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Bishop Chantel Wright

Bishop and Founder, Songs of Solomon: An Inspirational Ensemble, Inc.

SONGS OF SOLOMON: An Inspirational Ensemble (SOS), founded in 2001 by veteran conductor, Bishop Chantel Renee Wright, remains true to its mission to serve the world community through its music. Bishop Wright is a firm believer that arts education stimulates children spiritually and intellectually and builds the family through its commitment to a child’s development. We endeavor to bridge all ethnicities while maintaining a safe space to grow. For the past twenty-four years, our membership has found acceptance into college, university and mastered various trades. The Songs of Solomon Choral Union of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses serves young people nationwide who desire to celebrate the Good News through gospel music. Members benefit from leadership training, access to internships at other arts organization, and uncompromised spiritual leadership. As vendors with the New York City Department of Education, Songs of Solomon provides direct student services and professional development to public schools. Our music partners allows young people to be able to express their gifts even in the school setting.

In an environment of rage and outrage, inequality, and intolerance, our divine purpose is to be light in the darkness. Our service is designed to penetrate the noise and usher in the hope and joy that we were all created to experience and share. Now as we celebrate our 24th anniversary, The Ensemble has performed with Earth Wind and Fire, Carol King, Elton John, the late Aretha Franklin, and listed among a Who’s Who in the performing arts industry. Songs of Solomon has participated in the Creative Learning Project, Musical Connections, and Count Me In projects at Carnegie Hall.  Most recently, the Ensemble is a mainstay in community outreach projects in partnership with Carnegie Hall and the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. Songs of Solomon has recorded Variations of the War Cry, toured major cities in the United States, Africa, and abroad, won numerous competitions in the metropolitan area, and continues to serve in churches, corporations and major performing venues.

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Laura Webber

Consultant, Peacebuilding, Wellbeing, and Care; Humanity United

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About Laura Webber

Laura Webber (she/her) engages in research and practice at the intersection of trauma healing, embodiment, social neuroscience, and peacebuilding. She moves with a healing-based and care-centered approach as she engages in efforts of conflict transformation from the individual to the collective. Laura orients her practice in support of social change practitioners and activists to nurture their resiliency and grow their sustainability. She currently works with peacebuilding and social change organizations in a variety of capacities including research, program design and facilitation, and learning. Laura holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Vassar College, and a Master’s of Arts in Peace and Justice from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego.

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Sandesh Kadur

Wildlife Filmmaker; National Geographic Fellow & Explorer; Board of Trustees, National Geographic Society; Founder and Director, Felis Creations; Founder, Conservania

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About Sandesh Kadur

Sandesh V. Kadur is a BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker, National Geographic Fellow & Explorer, and was recently named the second-ever Explorer Trustee of the National Geographic Society Board of Trustees. His groundbreaking documentaries have aired globally on networks like National Geographic, BBC, Netflix, Apple,Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet. His work spans from the elusive snow leopard in the Himalaya to the Okavango Delta in Botswana & the endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtles in Mexico. Sandesh is the producer of a 3-part docuseries for National Geographic titled ‘Wild Cats of India’ & ‘India’s Wild Leopards’. His first documentary, Sahyadris: Mountains of the Monsoon (2002), which was accompanied by his first book, earned critical acclaim while drawing attention to one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots, and helped convince UNESCO to name the Western Ghats a World Heritage Site in 2012.

He is also the co-author of two books, Sahyadris: India’s Western Ghats – A Vanishing Heritage (2005) and Himalaya – Mountains of Life (2013). His work has won a slew of prestigious international awards, including a 2017 EMMY nomination and the 2017 BAFTA award for his work on BBC Planet Earth II and was nominated twice for a Green Oscar at the Wildscreen Film Festival, among many other awards and nominations. Sandesh hopes that his photographs and documentaries will reveal places and species people rarely see and will inspire new passion to protect them. “I help people connect emotionally with the beauty of the wilderness, bring conservation issues to light, and raise awareness in a way that fosters respect and concern. I also try to make powerful graphic images that expose how much we are losing.” He is the founder and director of Felis Creations and co-founder of Conservania.

