Sharp, Sanford Sylvan, and Donald Wheelock. A recording of The AIDS Quilt Songbook is available on Harmonium Mundi, and another of Heartbeats on the Innova label. The AIDS Quilt Songbook is still in print in an edition by Boosey & Hawkes.

Season of Concern is the Chicagoland theatre community's fundraising effort, providing compassionate care to those in our community who are experiencing the effects of catastrophic illness. This effort supports the fight against HIV and AIDS by contributing to programs that provide direct care (personal financial support, housing care, meals, medications, legal assistance, and other services) to members of the Chicago and Midwestern theatre community; and by addressing emergency needs expressed by theatre community members in their struggles against other life-threatening illnesses. More information on Season of Concern can be found at www.seasonofconcern.org.