Podcast With Rachael Sage from Michael Roberts on Vimeo.

Indie singer/songwriter/producer Rachael Sage is honored to have caught the eye of one of music’s legendary artists, Judy Collins. Collins has hand-picked Sage to perform at New York’s renowned Café Carlyle, on September 22nd. The 10:45pm show by Sage will be a stand-alone concert following Collins’ residency performance, which will take place earlier that evening.

Rachael Sage at Café Carlyle
35 East 76th Street
Saturday, September 22nd  — 10:45pm — $30
For tickets and information on pricing: 212-744-1600


For Sage, a long-time New Yorker and a singer-songwriter of growing acclaim, her burgeoning relationship with an artist of Collins’ stature is a dream come true. In addition to the high-profile Carlyle invitation, Collins has recently presented Sage on a series of U.S. tour dates, and an itinerary of upcoming joint appearances follows below.

Judy Collins has shown a long-standing love for singer-songwriters.  She was one of the first to bring the works of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Webb and others to the forefront of pop music, and she continues support legit up-and-coming artists such as Rachael Sage. Collins praised:

“Rachael Sage is a marvelous young artist – and I am a fan! “Haunted By You” has a beauty that shines through her lyrics and melodies– poignant, tender and tough. These are stories from the heart that will lift you up and carry you to places you had never dreamed.” Judy Collins


As for what to expect at her Café Carlyle debut, Sage is likely to embrace the room’s legacy of elegance, and place her focus on the power of her songwriting. She is known for an engaging theatricality all her own, and, while not a Broadway/Cabaret artist, Sage is no stranger to the impact of the genre and has great respect for the Carlyle’s history of notable performers.

Sage’s two Edinburgh Fringe Festival one-woman shows, her Joe’s Pub appearances (including the holiday-themed “Tchatchkes & Latkes”), her acting background (she studied at The Actors Studio and The New York Shakespeare Lab at The Public Theater), all combine to create a singer-songwriter with a compelling stage presence. She has been covered by THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE HUFFINGTON POST, TIME OUT NY, AMERICAN SONGWRITER, M MUSIC & MUSICIANS MAGAZINE, ALL MUSIC, iTUNES EDITORIAL, GAY CITY NEWS, and more. Visit her Press Page to read key coverage:http://rachaelsage.com/press-kit/press-clips


More about Rachael Sage:
A soulful vocalist and innovative keyboardist, singer/songwriter and producer Rachael Sage has become one of the busiest touring artists in independent music, performing 150+ dates a year throughout the US, UK, Europe and Asia.

She has earned a loyal following for her infectious melodies, poetic lyrics, and often-outrageous, colorful stage banter. Sage has shared stages with Sarah McLachlan, Colin Hay, Marshall Crenshaw, Marc Cohn, The Animals and Ani DiFranco.

MPress Records released “Haunted By You” in May 2012. With special guest appearances by Dar Williams, Mike Visceglia (Suzanne Vega), David Immergluck (Counting Crows), Doug Yowell (Duncan Sheik) and more, it was produced by Sage and mixed by Kevin Killen (U2, Elvis Costello).

