The Andrea Bocelli Foundation's Voices Of Haiti in New York
Voices of Haiti is part of Andrea Bocelli Foundation's Break the barriers initiative. Their mission is to support and promote projects to aid poor countries, also help those in situation of poverty, illness and complex social.
" The choir members are Haitian children aged 9-15, and through the experience, ABF hopes that they will enhance their talent with highly specialized training, also benefiting a "wealth of educational, cultural and existential opportunities precious for their future."
Photo credit: Luca Rossetti for Billboard
During the luncheon cruise, special guest Martha Stewart created the menu and spoke to the children about her relationship with Haiti as well as how to make a new recipe – a jicama citrus salad – from her new book Vegetables, in an effort to impart the value of healthy and delicious nutrition. “Bienvenue children! I started to go to Haiti in the '60s for vacations and it was just so beautiful. I learned so much about tropical foods there,” the entrepreneur told the crowd. “My last trip to Haiti was a less fortunate trip and that was right after the hideous earthquake. To be able to bring the voices of Haiti here today is so nice and I applaud Bob Book [chairman of JSSI] and his sons for working so hard with this amazing group, and of course the ABF.”
Laura Biancalani, President of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, told Billboard: “The choir is not only a choir. The trip is not only a beautiful trip to New York; it’s a moment for us to show what we are doing in Haiti and it’s a dream for the kids. The foundation was born five years ago, and the choir is only one of its projects. We have a music program for 2,500 kids every day because we have five schools on Haiti, in the most remote parts of the island. Every day we try through music to change the culture, and what is better than discovering the talent of your children, or the talent of your citizens? We try to involve through music the parents and the teachers, but the kids are the most important part. We try to teach that inside their children is the future.”
A project like this in a county like Haiti is tremendous, when you look at the face of these kids, most of them are travelling for the first time, you see hope in their faces. This is a good beginning for the kids, having someone like Andrea Bocelli as model is an opportunity. Bocelli told Billboard: “This is the result of the choice that I made a long time ago -- the choice to be on the side of good, to see happiness and hope in people that don’t have any,” . “Of course this may sound banal, but music is part of me -- rhythm, harmony, melody are elements that are integral parts of me. And Music is an instrument in itself, it develops the soul, the spirit of each individual child. Music moves you. And hope is one of the most important things in life, and it goes hand in hand with faith. I think each one of us is called to do the best they can, and the rest God disposes.”
Source: Nick Williams for Billboard
