moving poets Charlotte - Heaven in A-flat

Heaven in A-flat

Moving Poets musical response & performance concert

Thursday, May 16 | 6:30 - 8pm | Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art

Tickets $ 25. Main performance starts at 7pm sharp.
All proceeds benefit Moving Poets Charlotte and We See Heaven Upside Down.

We See Heaven Upside Down is supported in part by ASC Cultural Vision Grant.

For more information and further news on the project also visit myloandinh.com or click HERE.

Special thanks to the 2019 supporters of this project and our community partners and sponsors:

Tanja Bechtler (USA)
holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts and a Master of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
Tanja was honored with the prestigious Women of Achievement Award, 2015 , from The General Federation of Women’s Clubs of North Carolina, an international volunteer service organization. The Women of Achievement Award recognizes outstanding women for their significant contributions to the state of North Carolina. Bechtler served as an orchestral player for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for 12 years. She is the founder and director of the Bechtler Ensemble which is in residency at Queens University. She also spearheaded the Charlotte Composers Forum with regional composers from the Carolinas. This music series can be heard at Queens University, Central Piedmont Community College, the Bechtler Museum, Chicago IL, just to name a few. She has recorded with her duo partner, guitarist Bob Teixeira ,the CD titled “Shade Grown” and “ Without Borders “. Film recordings include Elie Wiesel’s and Robert Shaw’s documentaries in conjunction with film composer Fred Story. Tanja also coaches middle and hight school orchestras throughout the Mecklenburg school system through the Charlotte Symphony, serves on the faculty of Gardner-Webb University and is an adjunct cello teacher at Central Piedmont Community College. She is an active participant of the Practice HORA ( www.horausa.com) that has enabled her to continue and create her career path after she left the symphony.

Todd Clouser (USA)
A native of Minneapolis, MN, Todd Clouser is a prolific composer, guitarist, songwriter and performer based in Mexico City. Combining elements of rock, jazz blues, spoken word and improvised music, Clouser has performed at music festivals across the globe, alongside luminaries including John Lurie, John Zorn, Flea, Cyro Baptista, John Medeski, and Keb Mo. Clouser's music trio, A Love Electric, explores his songwriting while honoring the jazz tradition's inquisitiveness and fearlessness, together with Latin Grammy award winner, Hernan Hecht, on drums and Aaron Cruz on bass. Mexico City's La Jornada named them "one of the most important acts of recent years". The trio has released 6 records on labels in the US and Mexico while performing nearly 1,000 concerts over the span of 7 years.
Philanthropy and community outreach have been important facets of Clouser's work in Mexico and beyond. With the founding of his "Music Mission" initiative, he and patrons have donated thousands of dollars worth of instruments, educational materials, workshops and basic needs to support communities in Nicaragua, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Mexico City and Durango. He is also the founder of Ropeadope Sur, a record label based in Mexico City which focuses on showcasing under-recognized Mexican musicians. The first act they signed, for instance, was Los Cardencheros de Sapioriz, an acapella group singing slave-era songs on the ranches of northern Mexico.

Tom Constanten (USA)
Concert musician, presenting music ranging from Rock to Rachmaninoff since 1959. Member of the Grateful Dead, including appearance at the Fillmore East and the Woodstock Festival (1969-71). Composer for film, theater and concert stage (1961- present). Professor of music – SUNY Buffalo, San Francisco Art Institute (1974-1984), Artist in Residence Harvard University (1986).
Piano student of Mario Feninger, whostudied with renowned pianist Edwin Fischer. Composition student of Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Inducted in the Rock'N Roll Hall of Fame (1994). Associated acts: Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Jazz Is Dead, Live Dead & Riders '69
“I know of no path that is better marked than the study of music. Maybe I just think so because it's the path I'm on. There's the old question "How come there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it over." Well, here's an answer. Settle down. Do it right. However long it takes. That's the direct route to the fast lane! “

Aaron Cruz (Mexico)

Aaron Cruz is a bassist from Mexico City. In 30 years of professional touring and performing, Aaron has performed with jazz artists from Hector Infanzon to Enrique Nery, Alex Mercado, Iraida Noriega, Tempus Fugit, and then psych rock group A Love Electric, touring much of the world. Cruz’s recording catalog is highlighted by the Aaron Cruz trio recording “Eco”, his arrangements of songs written by David Aguilar. Other recording credits include Lila Downs, Eugenia Leon, Ely Guerra and more. Aaron is characterized by his versatility, passion, and commitment to artistic vision, making him a go to bassist for further international touring projects with artists from John Medeski to Cyro Baptista, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and more.
The “Aaron Cruz” collection can be found in Mexico City’s prestigious Fonoteca Nacional.

