A free, one-time five-day event is set to honor the late ...

[Pages:9]For Immediate Release: Media Contact: Janae Desire, Producer, Seeger Fest Phone: 646.824.8024 Email: janae.desire@

A free, one-time five-day event is set to honor the late Pete and Toshi Seeger

NEW YORK ? A five-day event consisting of large concerts, a film screening, a memorial service and community activities will make up Seeger Fest. For more information go to: .

Seeger Fest will take place from Thursday, July 17th to Monday, July 21st and will include music, movies, and community activities that commemorate and celebrate the interests and lives of Pete and Toshi Seeger. The variety in the five days' worth of events hopes to reflect the expression, which Pete Seeger tried to live by, "Think Globally, Act Locally."

July 17th, the festival opens with a film screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song. Shown on PBS in the American Masters series, the film brings to light both his local and global efforts. Against the backdrop sunset on the Hudson River, Cahill-Jackson will welcome everyone with live music by The Chapin Sisters, whose family first met Toshi Seeger in the 1930's. As well as Alanna and Adira Amram, whose father has worked with Pete and Toshi championing music and social justice since the 1960's. Before the screening there will also be a Q&A with producers and musicians featured in the film. This event will start at 8:00 PM at Hudson River Park's Pier 46 (Charsles St. & West St.) on the Hudson River on Thursday, July 17th.

The second day, July 18th will be the only official memorial service for Pete Seeger. It will be at the equivalent to Pete Seeger's "hometown" theater in Poughkeepsie, New York and will include stories and songs from those closest to Seeger. It will take place at The Bardavon Opera House, 35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY. This is the only ticketed event and tickets must be picked up in person.

July 19th, the third day of Seeger Fest, will be a day for the public to meet some of the communities where Pete and Toshi Seeger spent their time. There will be a community celebration with music and rowing along the Bronx River hosted by Rocking the Boat in the Bronx at noon, an exhibition of film and photography at El Taller Latino Americano

at 8 PM on the Upper West Side, a community sing-a-long and potluck supper at The Beacon Sloop Club in Beacon from 5-8 PM and a square dance at The Ashokan Center in the Catskills at 8 PM.

July 20th showcases a memorial concert at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. The show will include the musicians with whom the Seegers worked the most. These musicians include Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary, Holly Near, Paul Winter Consort, Martha Redbone, Fred Hellerman of The Weavers, Dar Williams & Dan Zanes, Guy Davis, George Wein, Tom Chapin & The Chapin Sisters, David Amram with Adira & Alana Amram, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Emma's Revolution, Kim & Reggie Harris, Mike + Ruthy with Penny Bossom-Seeger, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Roland Mousaa with Kristen Graves, The Vanaver Caravan, The New York Labor Chorus, Clearwater Walkabout Chorus, Hudson River Sloop Singers, ESP featuring Bernardo Palombo, The Owens Brothers with Jeff Haynes, Betty & The Baby Boomers, Work o' the Weavers, The Almanac Trail and Jacob Bernz & Sarah Armour plus speakers Harry Belafonte and Michael Moore The Memorial Concert at Lincoln Center Out of Doors will be at 4 PM on Sunday, July 20th, a special date commemorating Pete and Toshi Seeger's wedding anniversary.

The final day of Seeger Fest, July 21st, will feature a concert that brings together the past, present and future in a musical amalgamation of multi-generational artists inspired by Pete Seeger. Established hip-hop, punk and indie-rock artists will appear amongst a younger generation of folk singers along with multi-generational performers, confirming that the Seegers' legacy lives on. Cahill-Jackson has partnered with Gina Belafonte and the non-profit, Sankofa, to put on a concert that will bring the future of music and activism on stage. The concert will be at Central Park SummerStage and it is called New Songs of Justice: An Evening Honoring Pete Seeger. The lineup includes Anti-Flag (acoustic), Aurora Barnes, Toni Blackman, The Chapin Sisters, Rebel Diaz, Steve Earle, DJ Kool Herc, James Maddock, Elizabeth Mitchell, Dan Zanes, Mike + Ruthy, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Nyraine, Amanda Palmer (acoustic), Michael Glablicki of Rusted Root. This evening will be hosted by Gina Belafonte and Kitama Cahill-Jackson.

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Additional members of the Seeger Fest team include actress, activist and co-director of Sankofa Gina Belafonte, music activist/record producer Jason Samel, television producer Janae Desire and Seeger Fest co-creators and executive producers Kalynda R. Klementis and Jeannine Cahill-Jackson.

Seeger Fest is sponsored by Lincoln Center Out of Doors, City Parks Foundation/SummerStage, Hudson River Park, Bardavon Opera House, Sankofa, Music for Occupy, Rosenberg Fund for Children, El Taller Latino Americano, Rocking the Boat, Hudson River Foundation, Beacon Sloop Club, The Ashokan Cener, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund.

For more information contact: Janae Desire, Producer/Press Contact 646.824.6073 janae.desire@ Kitama Cahill-Jackson, Executive Producer/Pete and Toshi Seeger's grandson 718.928.4873 kitama.cahill.jackson@

Seeger Fest Events Calendar

7/17, 8:00 PM: Hudson River Park presents The Chapin Sisters & friends open up Seeger Fest with a short concert and a screening of Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, an Emmy-award winning documentary on Pete Seeger's life as a musician and activist Hudson River Park's Pier 46 (Charles Street & West Street), NYC. Riverside screening with a Q&A before film with producers, musicians in the film, and Pete

7/18, 7 PM: Bardavon Opera House presents A Memorial Service for Pete Seeger Bardavon Opera House, 35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 Limited Seating, Reserve Tickets in person only after May 20th. Friends and family gather to share memories, stories and songs.