Upcoming Rachael Sage tour dates include:
Date                  Venue                                                   City, ST                         Special
Sep 8th                Shalin Liu Performance Center                      Rockport, MA                  with Judy Collins
Sept 9th               Shalin Liu Performance Center                      Rockport, MA                  with Judy Collins
Sept 14th             The Stephen Talkhouse                              Amagansett, NY               with Jann Klose
Sept 22nd             The Carlyle                                              New York, NY at the invitation of Judy Collins
Sept 23rd             Live In Your Living Room NYC Festival            Brooklyn, NY
Oct 4th                The State Theatre                                      Ithaca, NY                       with Judy Collins
Oct 5th                Phleps Mansion Museum                             Binghamton, NY
Oct 6th                Fargo Theater                                           Fargo, ND                       with Judy Collins
Oct 7th                Babcock Theater                                       Billings, MT                     with Judy Collins
Oct 12th              Belle Mehus Auditorium                              Bismark, ND                    with Judy Collins
Oct 17th              Rockwood Music Hall                                 New York, NY            MPressFest CMJ 2012
Oct 19th              Tupelo Music Hall                                     Londonderry, NH              with Al Stewart
Oct 21st              Infinity Music Hall                                                 Norfolk, CT                     with Al Stewart
Oct 24th              Club Passim                                             Cambridge, MA                with Al Stewart
Oct 27th              Island Arts Centre                                     Lisburn, N-IRL                  with Judy Collins
Oct 28th              The Lyric Theatre                                      Belfast, N-IRL                   with Judy Collins
Oct 29th              Down Arts Centre                                     Downpatrick, N-IRL           with Judy Collins
Oct 31st              City Winery                                              New York, NY                  with Al Stewart
Nov 3                The Birchmere                                          Alexandria, VA                 with Al Stewart
Nov 7th               The Castle Hotel                                       Manchester, UK
Nov 8th               The Elgin                                                London, UK
Nov 9th               The High Barn                                          Great Bardfield, UK
Nov 10th              The Railway Venue                                     Bolton, UK                   with Never Forever
Nov 12th              Kitchen Garden Café                                  Birmingham, UK
Nov 20th              CC Muziekcafe                                         Amsterdam, NL
Nov 25th              Club Barinton                                          Cologne, DE
Dec 2                 Mocha Maya’s                                          Shelburne Falls, MA
Dec 3                 Town Hall Theater                                     Middlebury, VT                 with Judy Collins
Dec 4                 Radio Bean                                              Burlington, VT
Dec 5                 The Flying Monkey                                    Plymouth, NH                  with Judy Collins
Dec 10               The Wood Theatre                                     Glen Falls, NY                  with Judy Collins
Dec 15               The Museum at Bethel Woods                      Bethel, NY                       with Judy Collins

Stockton Elementary School

“You should treat others the way you want to be treated.”

Diamond, Jacques, and Elizabeth were the backbone of an entire eigth grade class that was dedicated to building tolerance and fighting injustice. The three were actively involved in creating an anti-bullying and LGBTQ awareness assembly at Stockton last winter. As they move on to different high schools, they will bring with them the leadereship and activism they have learned while at Stockton.

The Chicago office of international educational nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves announced today the 12 individuals and groups honored in Upstanders: Portraits of Courage—a featured local component of the organization’s acclaimed multimedia exhibition Choosing to Participateduring its Chicago engagement at the Harold Washington Public Library’s Winter Garden, 400 South State Street, August 27-November 11, 2012. Upstanders: Portraits of Courage features photographs and narratives of the unsung heroes behind 12 initiatives making positive changes in communities across Chicago. Among the remarkable individuals are professionals, volunteers and students such as Nikki Jarvis, a Deerfield High School graduate and active member of the NAACP chapter at Loyola University whose work confronts issues of race and privilege; and former eighth grade classmates Jacques Agbobly, Diamond Lenoir and Elizabeth Adebiyi, who created an anti-bullying and LGBTQ awareness assembly at Chicago’s Stockton Elementary School. 


"Choosing to Participate is a catalyst for conversation about civic participation in our community, our nation, and across the globe,” said Bonnie Oberman, the Chicago director of Facing History. “The dedicated individuals honored in Upstanders: Portraits of Courage are living proof that through the choices we make each day, each of us can make a positive impact on others and help to build more inclusive communities.”


The Chicago-area honorees featured in Upstanders: Portraits of Courage are:

• Nikki Jarvis (Loyola University, Chicago): Confronting race and privilege is not easy—though for Nikki, it was made easier through guidance by her Facing History teachers at Deerfield High School. Now Nikki has moved the conversation from classrooms and community meetings in her hometown to the Loyola University campus, where she is an active member of the NAACP chapter, and to the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, where she volunteers to teach English.
  
  
  
• Jacques Agbobly, Diamond Lenoir and Elizabeth Adebiyi (Stockton Elementary School, Chicago): Jacques, Diamond and Elizabeth were the backbone of an entire eighth grade class that was dedicated to building tolerance and fighting injustice. The three were actively involved in creating an anti-bullying and LGBTQ awareness assembly at Stockton last winter. As they move on to different high schools, they will bring with them the leadership and activism they learned while at Stockton
  
  
  
• Chiye Tomihiro (Chicago): Though born in the USA, Chiye and her family were placed in the Mindoka Relocation Center in Idaho in 1942, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans. When she shares her experience with young people, she addresses the humiliation of the experience, stressing that the internment camps violated Constitutional rights, and emphasizing the importance of speaking up in the face of injustice.
  