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Dobet Gnahoré

Artist, City Zen Music

About Dobet Gnahoré

Dobet Gnahoré is a renowned African singer, dancer, songwriter, and percussionist known for her dynamic performances and ability to blend various musical styles from across the African continent. Her work emphasizes cultural preservation and advocacy for women’s rights and empowerment.

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Slovenski Oktet

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The date 27 September 1951 represents an important milestone for Slovenian vocal music. At the initiative of Slovenian immigrants living in North America, eight male singers were chosen at a demanding audition in a small hall at the Slovenian Philharmonic building. Thus, the Slovene Octet was founded. From the very beginning, the Slovene Octet’s main aim was to nurture and ennoble vocal music, from the Renaissance to the contemporary period. In addition, Slovenian folk music represented a very important part of their repertoire, and was brought to many different parts of the world. In its 60 years of existence, the Slovene Octet has performed on all important stages around the world, never neglecting their fellow countrymen.

Many singers have been members of the group, but all of them sharing a strong bond with the Slovenian nation. With its enchanting singing and performances, the Slovene Octet has served as a shining example for many groups. During all these years, over 100 hundred octets have been founded in Slovenia. More than 40 singers have been a part of the Slovene Octet, some of them top-flight musicians, performing in the biggest concerts and opera houses across Europe.

The Slovene Octet has received several awards: the Prešeren Award in 1957, the Prešeren Foundation Award in 1964, the National Certificate of Merit in 1966, an award from the Association of Slovene Composers in 1971, the Drabosnjakova Award in 1975, the Orlando Di Lasso Award in 1984 and the Golden Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia in 1996. Another important milestone for the Slovene Octet was reached in 1996 when the entire group of singers was changed. The Slovene Octet was rejuvenated and began down a new path to musical perfection, remaining faithful to its tradition. The group’s 50th anniversary concert included its best-known songs, which brought the Slovene Octet its worldwide fame. The group has published three CDs with the most beautiful Slovenian songs.

In 2007, the book Slovenski oktet (Slovene Octet) by Boris Pangerc, which summarised the group’s activities over the years, was published. The Slovene Octet performs at all major music festivals and encourages young groups across Slovenia to cherish Slovenian folk and artistic music. Band Andrej Oder, Rok Ferenčak – 1st Tenor David Jagodic, Janez Triler – 2nd Tenor Jože Vidic, Darko Vidic – Baritone Janko Volčanšek, Miha Bole – Bass Artistic director: JOŽE VIDIC

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Magos Herrera

Singer, composer, educator and activist

Born in Mexico City and based out of New York City, Magos Herrera is a jazz singer-songwriter, producer, activist and educator. Declared as “One of the greatest contemporary interpreters of song” by The Latin Jazz Network, With a sultry voice and an unparalleled presence in the contemporary Latin American jazz scene, Magos is best known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her singular bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with Ibero-American melodies and rhythms in a style that elegantly blends and surpasses language boundaries. Has recorded 11 albums including joint collaborations with producer Javier Limón and composer Paola Prestini in addition to having participated as a guest artist of several recordings including the recent Femenina project with pianist Edward Simon. Has performed in leading cultural venues around the world such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in NYC, Kennedy Center in DC and has been part of the line-up of some of the most memorable jazz festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, to mention a few.

Throughout her career she has garnered important awards and recognitions, including 2 Grammy nominations and have received the Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award. She serves as spokesperson for UN Women to promote gender equality. Herrera is a 2020 recipient of Chamber Music Americas New Jazz Works Award has been included as one of the most creative Mexicans in the world by Forbes Mexico Magazine. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum Magos premier her first opera co-written with Paola Prestini on the iconic mexican baroque writer Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz ”Primero sueño” at the MET Cloisters on January 2025.

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Renee van Bavel

Artist

In her work, the Berlin-based Dutch artist Renee van Bavel deals with the themes of peace, freedom, and human connection. By using various art forms, she initiates ways to approach and experience these topics at a personal level, as is emphatically shown in her space-encompassing work of art THE MIRROR OF PEACE. Viewers see themselves reflected in full size and read a text saying: “This is what people living in peace look like.” It becomes instantly clear that a life lived in peace cannot be taken for granted, and that we must act consciously—every day—to preserve this peace. From 2022 to 2024, she worked as Artist in Residence at the Memorial Sites Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück, where she developed new forms of remembrance through the medium of art. With her artistic practice, Renee van Bavel knows how to appeal to people’s feelings, to bring them back to emotionally reflecting on war and peace, and to focus on what unites us.