Brianne Curran (Australia)
Brianne Curran is an improvising violinist from Sydney, Australia currently living in Berlin (since 2015). Having played the instrument since the age of 3, she has a background in numerous musical fields but her focus is on improvised music and its tangeants. Relationship between artist, environment and audience is of major interest in her approach to music making and its developments. Also of interest is how to break the box of ‘the violinist’. www.briannecurran.com

MyLoan Dinh (Vietnam)
MyLoan Dinh was born in Saigon, Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, during the Fall of Saigon, she and her family fled by sea, eventually resettling in Charlotte, NC. Majoring in visual arts, Dinh studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the School of Arts and Design at Wollongong University New South Wales, Australia. She is the founder of the international multidisciplinary arts project, We See Heaven Upside Down. Her mixed-media work explores the porous boundary between personal and collective history. Reflecting on her experiences as an immigrant and woman of color, her work often addresses everyday manifestations of cultural identity, memory and displacement. She has exhibited internationally, and her work can be found in private collections in the United States, Germany and Switzerland. Her awards include: Arts & Science Council Regional Artist Project Grant (Charlotte, NC), Berlin Department of Arts and Culture Artist Grant (Treptow-Köpenick), and the Partnership for Democracy Project Grant (Berlin) and Arts & Science Council 2018 Cultural Vision Grant (in collaboration with Moving Poets). Dinh is a member of the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) and the BKK, Professional Association of Visual Artists Berlin. She and her husband, Till Schmidt-Rimpler, founder and artistic director of Moving Poets, have creative projects in the USA and Germany.

Hernán Hecht (Argentinia)
Born in Argentina, Hecht is a drummer, producer, composer, teacher, promoter and visual artist on major projects in Latin America, the USA and Europe. Winner of a Latin Grammy Award (2010), European Drummerworld ranks Hecht within the 500 most important drummers in the world. He is an active member of more than 20 groups of Jazz, Rock, World Music and Electronics in Mexico, USA, Europe and Argentina. His mastery of the instrument, conceptual eclecticism and breadth, have allowed him to play with artists as diverse as John Medeski, Billy Martin, Steven Bernstein, Cyro Baptista, Bill Carrothers, and many notable others. Hecht created and coordinated the festivals "JazzHabito" (2002), "ArtLife JazzFest" (2003) and the “Jazz Marathon for the Victims of the Hurricanes in Chiapas and Quintana Roo” (2005). He wrote the music for the Mexican films “Todos los Besos” (2007), "Las Noches del Mal" (2009), "Reacciones Adversas" (2011) and for the documentary "Omine Patris", based on the work of the British visual artist Damien Hirst. Hecht has recorded over 200 CD’s world wide and is sponsored by Gretsch Drums, Evans Drumheads, Azturk Cymbals, AVID, FiG, Eccentric Systems, Cympad, AEA Ribbon Mics, IK Multimedia and Earthquaker Devices.

Mike Kenerley (USA)
A native Charlottean, Mike began his professional musical journey as a rock drummer in 1990 with 'Hardsoul Poets'. They changed its name to 'Jolene' and signed with Ardent Records out of Memphis eventually landing a major label release, ‘In The Gloamimg’, recorded with Sire Records in Canada. Jolene toured internationally and opened for Hootie and The Blowfish, Marcy Playground, Blue Mountain, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Soul Asylum, Drivin’ & Cryin’, Steve Earle, and many others. The last two Jolene releases ‘Antic Ocean’ and ‘The Pretty Dive’ were on the Blue Rose label. After that Mike was hired to play drums with 'Longwave '(RCA) and 'Cary Hudson' of Blue Mountain. Longwave toured the USA for a year in support of their RCA release ‘The Strangest Things’, then went to England, Japan and Australia (opening for Ben Lee). Mike continues to play with local bands 'The Louder Milks' and 'Maya BethAtkins'.

Milad Khawam (Syria)
Milad Khawam is a trumpeter, duduk player and composer from Damascus, Syria. Escaping the Syrian war in 2015, he immigrated to Berlin, Germany. Khawam studied Classical and Arabic music in Damascus. Since 2010, he played principal trumpet with many orchestras in Europe and the Middle East, including the Berlin Philharmonic. He performed with different fusion groups at festivals across Germany, such us Morgenland-Festival 2016, Karneval der Kulturen 2016 and Xjazz-Fest Berlin 2018. He also loves to produce electronic music. Khawam's compositions have been played by numerous bands in various festivals and his original soundtrack for the short film, "No Monsters in Berlin", won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2017. Next to composing music for We See Heaven Upside Down with Todd Clouser, Milad is currently working on his new album, "To the West".

