Hi!

 

     FYI…I hope you can attend! Please print and hang up the poster at various places to help publicize this event – coffee shop, supermarket, church, doctor’s office, etc.

 

Thanks…….Paul L. – Supt.

 

PRESS INFO ON TONY VACCA:

 

The world is a big place and there’s room enough for everybody. That’s the message Tony Vacca’s World Rhythm Ensemble brings to the Pentucket schools and tri-town region on Sept. 28.

       For the first time, the regional school district is collaborating with the Pentucket Fine and Performing Arts Foundation, (PFPAF) a local non-profit organization, to sponsor in-school instrumental workshops, day time assemblies, and an evening concert for the community.

       The  program will be led by Tony Vacca’s World Rhythms -- a multicultural music consortium which reflects the global nature of music by featuring local, regional and internationally known performers.

       Finding common ground through music is the goal of the program, which marks the kick-off of Pentucket Superintendent Paul Livingston’s year-long theme: Respect.

       The district is sponsoring World Rhythm workshops for Pentucket’s Percussion, Mallet, and Jazz students from the middle and high schools during the morning. That afternoon the World Rhythm perform assemblies for students featuring some of the teen musicians who took the morning workshops. The day-long program culminates with an evening concert for the public sponsored by PFPAF at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults/$6 for students and seniors.

   Vacca, an American‑born percussionist, composer, and educator for the past 30 years, is founder of the World Rhythms consortium. He describes his band as “an innovative hybrid of ancient and contemporary sounds; it's a hard‑hitting fusion of jazz and world music that confirms the powerful common ground that music provides.”

       An accomplished musician, Vacca plays West African balafon, djembe, talking drum, gongs, drum set, and a uniquely designed percussion unit. He has made numerous recordings, and performed with a wide range of musicians -- including pop icon Sting. Vacca uses rhythm poetry to link the tradition of rap and hip‑hop with its origins among the soothsayers and griots of West Africa. 

          “This caliber of entertainment is a real privilege to have in our own backyard, so it would be a missed opportunity for community members to not take advantage,” said PFPAF Chairman Bill Stasiuk.

        PFPAF is hoping for good community turn out at the concert to demonstrate support for both the superintendent's year-long theme and this first-of-its-kind cultural partnership between the school district and the non-profit arts foundation.

    Founded in 2003, PFPAF is dedicated to supporting and enhancing the arts throughout the Pentucket schools and communities. All proceeds from PFPAF events directly support fine and performing arts education at Pentucket.