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Event
To Breathe As One
Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir toured to Estonia in 2009, where they joined 30,000 other singers on the stage at the Estonian song festival called Laulupidu. That remarkable journey is featured in "To Breathe As One", a documentary film about the festival, its incredible musical legacy and the profound historical significance it represents for the country. The movie is produced by James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty of Sky Films, the same documentary filmmakers who directed and produced "The Singing Revolution," a work that saw wide distribution throughout the United States. The world premiere of "To Breathe as One" will be presented on Friday, June 28, 2013, at the Delancey Screening Room at 600 Embarcadero St in San Francisco. Two screenings of the film will be given, at 7pm and 8:45pm. Each screening will be preceded by a brief performance by the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir, directed by Robert Geary, and followed by a Q&A sessions with filmmaker James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty. Seating is quite limited, so buy your tickets today!
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Geary, the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir tours internationally every year. The keen desire to meet, collaborate, and compete with choruses and singers of other cultures has led to high marks at prestigious festivals across the world, and wonderful friendships and collaborations with artists across the globe. The Choir has twice been to the Laulupidu and is one of the few American choirs to have been invited. They are optimistic about returning to Estonia for Laulupidu 2014, and Estonian Songfest conductor Aarne Saluveer will be an adjudicator for the Golden Gate Festival in July 2015. This choral friendship that reaches across oceans will be portrayed in "To Breathe As One."
About the Film:
"To Breathe As One" tells the unique story of an enormous cultural event that reflects the heart of an entire nation. Estonia's Laulupidu song festival gathers as many as 30,000 well rehearsed singers to the stage, with over 100,000 attending in the audience, for a spectacular two-day musical phenomenon. But "To Breathe As One" is about much more than a concert event. The film brings to life the role this festival played for Estonians as an integral force in maintaining strength and national identity for a people facing cultural genocide more than once. It fueled the now-heralded "Singing Revolution" of the late 1980s, when Estonians played a significant role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. This film shows the power and inspiration of voices joined en masse that continue today with pride and joy. The documentary features many of the 2009 Laulupidu song festival performances, but also shares the full, dynamic 140-year history of the festival with a backdrop of major world events behind the story the Bolshevik Revolution, World Wars I and II, the collapse of the Soviet Union that internationalize the story in a sweeping manner.
About the Filmmakers:
James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty have individually produced and/or directed various documentary projects throughout their careers. Their most noted completed collaboration is "The Singing Revolution." This feature documentary tells the moving story of Estonia's non-violent march to freedom after enduring over fifty years of a brutal Soviet occupation. Massive singing demonstrations played a pivotal, though little known, role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. "The Singing Revolution" tells the story of one country's undeniable thirst for self-determination and its unshakable belief in what it means to be freeto be Estonian.
Compared to "Casablanca" by the New York Times, The Singing Revolution was one of the most successful feature documentaries of 2008. Using unique web and niche marketing strategies, the film played theatrically in 125 North American markets, and was cited as one of five "maverick" films changing the independent film industry by the New York Times.
About Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir:
The internationally acclaimed Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir has been offering an outstanding program of choral training and performance to children from throughout San Francisco's East Bay for over thirty years. Founded in 1982 by Suzie Rahl, the Choir has established itself as a leading force in international choral activities and contemporary music under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Geary. International tours every summer and a keen desire to meet, collaborate, and compete with choruses and singers of other cultures have led to high marks at prestigious festivals across the world, and to the creation of the Golden Gate International Choral Festival. The Choir regularly collaborates with major Bay Area arts organizations such as the Oakland East Bay Symphony, Cal Performances, the Mark Morris Dance Company, and the Berkeley West Edge Opera.
For additional information about the film premiere, or the programs of the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir, please visit www.piedmontchoirs.org, or call 510.547.4441.
"To Breathe As One" Screenings, Junes 28, 2013 - at 7pm and 8:45pm Delancey Screening Room 600 Embarcadero Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Seating is extremely limited
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LocationDelancey Street Foundation Screening Room (View)
600 Embarcadero Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
United States
Categories
Kid Friendly: Yes! |
Non-Smoking: Yes! |
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