Till Schmidt-Rimpler (Germany)
Till Schmidt Rimpler is a choreographer, director, and musician born in Dortmund, Germany. Schmidt-Rimpler studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and Codarts University of the Arts Rotterdam. He was a member of the Dutch National Ballet and a principal artist with North Carolina Dance Theatre. He has choreographed for Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Carolina and Children's Theatre Charlotte. He was a lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a professor at the Universidad Miguel Hernandez in Altea, Spain. In 1996, Schmidt-Rimpler founded Moving Poets in Charlotte (together with actor/director Randell Haynes and poet/writer Chuck Sullivan). In 2011, he and his wife, visual artist MyLoan Dinh, opened Moving Poets Berlin. In 2014, they founded NOVILLA, an international center for arts, creativity and exchange. Spearheaded by Schmidt-Rimpler, Moving Poets has created, produced and/or curated a wide variety of artistic projects across the USA and Germany, including: stage productions, creative workshops, festivals, youth programs, and music concerts. One of Schmidt-Rimpler's central goals is to bring together artists from diverse fields, cultures and age groups by building communities and facilitating cross-cultural exchanges.

Chuck Sullivan (USA)
Sullivan was born in NYC and graduated from Belmont Abbey College, NC. After graduating from college, he spent a year as a VISTA volunteer, working with migrant laborers in Florida and West Virginia. He completed his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina/Greensboro. In 1980, A Catechism of Hearts won South Carolina's Best Poetry Book of the year, and Longing for the Harmonies, received North Carolina Poetry Council’s best book award for 1992. In 1989, PBS filmed and broadcast a documentary about Sullivan, also titled Longing for the Harmonies. His poetry has appeared in Esquire, Rolling Stone, Texas Quarterly, Southern Poetry Review, Carolina Quarterly, International Poetry Review, and numerous other publications. In 1996 he co-founded Moving Poets, a professional performing arts company, with Dancer/Choreographer Till Schmidt-Rimpler and and Actor/Director Randell Haynes. He wrote the script for their productions of Dracula, Frankenstein, Romeo & Juliet, and MacBeth. In 2004, Mr. Sullivan was awarded the Mary Frances Hobson Award in recognition of his achievements in literature and in 2005 was honored with the Sam Regan Award for lifetime achievement in arts and letters. A gifted educator, Sullivan was the NEA Poet-in-Residence at Butler University in Indiana, and is currently Poet-in-Residence in North and South Carolina. Every summer since 1979, he teaches poetry and philosophy at North Carolina Governor’s School East, where he is chairman of the English Department.

Robert Teixeira (USA)
is currently on the faculty at Queens University of Charlotte, and Central Piedmont Community College. In addition to his Charlotte based teaching, he is active as a performer and guest instructor with recent invitations to instruct/perform at East Carolina University, Universities of Texas at Austin and San Antonio, Southwestern University, and Kennesaw State University. In recent years Robert has collaborated with award winning guitarist, Mary Akerman in concert appearances and in the 2010 cd release of “Music for Two Guitars”. With a continuing commitment to education, Robert recently composed a set of five etudes for right hand development that are published by Clear Note Publications. Together this husband and wife team, “Bob and Tanja” explore music for the guitar and cello. Their CD “Shade Grown” represents a ten year journey of developing new arrangements and original music for this not so common instrumental combination. In addition, they have also collaborated with composer David Crowe and produced and released the CD “Passage”, in the world music group, Without Borders.

Alyce Cristina Vallejo (USA)
Alyce began her training at North Carolina Dance Theater and The Charlotte School of Ballet. In her senior year at Northwest School of the Arts, Alyce was an invited guest artist with the Moving Poets Theater of Dance, providing her with the footing to a professional career. She studied dance at Florida State University. Graduating Cum Laude in 2006 she moved to San Francisco to dance with the SF Conservatory of Dance, Performance Company. Alyce performed in works by Alex Ketley, Rick McCullough, Alonzo King and many notable others and was invited to dance with Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center. She joined Moving Poets as a company artist in 2013 and is part of the artistic leadership since 2015. She teaches yoga, ballet and modern dance at various schools and enjoys her greatest role of "Mother" to her daughter Amelia.

Dellair Youssef (Syria)
Dellair Youssef is a director and writer born in Damascus, Syria, from which he fled in 2011. He has directed several films, including ‘The Princes of the Bees’, ‘Exile’, ‘Banyas: The Beginnings’, and ‘Clothesline’, which have been screened at multiple international film festivals. Youssef is also the author of ‘Tales of this Time’ (2014), which shares his life, travels and reflections on the Syrian revolution. His articles and essays are regularly featured in Arabic blogs and newspapers, as well as in a selection of German newspapers and magazines. Youssef studied Ecology at Damascus University and film studies in Syria and the Netherlands. Alongside his professional work, he has volunteered with NGOs in Syria and Lebanon since 2007. He is now based in Berlin, Germany.

For more information and further news on the project also visit myloandinh.com or click HERE