Haiti Cultural Exchange presents Pa Bliye | Toto Bissainthe, a multi-media exhibition and concert benefiting Haiti Cultural Exchange, in partnership with Fondation Haiti Jazz, in honor of Haitian songstress Toto Bissainthe. Performances by Talie, Nathalie Joachim & Riva Precil.
Inspired by Dudley Randall’s poem “Primitives,” this interactive concert by cellist Seth Parker Woods features five world premieres and one Seattle premiere by Monty Adkins, Nathalie Joachim, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, Fredrick Gifford, Ryan Carter and Freida Abtan. Difficult Grace showcases an array of visual art and music by some of today’s most imaginative storytellers.
Kaufman Music Center’s teen new music ensemble, Face the Music, joins forces with composer/flutist/vocalist Nathalie Joachim, a member of eighth blackbird and Flutronix and 2019-20 Kaufman Music Center Artist-in-Residence, to perform new arrangements from her critically-acclaimed debut album Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti), a joyful and life-affirming evening-length work for voice, flute, string quartet, and electronics.
A celebration of some of Haiti’s most iconic yet underrecognized female artists and an exploration of Joachim’s Haitian heritage, Fanm d’Ayiti features original songs incorporating the recorded voices of Joachim’s grandmother and the girls’ choir of her family’s home village of Dantan; new arrangements of songs by some of Haiti’s greatest female singers; and recorded interviews with these artists about their lives fighting for social justice and uplifting the people of Haiti.
FANM D’AYITI
A celebration of iconic yet under-recognized Hatian female artists, Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti) is an evening-length work for voice, flute, string quartet and electronics developed by composer/performer Nathalie Joachim and featuring Chicago’s own Spektral Quartet.
Equal parts an encounter with her own Haitian heritage and an effort giving voice to marginalized artists, Fanm d’Ayiti is iridescent in its exhibition of powerful women – in revolution, on stage, or in the home. From the deeply personal – including recorded voices of Joachim’s grandmother and the girls choir from her family’s farming village of Dantan – to the inspiringly prominent – featuring arrangements of songs by some of the greatest known female voices in Haitian history and recorded interviews with them about their fight for social justice – Fanm d’Ayiti is an uplifting and thought-provoking sonic experience.
Go behind the scenes of Fanm d’Ayiti with Nathalie Joachim’s recent appearance on NPR’s On Being
NATHALIE JOACHIM
Nathalie Joachim is a Brooklyn born Haitian-American flutist, composer, and vocalist known for creating “a unique blend of classical music, hip-hop, electronic programming and soulful vocals reminiscent of neo-R&B stars like Erykah Badu.” (The Wall Street Journal) She is co-artistic director and flutist of the four-time Grammy winning contemporary chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird, and co-founder of the critically acclaimed urban art pop duo, Flutronix.
SPEKTRAL QUARTET
Two-time Grammy award nominees, the Spektral Quartet actively pursues a vivid conversation between exhilarating works of the past and the extraordinary works of today. With the New York Times writing that, “they have everything: a supreme technical command that seems to come easily, a capacity to make complicated music clear, and, most notably…an ability to cast a magic spell”, Spektral is regarded as one of the boldest ensembles working today.