CINCINNATI, OH – Internationally-renowned a capella ensemble SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK brings its new 40th Anniversary concert to the Aronoff Center’s Procter & Gamble Hall on Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 7:00 PM. The event is presented by the Cincinnati Arts Association as part of its 2013-14 Season.
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK – 40TH ANNIVERSARY is the group’s most ambitious live performance presentation to date. Helmed by noted Director/Choreographer Dianne McIntyre, this is the first scripted show in the group’s history. The evening will feature medleys comprised of some of SWEET HONEY’s most popular songs, special guest musician/bassist Parker McAllister, and intimate personal stories by each member that will be woven into a retrospective look at their seminal artistic and musical journey (and social justice work) over the past four decades. The ensemble has titled their anniversary year (January 2014 – January 2015), SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK – 40TH ANNIVERSARY…FORTY & FIERCE, and will be celebrating with shows across the country throughout the year.
Tickets are on sale now at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office. Group discount tickets for 10 or more are available by calling (513) 977-4157. HALF-PRICE STUDENT RUSH discount tickets are available two hours before curtain (5:00-7:00 PM); limit (2) tickets with a valid student ID.
Challenge and change are the themes underlying the 40-year career of this revered female African-American a cappella ensemble. In the course of creating its adventurous and diverse mixture of blues, African, jazz, gospel, and R&B music, with excursions into symphonic and dance theater, 23 vocalists have passed through the group, formed as a quartet in 1973 at a workshop at the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company in Washington. Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, and Mie drew their name from the first song they learned, “Sweet Honey in the Rock,” based on a Biblical psalm. “Sweet Honey speaks of a land that is so rich when you break the rocks open, honey flows. And we thought it was something like us African-American women . . . strong like a rock, but inside [there’s] honey – sweet,” explains Robinson.
With political and social activism as much a cornerstone of its objective as vocally painting a multi-genre rainbow of music with an a cappella (aside from its members’ hand percussion) approach that is part of its African American legacy, SWEET HONEY began performing in 1974 and was soon performing various festivals in the US and Canada. After the 1976 release of its eponymously-titled first album, the group expanded its touring, which included appearances at the 1979 Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts in New York City that became the No Nukes concert film and album. In the summer of 2011, SWEET HONEY and other MUSE musicians (Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills & Nash, et. al.) performed a benefit concert for disaster relief efforts in Japan.
The ever-growing list of SWEET HONEY’s musical and activist achievements since its creation is beyond stunning. The ladies have performed in Nairobi and Beijing at the U.N. World Conference on Women; toured the UK, Japan, Africa, Australia, and various European locations; been the subject of two PBS documentaries (Gotta Make This Journey and SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK: Raise Your Voice); recorded film soundtracks; received Grammy® nominations for several of their albums for children; and shared a Grammy® Award for their participation in the multi-artist record Folkways: A Vision Shared – A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. They again honored Guthrie in a Centennial Celebration of his birthday presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in November 2012. The group appeared in a 1986 PBS special, The Dream and the Drum, on the first national observance of Martin Luther King Day, and in early 2012 performed at the unveiling ceremonies for the monument for Dr. King on the National Mall. The same year, SWEET HONEY also debuted their first ever orchestral collaboration, providing the lyrics for composer William Banfield’s “Symphony 10: Affirmations for a New World,” co-commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The backgrounds of the current members of SWEET HONEY are as varied as one would expect. Founder member Carol Maillard, who took a sabbatical from the group between 1976 and 1992, is an accomplished actress and has performed on stage, film, and television. The other founding member, Louise Robinson, returned to the group in 2004 after a 27-year hiatus during which she formed and toured with Bay Area a cappella quintet Street Sounds for 14 years. Aisha Kahlil (the most tenured member of the group at 32 years, joining in 1981) is a master teacher in voice and dance who studied extensively at the Alvin Ailey School. Nitanju Bolade Casel was previously active in studying, performing, and organizing in Dakar, Senegal. Her compositions earned her finalist status in the 2006 and 2007 International Songwriter’s Competition. Her experience producing the Grammy®-nominated Experience . . . 101 was good training for her role as producer of A Tribute – Live! On-stage sign- language interpreter Shirley Childress, who learned sign language from her deaf parents, is a founding member of the Black Deaf Advocates organization. She has interpreted for SWEET HONEY since 1981 and for such stellar authors as Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Audrey Lorde.
For more information, visit SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK at www.sweethoney.com.
PROMOTIONAL PARNTERS
- Cincinnati Herald
- Radio One
- The Voice of Your Customer
CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION SPONSORS
SEASON SPONSORS: AMERITAS (Founding Season Sponsor), FIFTH THIRD BANK (Lifetime Endowment Partner), FURNITURE FAIR, LOCAL12 WKRC, The P&G FUND of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
“CAA PRESENTS” SPONSORS: Coldwell Banker/West Shell, Heidelberg Distributing, Macy’s, Ultimate Air Shuttle, Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc.
SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS: The Cincinnati Herald, CityBeat, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, Millennium Hotel, Pepsi, Skyline Chili
Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves more than of 600,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached more than 1.3 million students.
