"A Sacred Jazz Suite"

WORLD PREMIERE

"For the Healing of the Nations"

"A Sacred Jazz Suite"

For the Victims and Survivors of 9/11

Composed by Geri Allen - Ms. Allen at the Piano

With large orchestra including

Oliver Lake; Craig Harris; Antoine Roney; John Blake; Akua Dixon; Kenny Davis; Mark Johnson; Jay Hoggard; Dwight Andrews; Patrice Williams, and

Creative Arts High School Students of Camden.

Poetry by Sandra-Turner Barnes

with

Andy Bey; Nnenna Freelon; Mary Stallings and

The Afro Blue Vocal Ensemble of Howard University

Sunday - September 10, 2006 - 3:00PM

Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts

The Gordon Theatre

350 N. Third StreetCamden, N.J. 08102

$25.00 Box Office: 856-225-2700

“He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal.. on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life.. the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

On Sept 11, 2001 a series of coordinated terrorist attacks upon the United States brought fear into our hearts and the phrase “9/11” into our national lexicon. Five years on, a nation still struggles with the impact and repercussions of that day.

As a tribute to the lives lost on that day and since, and mindful of the role music can play in personal and collective healing, the Walt Whitman Arts Center has commissioned pianist Geri Allen to compose “For the Healing of the Nations”, a sacred jazz suite in two movements. The title song of Allen's critically acclaimed new Telarc release "Timeless Portraits and Dreams" was the genesis for the suite "For The Healing of The Nations".

"Jazz pianist Geri Allen has taken the freedom of Jazz and combined it with the cultural freedom movements that have paralleled the evolution of jazz itself." - Tavis Smiley