University of Florida Performing Arts Announces 'Chords And Colors' Festival

Michael Blachly, Director of UF Performing Arts, announced yesterday at the Shands Cancer Hospital Business Leaders Reception that UF Performing Arts will be presenting Chords of Color for a Cause, a six-week summer music festival geared toward raising awareness and understanding of different types of cancer through various mediums of the performing arts.

The festival will feature performing artists across multiple genres that are themselves cancer survivors or, have loved ones who have experienced cancer. The festival makes its debut in summer 2010.

Bridging the gap between the arts and medicine, Chords of Color for a Cause is a unique immersion experience for the audience member. Utilizing performances, lectures and discussion groups, Chords of Color for a Cause furthers the knowledge, understanding and support of cancer research, health care awareness and medical advancements.

In addition to receiving grant funding, UFPA is also partnering with local organizations, including Shands HealthCare and North Florida Regional Medical Center, to bring this new festival to residents in the Heart of Florida.

In conjunction with Blachly's announcement, musical guest and cancer survivor Rani Arbo performed. Arbo is a singer, fiddler and founder of the acoustic string band Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem. With more than a decade together, the quartet has released three CDs. The jubilant Big Old Life (2007) spans Arbo's own journey through breast cancer. The Boston Globe called it "playful and profound," which describes the band to a tee. To their music and performances, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem bring not only a deep compassion for human experience, but also a zeal for opening the windows of play, dance, song, sadness, laughter and prayer - all in the service of sustaining our spirits. In addition to her work with daisy mayhem, Arbo also has toured and recorded with Joan Baez, John McCutcheon and many others. She lives in Middletown, Connecticut, with her family.

Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem will make their first Pajama Party appearance Friday, November 6 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The concert will feature songs from their first family CD release, Ranky Tanky. For more information about Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem's performance on November 6, visit www.performingarts.ufl.edu.

For more information about Chords of Color for a Cause, visit www.chordsofcolor.org.