Hello friends!
I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU to those donors and word-spreaders who helped our Nile Project Kickstarter campaign reach it’s goal with $11,192 raised. This seed money will allow us to take our initial research trip to East Africa in May, and get this project off the ground in a very real way. I cant tell you how appreciative we are of all your support.
And in more music news, I’m in Montreal TODAY, kicking off a week-long East Coast Tour that has us in Montreal, Burlington, Boston, Pittsburgh, DC, and New York City. Ah the road…. How I love it! If you have friends in those places, let them know we’ll be rolling through town. And we hope to see YOU there.
Festival Nuits D’Afrique at the Cabaret Du Mile End
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Montreal, Quebec
http://www.lemileend.org/
http://www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com/
The Lane Series
Friday, February 3rd, 2012, 7:30 pm
UVM Music Building Recital Hall
384 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT, United States, 05401
http://www.uvm.edu/laneseries/2011/05/meklit-hadero/
Johnny D’s
Saturday, February 4th, 2012, 7 pm
17 Holland St, Davis Square
Sommerville, MA (right outside of Boston)
http://www.johnnyds.com/bands/2412-meklit-hadero/
Shadow Lounge
February 7, 2012
With Joy Ike Opening
5972 Baum Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
http://www.shadowlounge.net/
Artisphere
Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 8 pm
1101 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209
http://artisphere.com/
Baryshnikov Arts Center
Thursday, February 9th, 2012, 8 pm
450 West 37th Street, Suite 501
New York, NY 10018
http://bacnyc.org/
Friends!
Wanna hear hip-hop and traditional musicians from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt collaborate to create a new sound? I do! Introducing the Nile Project…
Loosely based on the Silk Road Project (www.silkroadproject.org), and created by myself and Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis, the Nile Project explores the intersection of ecology and culture across much of East Africa.
Help us take the first step with our kickstarter campaign!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/926996485/the-nile-project
We’re bringing together musicians from the Nile cultures to play and record music, to tour down the river and its source lakes on a boat made of recycled water bottles, and to share an experience that will connect us, the peoples of the river.
We realized that though East Africa’s Nile cultures have shared millenia of history, today we do not know very much about each other. Mina and I decided to start this musical project so that the people of the river could get to know their neighbors through a mutual sharing of stories, sound, music, mythology, and culture. In 2013, we’ll also tour Europe and North America.
How has the project gone so far?
After only a few short months, we’re in talks with Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium as our North American presenting partners, and I got the TED Senior Fellowship with the Nile Project as my main fellowship focus. Things are really starting to roll!
We need your help to get to the river!
We are seeking to raise $10,000 right now, which will cover our April 2012 scouting trip where we’ll connect with musicians from the region and choose participants for the Nile Project ensemble. All donations are tax deductible!
What will we do with the money?
At the end of the trip, we will have selected the members of the Nile Project All Stars, conducted approximately 50 video interviews with people living along the river, and collected songs about the river from the various peoples and cultures we meet along the way.
If we raise more than $10,000, we’ll use this money towards a residency for the Nile Project musicians, to build the boats and tour down the Nile, to record and distribute the Nile Project CD, and to tour the Nile Project around the world. We thank you so much for your participation in making this happen.
Onwards to the river!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/926996485/the-nile-project
