On May 1st Foundation for the People of Burma had the unprecedented opportunity to bring together many of the great members of our global community. We held an inspiring musical event, Songs of Survival: Voices of Burma, at Fort Mason in San Francisco to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Cyclone Nargis, and to celebrate of the strength of the human spirit.
The evening featured the extraordinary music of the Gitameit Choir from Rangoon, Burma, who performed alongside folk legend and activist, Ms. Joan Baez. In addition to original songs and video interviews with cyclone survivors, guests were moved by emotional renditions of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘We shall Overcome,’ performed harmoniously by Ms. Baez and the 24-member Burmese choir.
Joan Baez performing at Songs of Survival Photo: Terri Spath
Though a culmination of a three-week, FPB-sponsored, cultural and educational tour of the United States, the concert really derived from our nine years of close partnership with the Gitameit Music Center’s founders and students. In 2000, FPB provided a higher education scholarship to the Music Center’s Founding Director. Since then we have eagerly supported the innovative work of the Center, which has created a music community that allows participants to express themselves in ways unthinkable to many of their peers, in turn, galvanizing a motivated group of young leaders.
Inspired by their incredible humanitarian leadership in the aftermath of last year’s devastating cyclone, FPB staff designed tour activities to foster a spirit of collective responsibility around the issues these students identified as crucial at this time in Burma’s history. As such, activities included an assembly at Rooftop Elementary School, volunteer work in the soup kitchen of Glide Memorial Church, an introduction to San Francisco’s LGBT movement, 5 days of music training at Yale University, a visit to The Apollo Theatre and an investigation of the shelves at UC Berkeley’s amazing music library. Choir members will continue to build on these experiences in future community outreach and in their own personal development.
Special thanks to all of you who came out in support of the event on May 1st and to the many volunteers who made the cultural exchanges so meaningful for the choir.
To receive a promotional copy of the music from Songs of Survival: Voices from Burma, please contact us.