  
  
• Sara and Mazher Ahmed, daughter and mother (Chicago and Batavia, IL): For the Ahmeds, the commitment to building and teaching tolerance and compassion is an intergenerational value and part of a family inclination to help others. Mazher started interfaith work in the family living room, founded a mosque, and helped inspire Sara to become a teacher. At Burley School in Chicago, where Sara has taught for eight years, the language of Upstanders and Bystanders “permeates the school,” and Upstander Awards are granted to exemplary students.
  
  
  
• Zoey Bond (Glencoe): After learning about the Holocaust in her eighth grade Facing History class at Glencoe’s Central School, Zoey wanted to do more: “I felt like if I didn’t do anything about the issue, I would be a bystander too.” After interviewing survivors, she decided theater was the right medium to communicate their stories. The resulting play, Raining Season, has been performed for more than 4,000 people at schools, synagogues and churches, bringing together young people and survivors. 
  
  
  
• Henry Henderson (Natural Resources Defense Council - Midwest, Chicago): Henry came to environmental law through St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. Inspired by the transformational thinking and social concerns of those religious thinkers, Henry says, “Practicing law gives me the ability to participate in the public language of my time.” Environmental law ripples from backyards to entire geographical regions—it can empower entire communities. 
  
  
  
• Howard Rossman and Adar Cohen (Civic Leadership Foundation, Glencoe): An after-school mobile music production studio. A school greenhouse. A program to increase physical education in the community. All run by students, with support to succeed from the non-profit Civic Leadership Foundation (CLF). Helping to provide programs in schools and after-school that connect education, economics and social engagement, CLF director Adar and founder Howard emphasize how such projects help students “attain and retain personal investment,” empowering them as effective actors in their own lives. 
  
  
  
• Student Ensemble and Artistic Staff (Albany Park Theater Project, Chicago): Albany Park Theater Project’s youth ensemble gives voice to the thousands of members of the Albany Park community who have something to say but may not speak the language. “We’re committed to amplifying the voices of people who often don’t control how they’re represented in mainstream media,” says founder David Feiner.
  
  
  
• Tiffany Childress (North Lawndale College Prep High School, Chicago): The non-violent conflict resolution practiced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired Tiffany to find the potential for peace in her school. Peace Warriors was born, incorporating lessons and readings about peace into student leadership meetings and in-school suspension time. Now, Peace Warrior students are an active presence at North Lawndale, mediating conflicts, actively combating harassment and training students and teachers in other neighborhoods.
  
  
  
• Zio Perez (Nettelhorst School, Chicago): Zio knows she was meant to be a teacher. “What I love doing is helping them fall in love with school,” she says of her pre-K students. Building partnerships with families, she extends her classroom into the community. Innovative co-founder of SwaziKids, a non-profit that provides books and educational materials to children in Swaziland and other African countries, Zio has built a connection in her students’ minds and lives to their peers abroad.
  
  
  
• Scheherezade and Salamishah Tillet (A Long Walk Home, Chicago): A multi-faceted program for victims of sexual assault, “A Long Walk Home,” is a phrase from a poem written by organization president Salamishah as part of her own healing after surviving sexual assault. Her sister, executive director Scheherezade, notes, “Salamishah started this walk alone. Then it was me and her, and now others, through the schools and communities we work with.”
  
  
  
• Tony Wasilewski (Schiller Park): Tony paid little attention to America’s immigration debate until May 2007, when his wife Janina was deported back to Poland, uprooting a marriage, a family and a thriving small business. Their story captured the attention of filmmaker Ruth Leitman, who created the documentary film Tony and Janina’s American Wedding to share their story with others. Now reunited with his wife and their son Brian, Tony is an activist for immigration rights.

