Published Monday, February 7, 2005
Arts in Ed. Students Raise Voices, Funds for Tsunami Victims
By Andrew K. Mandel
APPIAN STAFF WRITER

Members of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Arts in Education program raised their voices on Friday evening to build a house halfway around the world.

Reeling from the December tsunami that left many citizens without homes, the doctors of Galle, Sri Lanka, established a trust fund for international donors to provide needy families with $1,000-worth of materials for low-cost shelters.

The Arts in Education Tsunami Relief Benefit Jam raised a total of $1,289, attracting over 75 people to Askwith Lecture Hall last weekend for an evening of music, dance, poetry, theater and art.

The performances were an impressive and wide-ranging display of talent—from the beguiling bellydance that opened the show, to original folk music, to a beautifully harmonic trio singing “Wanting Memories,” a gem that's also performed by the African American a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Scott Ruescher, the coordinator of the Arts in Education program, read several evocative poems, including a charming piece that imagined him meeting Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, while student Monica Hirsch sang a bossa nova classic, “The Girl From Ipanema,” in Portuguese.

One of several professional performers in the Arts in Education program, Pilita Danesh, a vocalist for Disney Productions, sang a soaring rendition of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”  Out with her own CD, the vivacious Gretchen Elise bopped, shimmied and grooved her way through two original songs, including a duet inspired by the R&B tune “Finally,” with the enjoyable local artist Walnut.

Also selling her CD was Andreea Pauta, whose smoky and romantic jazz stylings brought fellow pianist Norah Jones to mind.  Several audience members dropped their jaws when student Jeff Hopkins started—and finished—a poignant, mural-size illustration during Pauta’s final song.

When it looked like the Jam would not meet its fundraising goal of $1,000, student Dana Caffee-Glenn took one for the team and headed to the stage for an impromptu freestyle dance.  Audience members in turn left their seats to toss bills at Caffee-Glenn’s gyrations. 

The event also featured a silent auction, where audience members had a chance to bid on original artwork. 

Before the evening ended, masters candidate Kameka Dempsey, director and founder of the Arts in Education Jam, announced that the fundraiser had indeed exceeded its goal.

This was the second in what may be a three-part Jam series.  Dempsey said that those who missed both performances may have one more occasion to catch her talented classmates, possibly in late spring.

Andrew K. Mandel, a masters student in the Technology in Education program, is a member of the Appian Board of Editors.