Hilltown Families 
Ticket Giveaway: Mother’s Day Concert with Dan Zanes in Northampton
Win a Pair of Tickets to See:
DAN ZANES &
THE WHOLE CHILDREN COMMUNITY CHORUS
Sunday, May 9th, 2010
At First Churches in Northampton, MA
Whole Children presents,"Everyone Has a Voice" - the Whole Children Community Chorus in concert with Dan Zanes. Choral direction by Joan Cornachio and special guest, local musician Mister G.
On Mother’s Day, Dan Zanes will be performing in the Pioneer Valley with the Whole Children Community Chorus and special guest, local musician Mister G … and Hilltown Families and Whole Children have partnered up to offer TWO lucky families a chance to win tickets!
We have two pairs of free tickets to see this heart-warming concert at First Churches in Northampton on Sunday, May 9th at 3pm. All of the ticket sales from this concert will benefit Whole Children and its slate of programs for children of all abilities, including classes in theater, martial arts, gymnastics, and team sports. Deadline to enter to win is 05/05/10. Find out how to enter to win below.
ABOUT THE WHOLE CHILDREN COMMUNITY CHORUS
On a recent afternoon, the voices of more than 50 children sang out, “All things are possible if you only believe” at Whole Children, an after-school center for children with special needs in Hadley, MA.
The song could well be the anthem for the Whole Children Community Chorus, a group of children with and without disabilities. They have been rehearsing together since February in preparation for a Mother’s Day concert with Grammy-winning musician Dan Zanes.
The concert, “Everyone has a Voice,” is the brainchild of a group of mothers at Whole Children who recognized that music would be a great way to bridge the social gap that often develops between children with and without disabilities. They also thought that singing in concert with a nationally known musician would give the kids a sense of pride and a chance to show off what they can do, rather than focus on what they can’t do.
Whole Children got a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the idea, and the Whole Children Community Chorus was born. The group is made up of kids ages 6-14, some with disabilities, others without. After months of rehearsing together they have mastered a full program of songs, which they will sing with Zanes on stage at The First Churches in Northampton.
ABOUT DAN ZANES
Here are two things you should know right off about Dan Zanes. Two things that set him apart from the huge and festive field of people who have in the past few years begun making music for families and people of all ages in a way that is changing the face of America, or the sound of it at least. First, he is making homemade family music and encouraging his friends and neighbors to do the same. Second, he is the guy who is always interested in singing along with people everywhere, which brings us to his mission, if you can call it a mission: Zanes is introducing his musical friends to his neighborhood friends and then showing everybody not just that they can play together but that they can also feel pretty good while doing so. In this sense, Zanes is a twenty-first century version of the guy, who in the old days, used to conduct the town band from the gazebo though in lieu of a gazebo he’s playing places like Carnegie Hall and the Melbourne International Arts Festival where no matter how you say it, good music is good. He is a ringmaster, introducing new songs and reconnecting people to songs that have always been there, and still are—it’s just that people forgot about them.
Take, for example, Dan Zanes and Friends’ Catch That Train!, the 2007 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Album for Children (co-released with Starbucks/Hear Music). It is the one CD in America today that brings together the Kronos Quartet, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Father Goose, Zanes’ mother-in-law and the children of South Africa’s Agape Orphanage to sing Zulu folk songs, an old labor organizing tune, a song about the joys of farming the English countryside, and of course a few train songs—all in an instrumental mix that highlights cuatros and lap steels and does not in any way discourage the use of trombone.
Dan Zanes continues his traditionof bringing people together right here in Western MA with the Whole Children Community Chorus!
ABOUT WHOLE CHILDREN
Whole Children, Inc. was started in 2004 by a group of mothers of kids with disabilities who saw a need for a place for their children to take typical after school enrichment classes. In four short years it went from serving 40 children to more than 400. The center holds classes for kids of all abilities — art, music, sports, theater, martial arts, and more. Kids who have never had the opportunity to play on a team or sing on stage are now taking theater classes, going rock climbing, and shooting hoops on a team. The center has raised the bar for a whole lot of children, showing them (and the rest of the world) all they can do if they’re given the opportunity.
HOW TO WIN
Your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Dan Zanes with the Whole Children Community Chorus at First Churches in Northampton, MA on Sunday, May 9th at 3pm is as easy as 1-2-3 (4)! To win simply:
- SHARE YOUR FAVORITE DAN ZANES SONG/ALBUM BELOW (one entry per family) and be sure to tell us your
- FULL NAME (first/last) and where you
- LIVE (TOWN/STATE) must include your town to be eligible.
- ACCURATE EMAIL (we never share your email address).
- We’ll randomly draw two winners and will share the results below.
IT’S THAT SIMPLE! — Deadline is Wednesday, 05/05/10 @ 7pm (EST).