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Dan Acher

Artivist

Artivist Dan Acher is the founder of Happy City Lab and an Ashoka Fellow based in Geneva, Switzerland. Central to his work is art as generator of change across local and global communities. Dan uses cities as playgrounds in which citizens of all backgrounds can connect and engage with the key issues of our time, both individually and collectively. His large-scale installations are designed to evoke awe and communal introspection. Their size and humanity serve to remind us that we are all in this together.

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Seckou Keita

Artist; Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita SUBA Trio

Variously described as a ‘griot (praise singer), composer, djembe master, virtuoso and pioneer’, Seckou Keita is a rare type of musician, seated in tradition whilst constantly pushing the boundaries of his art. A true master of the kora – a 22 stringed West African harp – Seckou, from the Casamance area of Southern Senegal, was a childhood prodigy, born of a line of griots and kings. Cissokho, his mother’s family name, gave life to his talent; Keita, his father’s, gave him royal blood. Seckou has graced the international stage since 1996, earning worldwide acclaim for his kora playing and appearing with a host of fellow artists, including Salif Keita, Paul Weller, Damon Alban and the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal, Miriam Makeba and Neil Finn. His albums Clychau Dibon (2013), the fruit of his collaboration with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, won fRoots Critics Poll Album of The Year 2013, Songlines Magazine Best Cross-Cultural Collaboration 2014, and two BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominations.

In 2016 he won the Songlines award for Best Album for Africa and the Middle East for 22 Strings. 2017 saw the release of Transparent Water, his collaborative album with Cuban Jazz Pianist Omar Sosa, which toured Japan, France, the UK and the USA. In 2018 he joined the lineup of The Lost Words: Spell Songs, a musical companion piece to The Lost Words: A Spell Book, the acclaimed work by authors Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, working alongside musicians Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Kris Drever, Kerry Andrew, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux. Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita released their second album SOAR in April 2018 to huge critical acclaim, sweeping the board for music industry awards, winning ‘Best Fusion’ album in the Songlines Music Awards 2019, fRoots ‘Critics Poll Album of The Year’ 2018 and ‘Best Transregional Album’ in the Transglobal World Music Chart. In October 2019, Seckou won ‘Musician of the Year’ and ‘Best Group/Duo’ for his collaborative project with Catrin Finch at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Finch and Keita have been named artists in residence at Liverpool Philharmonic for the 2020/21 season. Seckou Keita has arguably become the most influential and inspiring Kora player of his generation, an exceptional and charismatic musician and a modern global citizen, living with seven centuries of tradition and heritage expressed through his music. In his last solo album 22 Strings (released May 2015), Seckou gives us the kora in its purest guise, a wondrous instrument that can soothe the bloodlust of warriors and take the human spirit to a place of deep meditation, stillness and beauty.

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Ablaye Cissoko & Cyrille Brotto

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About Ablaye Cissoko : Sweetness of tone, finesse of melodic lines, fluidity of the touch, virtuosity without ostentation, purity and generosity — all of these qualities are combined in this stellar musician. Ablaye Cissoko is a part of new generation of artists from Senegal. Griot living in Saint Louis in Senegal, he incarnates the encounter between Mandinka traditions and contemporary musical creation. Used to perform in world music, jazz and even classical or baroque music universes, Ablaye Cissoko is probably one of the most crossover african artist, and one of the top#3 kora player in the world.

As impressive as a singer than an instrumentist, Ablaye Cissoko is an artist without any frontiers, who knows how to renew his musical universe and surprise us again and again. Since his first album “Diam” released in 2003, he recorded more than 16 albums, performed thousands of shows on all continents, in many music genres, and shared studio or stage with famous artists such as Randy Weston, Eric Bibb, Constantinople & Kiya Tabassian, Omar Pene, Cheikh Tidiane Seck, Simon Goubert, Volker Goetze, Sophia Domancich, Majid Bekkas, Hervé Samb …