Choosing to Participate examines the impact and history of bigotry and injustice, and inspires conversation about the choices we can make every day to foster civic engagement, tolerance, and mutual understanding in our communities. Central to the exhibit are five installations telling stories in the first-person about people and communities that have experienced racism and injustice, and how courage, initiative, and compassion are necessary to protect democracy. In addition to Upstanders: Portraits of Courage, another featured local component of Choosing to Participate is pARTicipation: Young Artists Speak Up, a display of original artwork from Chicagoland students in grades 7-12 that illustrates the importance of choices we make in our daily lives and the value of choosing to participate.


The Honorary Chair for Choosing to Participate in Chicago is Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Co-chairs for the initiative are Greg Case, President and CEO of Aon, and Jim Reynolds, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Loop Capital, and Al Grace, Co-Founder and President of Loop Capital. The national Honorary Advisory Committee for the exhibit includes filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Congressman John Lewis, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and other internationally recognized leaders who have made significant contributions to building and strengthening civic life. For a full list of the Honorary Advisory Committee, please visitchoosingtoparticipate.org. The Walmart Foundation is the national sponsor of Choosing to Participate’s current multicity tour. Aon is the lead local sponsor of Choosing to Participate in Chicago.


Since the Chicago office of Facing History opened in 1990, more than 3,000 local educators have participated in Facing History's professional development programs. These teachers annually reach more than 300,000 middle and high school students in more than 725 public, religious and independent schools in the Chicago metropolitan area. Training provided by Facing History enables students to deepen their knowledge of history, their understanding of the origins of hatred and violence and their ability to relate history to their own lives. A strong alliance with Chicago Public Schools and growing partnerships with suburban, religious and charter schools enable a critical and significant impact to be made.


Visit choosingtoparticipate.org to learn about local sponsors, view a full event calendar and preview resources that include a resource book available in English and Spanish. To schedule a tour, contact Andie Thomalla at andie_thomalla@facing.org or 312-345-3234. 


FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide and mass violence, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. Facing History has provided in-depth seminars for more than 29,000 educators, and its active teacher network reaches nearly two million students annually. For more information, visit facinghistory.org and watch a video at facinghistory.org/video/face-it.


THE WALMART FOUNDATION Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and The Walmart Foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, The Walmart Foundation supports initiatives focused on enhancing opportunities in education, job skills training, sustainability and health. In 2007, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and The Walmart Foundation gave $296 million to communities across the United States. To learn more, visit walmartfoundation.org.

Podcast With Wade Schaaf from Michael Roberts on Vimeo.

Chicago Repertory Ballet will produce it’s premiere performance at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts on September 21 and 22nd. Both performances will be at7:30pm. The premiere performance will feature three world premiere pieces of choreography by founder and artistic director Wade Schaaf, including “La Vie en Rose” a luscious and playful duet for two dancers and a long train of fabric. Also on the bill, Autumn Eckman (Artistic Director of Giordano Dance Chicago’s second company) contributes a warmly whimsical world premiere trio. Jacqueline Stuart will contribute her A.W.A.R.D. show winning duet “It’s not enough to close your eyes” to the program, along with Schaaf’s Shostakovich Piano Concerto, and “Tres Hip: A love story”.

Chicago Repertory Ballet will host a sneak peek performance Friday, August 24th at6:30pmat the Reva and David Logan for the Arts, at theUniversityofChicago. The performance will include sneak peeks at choreography in the works, video footage, a lecture demonstration, and question and answer with the dancers. Following the performance there will be a reception including live music, food and and drinks, and a silent auction featuring original Chicago Repertory Ballet costume renderings. This event is open to the public.

Chicago Repertory Ballet includes a roster of phenomenal collaborating artists. Artists include John Cartwright, Charlie Cutler, Autumn Eckman, Jennifer Goodman, Elizabeth MacKenzie, Kathleen McCann, Joshua Manculich, Kalin Morrow, Phillip Ollenburg, Dori Santarsiere-Vasquez, Danielle Scanlon, Jacqueline Stewart, and Matthew Wenckowski. The artists are all local to theChicagoarea, and have extensive experience performing nationally and internationally. Information about the company, events, dancers, and performances are available at:

www.chicagorepertoryballet.com

www.facebook.com/chicagorepertoryballet

Twitter: chirepballet