Concert to Benefit Hospice Music Therapy November 23rd

WHEN:
Sunday, November 23, 2008, 3 PM

WHAT:
HEALING VOICES, CARING HEARTS:
A Concert to Benefit Hospice Music Therapy

WHO:
TOM CHAPIN AND FRIENDS FAMILY SHOW FEATURING MICHAEL MARK AND JON COBERT WITH SPECIAL GUESTS BAR SCOTT AND TERRY BLAINE
Reception, Meet the Artists & CD signing immediately following performance

WHERE:
OLIN HALL AT BARD COLLEGE
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504

COST:
Adult - $15 | Students/Seniors - $10
For Ticket Info, Call 845-473-2273 X 1107

Please join us for the third annual concert in support of the Healing Voices, Caring Hearts Fund to benefit Music Therapy at Hospice, Inc. Major sponsorship for this event provided by MVP Healthcare.

On November 23 at 3 PM, the third annual Healing Voices, Caring Hearts concert will be held in Olin Hall at Bard College. We have a great group of artists performing this year, including Tom Chapin & Friends, Bar Scott, and Terry Blaine. All contributions received from sponsorships, program ads, or ticket sales benefit the Healing Voices, Caring Hearts Fund (formerly the Sam and Cynthia Blasenstein Memorial Fund), founded in 2006 to support the Music Therapy Program at Hospice, Inc. Tom Chapin, with Michael Mark and Jon Cobert, will perform a great mix of kids' classics that have delighted audiences for years. Bar Scott and Terry Blaine, who've appeared in all three Hospice benefit concerts, will be onstage as guest artists. The afternoon promises to be a spectacular event not soon forgotten.

The main fixture of this special experience, Tom Chapin, will be joined by Jon Cobert and Michael Mark to perform one of their critically acclaimed family shows. This versatile musician, who has won a number of different Grammys for his singing, playing, and songwriting, may be most famous for his kids' albums, but is also a respected contemporary folk and pop player. Tom has spent over thirty years entertaining people of all ages with his colorful, upbeat songs that have found their way onto eighteen albums. The brilliance of Tom's musicianship exudes from all his performances, whether he is playing to a packed concert hall, at an outdoor festival, or for a local school. He has been lauded by The New York Times as “one of the great personalities in contemporary folk music". Tom is in the process of recording his eighth adult-oriented album, sure to be full of his heralded guitar melodies and intelligent songwriting. He wouldn't classify himself as a traditionalist, saying his music “is not a traditional music, but it comes from a tradition. [His] musical heroes are people like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, who wrote and sang real songs for real people; for everyone, old, young, and in between."

Tom, Jon and Michaels CDs, geared to 4-11 year-olds, have been recognized by the American Library Association, Parents' Choice, the New York Music Awards, the National Association of Parenting Publications, and Parents magazine, all of whom have contributed to Tom's growing collection of music awards. He has already won three Grammys in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children (2001's Mama Don't Allow, 2002's There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, and 2004's The Train They Call The City Of New Orleans) and collected four more nominations in the category of Best Musical Album for Children, most recently in 2005 for his latest family recording, Some Assembly Required. Billboard magazine really summed it up when they declared Chapin “the best family artist around".

For fifteen years now, Bar Scott has proven to be a force in the independent music industry. She has released five full-length recordings, a children's book with accompanying music, videos of live shows, and a three cover albums, including Christmas songs, hymns, and folk songs. Primarily located in the Northeast, she tours with background singers Jen Starr and Erica Cohn, bringing their powerful music to all different sorts of venues. Her most recent release, Parachute (2006), found its way to both Performing Songwriter's Top 5 CDs of the Year and Top 5 CDs list from Chuck Eliot of WXPN Radio in Philadelphia. The Folk and Music Exchange calls the album “a sumptuous musical tapestry, each song even more beautiful than its predecessor." Bar has performed in a number of different majestic venues over her illustrious career, but one of her favorite performances took place on September 11, 2002, when she headlined the “Voices of Inspiration" show with Phoebe Snow and Beth Nielsen-Chapman. Performing at the Beacon Theater in New York City, the event was filmed and aired nationally by Fox and its affiliates. Fans of the blockbuster film trilogy The Lord of the Rings may find it interesting to know that Bar Scott was asked by composer Howard Shore to be a demo singer for the third installment of the series, The Return of the King. Bar once said that she “sings because she cannot NOT sing", and let us all be thankful for that.

Jazz vocalist Terry Blaine was born with a microphone in her hand, singing virtually all of her life. Quite the versatile performer, Terry has enjoyed a career that includes live performances, recordings, studio work, television and radio shows, musical composition, songwriting and production. It's rather tough to label the inspirational swingin' sound that Terry's music carries, but it brings to mind such notable musicians as Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, and Ethel Waters. Terry has released seven recordings to date. Her debut album Whose Honey Are You? was a Jazz Journal International Record of the Year and the beginning of an inspired working relationship with classic jazz pianist Mark Shane that has spanned more than twenty years. After the huge success of the CD, concerts began selling out and more CDs started flying off the shelves. Terry now resides in Woodstock, NY with her husband, composer/producer Tom Desisto and their son, Michael. Their production company, Desisto Music, creates original music for TV, film, radio, recording and educational projects. Terry recently became music therapist and internship director at Hospice, Inc. She still loves to perform and tours regularly. Hearing Terry sing in person is an event you do not want to miss!

The Hospice, Inc. Music Therapy Program serves hospice patients and families in Ulster and Dutchess counties, provides educational opportunities for music therapy students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, is a premier internship site for the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), conducts ongoing research to determine best practices in end of life care music therapy, and provides support to adolescent and children's bereavement groups in both counties.

If you would like more information about any of the performers, visit Tom's (www.tomchapin.com), Bar's (www.barscott.com), and Terry's (www.terryblaine.com) websites to learn more about them. This is a great opportunity to see some truly great musical talent come together for a wonderful cause.

For ticket information, sponsorship and advertising opportunities, or to make tax-deductible contributions to the Healing Voices, Caring Hearts Fund at Hospice Foundation Inc., please contact Michael Murphy, Executive Director, at or call 845-473-2273 X 1107.