I Dream a World: Song & Verse to Inspire a Nation

This Performance is part of the North to Shore Festival.

This year, Celeste Bateman & Assocs., LLC is presenting a program acknowledging the 250th Anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence (Semiquincentennial) featuring our musical group Five Women Performance Ensemble. I Dream a World (IDAW), the title taken from the Langston Hughes' poem of the same name, features inspirational songs, narration and verse that tell a story of the country we'd like America to be from the perspective of the Black Experience (African Diaspora).

IDAW focuses on several major events from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries with emphasis on such historic periods as the slave trade and The Emancipation Proclamation; Reconstruction, the Civil Rights movement, Black Lives Matter up to the 2024 Presidential election. It includes thought-provoking songs from such artists as James Brown, Laura Nyro, Dr. Bernice Reagon, Beyonce, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder and music from the West Side Story, Selma and Harriet soundtracks.

This performance features singers: Kim Armstrong, Marlo Cozart, Deborah Keeling-Geddis, Jackie Jones and Christa Syreeta and musicians Clifford Kee (Bass), Alex Mosely (Guitar), Daniel Ware (Drums) and musical director Gail Lou on keyboard.

ABOUT FIVE WOMEN PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE

In April 2015, a group of talented performing artists came together to present an event in celebration of National Poetry Month. The ensemble started with one performance at Focus on Jesus Baptist Church in the South Ward of Newark, NJ. We went on to develop and present a number of programs at such venues as The Newark Public Library, the Jersey City Free Public Library and Newark Symphony Hall. Presenting/performing under the name Five Women, the group performs the works of known and lesser-known women poets, writers, songwriters and playwrights, incorporating various genres of music.

A Celeste Bateman & Associates Production

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Host or Publisher Celeste Bateman & Assocs., LLC