If you don’t win you should still go! Tickets are $15 each or four for $50, and sales benefit Whole Children. Tickets are available from the website (www.wholechildren.org), or by calling Whole Children at 413-585-8010.
I hope all you Dan Zanes fans who didn’t win will come on out to the show! Dan is going to be singing a lot of these faves you mentioned. We’ll be selling tickets online at http://www.wholechildren.org until Saturday noonish, (or you can call 413-585-8010), or you can buy them at the door..
Happy Mother’s Day! And thank you Hilltown Families!
See you at the show!
Valle Dwight, board member of Whole Children
Congratulations to:
Both families have won a pair of free tickets to see Dan Zanes performing with the Whole Children Community Chorus and special guest, local musician Mister G at First Churches in Northampton on Mother’s Day (May 9th)
Thank you to all who entered to win and shared their favorite Dan Zanes song or album.
If you didn’t win you should still go! Tickets are $15 each or four for $50, and sales benefit Whole Children. Tickets are available from the website (www.wholechildren.org), or by calling Whole Children at 413-585-8010.
We love Hello, Hello! a sweet song.
Sandra Dias
Holyoke, MA
Our long time fave song is Wonder Wheel, which we’ve sung constantly to our (now 4 y/o) son ever since he first visited Coney Island (at age 1 1/2 months).
Most played album = Catch That Train.
Father Goose was our son’s first concert, thanks to an intro through DZ. (Thank you!)
Breta Yvars Petraccia
Turners Falls, MA
Would love to do this on mother’s day! noone is gonna plan anything for me, I have to celebrate myself, even though some of my 4 kids will try to do something … and I know the woman who started whole children! Nueva York for sure! -(Favorite Dan Zanes album) We’re raising our kids bilingual…
I’m in Amherst, MA
we love Dan !!!!
The first we heard of Dan was when my daughter Jessie saw his video of the song All Around The Kitchen on Noggin. It was love at first listen. AATK remains our favorite song but we enjoy all of his music as well as Father Goose! We live in Chicopee, MA now but grew up in Northampton, MA.
Father Goose/ABC is our favorite song! House Party is our favorite album.
Amanda Saklad and the family :)
Belchertown, MA
“Father Goose/ABC” is our absolutely FAVORITE. Father Goose and Dan Zanes!!
Amanda Saklad
Belchertown, MA
Catch that Train is our favorite song/album
Julie Russell
Granby, MA
Love Jump Up.
Daniel Kramer
Northampton
All around the kitchen was a fav for soooo long
tonya lemos- ashfield
We all love Dan Zanes! Our favorite album is Night Time.
Stefanie Krantz
Florence, Ma
we live in Dover, NH
We love all of the Dan Zanes songs we know…but our favorite right now is probably Cape Cod Girls and Down in the Valley
Our favorite song is manana
Our favorite song is tomorrow/ manana
We like Catch that Train and Pigogo especially
Jessica Morris
Northampton
Just asked my daughter Emily (who is about to turn 3) what hers was. She made me guess which one…finally after 4 guesses I said ‘Malti’ and she said yes to that! It’s funny to hear her try to sing it seeing how she knows no spanish….yet! Can’t wait for the show!
MANGO WALK :)
kingsley family
shelburne, ma
we love the Night Owl album!
Heather R
Belchertown, MA
Kelly Tunstall
“All around the kitchen”
Chicopee, MA
Our favorite song is “All Aroiund the Kitchen”
Kristy Dyer
Hatfield, MA
Hi Sienna!
We LOVE Dan Zane’s video from the Knitting Factory in NYC … we’ve watched it over and over and over and it never gets OLD!!! LOVE Sidewalks of New York.
xxoo,
Andi Lisa & Stella
1. All Around the Kitchen (cockadoodledoo!)
2. Jennifer Page
3. Amherst, MA
Ridin’ on “The Wonder Wheel” is a blast! Can’t wait to go.
Cape Cod Girls (on The Fine Friends are Here)
– from the AMHERST girls
hm. this week? “so long, it’s been good to know yuh”
shutesbury
Our favorite album is “Sergeant Pepperoni’s Lonely Heart Burn Band” it’s not yet released but I feel it coming on.
But really we love what we’ve heard of Dan Zane so far and hope to see him in Noho.
Amy Cullen
Plainfield, MA
I’m holding my breath!
My fave has gotta be “Sidewalks of New York!”
Thanks,
Zach Howard,
Conway, MA
My favorite Dan Zane song is House Party! “Is that vege lasagna?”
Elizabeth Brooke-Willbanks
Easthampton, MA 01027
We’ve been dancing to “All Around the Kitchen” for years in our house.
Hadley
Thanks! We LOVE Dan Zanes!
Domenico Romero and fam
Florence, MA
domenicoromero@hotmail.com