Genesis at The Crossroads, a Healing Illinois grantee, is celebrating 20 years of pioneering racial healing through music. Their show, Sounds of Healing, will premiere on Saturday, December 19, 2020, at 8 p.m. CST, online. It is a multicultural, showcase of musical works by GATC's students, special guests, and Saffron Caravan, GATC's professional ensemble. Register at soundsofhealing.gatc.org.
This annual collaboration has come a long way since 1999, says Dr. Wendy Sternberg, founder and executive/creative director. Early on, musicians would sing into BlackBerry phones, and others across the world would transpose songs onto keyboards.
This year's production has relied especially on technology because of how COVID-19 has affected travel. Sounds of Healing is the collaboration of 43 musicians, sound engineers, and producers from 20 countries. They transferred tracks back and forth, layering one on top of the other to achieve a final product: pre-recorded performances on one grand track.
Saffron Caravan is Genesis' professional world music ensemble made up of artists from cultures in conflict. For the very first time since they formed in 2007, Saffron Caravan will be joined by youth musician graduates from the past five years of Genesis Academy Summer Institutes. The youth are from Chicago, and areas around the world experiencing conflict, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Venezuela.
