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Billy Bang and Yusef Komunyakaa to Collaborate in 'Sacrifice' at Harlem Stage

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Composer-violinist Billy Bang and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa were deeply impacted by their military experiences during the Vietnam conflict, and both have created works that poignantly engage those experiences.

On Wednesday, April 1, these two artists will collaborate on Sacrifice: Meditations on the Vietnam Experience at Harlem Stage.

Presented as a collaboration between Harlem Stage and the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, this concert will explore through music, voice, media and conversation the remembered experiences of two distinct, gifted artists as they reflect on a cruel and painful war.

In Komunyakaa's Nine Bridges Back, twelve artists create a collage of text, voices and instruments that address complex histories and personal experiences in the context of the war.

With Yusef Komunyakaa (poet); Vince di Mura (composer/keyboards) with Annie Lee Moffett (vocals) and Tony Jackson (narrator); Alan Benditt (actor); Susie Ibarra (composer/percussionist) with Jennifer Choi (violin), Carol To Moy (singer) and Cathy Linh Che (translator); Tomas Doncker (composer/guitar/vocals) and Marvin Sewell (guitar); Noriko Kamo (piano); and Dawn Akemi Saito (director).

Billy Bang and his Aftermath Band perform compositions based on Bang's experience as a combat soldier in Vietnam. Bang's music evokes and confronts memories through a combination of Western and Asian elements, including the use of Vietnamese traditional instruments.

The ensemble features musicians who experienced both the Vietnam and Korean Wars. With Billy Bang (violin), James Spaulding (alto saxophone, flute), Ted Daniel (trumpet), Henry P. Warner (clarinet, alto clarinet), Andrew Bemkey (piano), Muziki Roberson (piano), Hilliard Greene (bass), and Newman Taylor Baker (drums).

Coming from seemingly disparate backgrounds — Komunyakaa raised in Louisiana, Bang reared in the Bronx — the two artists share a common experience as Vietnam veterans. A pre-concert discussion with the artists, moderated by Brent Hayes Edwards, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, will explore their histories and motivations.

Sacrifice will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse, 150 Convent Avenue at West 135th Street in New York City. The conversation will begin at 6:00 pm and the concert will follow immediately at 7:30. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at www.harlemstage.org or by calling the Harlem Stage box office at 212-281-9240, ext. 19.

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