REQUEST TO COVER  (schedule as of  6/25/2015 1:30 m)

Media Contact:  Leanne Clancy at Lclancy@greenestreetfriends.org or 484-410-9664

Event: Local teens to dialogue on race and sing for peace with Palestinian and Israeli teens at Kimmel Center concert dedicated to Charleston victims

Who: Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC) visiting Philadelphia for events with Pennsylvania Girlchoir (PG) and Keystone State Boychoir (KSB)

When: Saturday, June 27 – Monday, June 29, 2015

Public Event:     “A Song for Peace EVERYWHERE”

  • Sunday, June 28, 2015, 7:00 pm
    • Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
  • Tickets: Kimmel Center Box Office: http://kimmelcenter.org
  • Sponsorships: http://CYchoirs.org/JYC

Other media availabilities:

Ongoing

  • Phone interview with Micah Hendler, JYC founder, by appointment

Wednesday, June 24

  • PG and KSB rehearsal, First Presbyterian Church in  Germantown, 7pm

Saturday, June 27

  • PG and KSB rehearsal, First Presbyterian Church in  Germantown, 10am
  • PG and KSB Dialogue Workshop “practice session,” 1pm

Sunday, June 28

  • JYC rehearsing at Kimmel Center, 3pm
  • Joint Concert with JYC, PG, KSB at Kimmel Center, 7pm
  • Iftar at Fairmont Hostel, 9pm

Monday, June 29

  • AM Dialogue Workshop with ambassadors from JYC, PG and KSB (interview opportunities before and after Dialogue Workshop- session is closed except for participants)
  • touring various Philadelphia sites, afternoon
  • Iftar at private home, 8:00pm (invitation upon request)

About the visit: The two teen girls sit side-by-side, almost touching they are so close. “Doesn’t matter what your race is …. we’re just friends anyway,” one states and looks to the other. They smile and nod in agreement. But they come from two places where their worlds have forbidden them to sit next to each other, to be friends. They are members of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC), an ensemble of Palestinian and Israeli high school students on their first tour to the USA. JYC is being hosted locally by Pennsylvania Girlchoir (PG) and Keystone State Boychoir (KSB).

All three choirs will perform together at the Kimmel Center on Sunday, June 28 at 7:00 pm. Originally called “A Song for Peace in the Middle East,” the teens of PG and KSB decided to rename the concert “A Song for Peace EVERYWHERE” and to dedicate it to those who lost their lives in Charleston last week.

In light of the recent tragedy in South Carolina, the  JYC visit comes at just the right time. A Dialogue Workshop led by JYC members will challenge PG and KSB members to discuss race issues both frankly and respectfully..  A professional Dialogue Facilitator travelling with JYC will spearhead the discussions, helping the local teens to do so – a method employed by JYC before every rehearsal. The young people of PG and KSB hope to learn from their Middle Eastern  peers, to become agents of peace in their own communities

About the Concert: The concert will feature a varied repertoire of music, from classical, to pop, to world music – including songs in Arabic and Hebrew. The concert also features special guests from the Al-Bustan Takht Ensemble.

Tickets are on sale through the Kimmel Center Box Office at kimmelcenter.org. Premium seats can be obtained through “Peace in the Middle East” Sponsorships at cychoirs.org.

About PG and KSB: PG and KSB have an extensive legacy of bringing messages of peace and healing locally and throughout the world through music.  Involving over 650 young singers, the PG/KSB organization has sung for Malala Yousafzai (2014 Liberty Bell winner and youngest Nobel Prize winner), traveled to Newtown, Connecticut to sing for the families of the young victims of the mass shooting there, toured India with Gandhi’s grandson, and performed in Oslo at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.  They are the only choral organization to have sung on all seven continents – including Antarctica.

 

Media can visit our Media Resource page https://cychoirs.org/wordpress/jyc-media for background information, high resolution photos, and more. Please contact Leanne Clancy at Lclancy@greenestreetfriends.org or 484-410-9664 for more information and details on media availabilities during the JYC visit.

 

High resolution photos:

Jerusalem Youth Chorus in concert
https://cychoirs.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/JerusalemYouthChorus-TokyoConcert.jpg

Pennsylvania Girlchoir and Keystone State Boychoir sing for Newtown families on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy
https://cychoirs.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/KSBPGCHT2015.jpg