7/19, ALL DAY: Events throughout the Hudson Valley and the Hudson Valley that honor Pete and Toshi Seeger's commitment to community. o Beacon Sloop Club presents Song circle and potluck supper in honor Pete and Toshi. 5 to 8 PM: Beacon Sloop Club, 2 Red Flynn Dr., Beacon, NY 12508 o The Ashokan Center presents A Square Dance commemorating how the Seegers met. 8 PM: Ashokan Center, Olivebridge, NY o Rocking the Boat presents Music, food and rowing boats in celebration of the lives of Pete and Toshi. Noon to 6 PM: Lafayette Street and Edgewater Rd., Bronx, NY o El Taller Latino Americano presents Film and photography by Pete and Toshi Seeger. 8 PM: 2710 Broadway, New York, 10024 (third floor walk-up ? NOT wheelchair accessible)

7/20, 4 PM: Lincoln Center Out of Doors presents A Memorial Concert for Pete & Toshi Seeger Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Amsterdam and W. 62 St., NYC Artists who worked with Pete and Toshi Seeger come together to honor their friends and mentors.

Musicians include: David Amram, Tom Chapin and Chapin Sisters, Guy Davis, Emma's Revolution, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Kim & Reggie Harris, Holly Near, Paul Winter Consort, The Vanaver Caravan, Dar Williams & Dan Zanes, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary)

7/21 at 6 PM: City Parks Foundation presents New Songs of Justice: An Evening Honoring Pete Seeger SummerStage, Rumsey Playfield (near E. 69 St. and 5th Ave.) Central Park, NY Hip Hop, Punk, Indie-rock and folk artists come together to in tribute to Pete Seeger. Musicians include: Anti-Flag (acoustic), Aurora Barnes, Toni Blackman, The Chapin Sisters, Rebel Diaz, Steve Earle, Michael Glablicki of Rusted Root, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, DJ Kool Herc, James Maddock, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mike + Ruthy, Nyraine, Amanda Palmer (solo acoustic)

Pete Seeger is revered as one of the

most iconic and influential figures in the world of folk music. Pete Seeger is best known for co-writing Where Have All The Flowers Gone, If I had a Hammer and Turn, Turn, Turn. His songs have been recorded by many artists throughout the world, both within and outside of folk music.

Pete Seeger was born on May 3, 1919 in New York City. He is the son of composer and musicologist, Charles Louis Seeger, Constance de Clyver Edson, a concert violinist and teacher at the Julliard School, and stepson of composer Ruth Crawford Seeger. At the age of 19, Seeger assisted noted folk archivist and field recorder Alan Lomax on his songcollecting trips through the American South. In 1940, he formed the Almanac Singers, who toured the country singing antiwar anthems and union songs. The Almanac Singers included other notable folk musicians such as Cisco Houston, Butch and Bess Lomax Hawes and Woody Guthrie.

Seeger was not only a musician but also an activist who used his love for music to bring to light the issues of the time. Seeger and his wife Toshi were involved in nearly every major movement of the twentieth century including labor, civil rights, anti-Vietnam and environmental. Seeger brought songs such as Wimoweh and Guantanamera to a larger

audience, but it was his work on We Shall Overcome, which led to the song becoming the anthem for the American Civil Rights Movement. The Seegers founded the Newport Folk Festival, with George and Joyce Wein, and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Pete was a member of the communist party in the 1940's and as a result was blacklisted and kept off of radio and television for seventeen years. By singing at colleges and summer camps, he inspired the folk revival of the sixties that included Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and many others.

Pete Seeger has been acknowledged for his work throughout his life as a recipient of many awards and recognitions, including: Inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame (1972), The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1993), National Medal of Honors (1994), Kennedy Center Honor (1994), Inducted into Rock and Rock Hall of Fame (1996) and he has also won three Grammy Awards.

Pete Seeger passed away on January 27, 2014 at age 94.

Toshi Seeger was an American filmmaker, producer

and social and environmental activist. Born in Munich, Germany on July 1, 1922, Mrs. Seeger, wife of legendary folk artist Pete Seeger, was not only what Pete Seeger considered, "the brains of the family", but also helped produce thousands of her husband's concerts.

Toshi Seeger grew up in Greenwich Village and Woodstock, New York. She met her future husband, Pete Seeger, at a square dance in 1939. The couple was married in 1943 and in 1949 they moved into a log cabin near Beacon, New York with a view of the Hudson River, where they would go on to raise their three children.

Toshi Seeger established herself as a filmmaker and producer and today many of her films are preserved at the Library of Congress. In the early 1960s, she helped George Wein set up the Newport Folk Festival and in 1966 she released Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison, a film that explores Texas inmates as they chop down tress while singing traditional songs. Toshi produced and directed the public television series, Rainbow Quest, from 1965 to 1966, which was hosted by her husband. Pete Seeger has credited Toshi for writing five versus of one of his most well-known songs, Turn, Turn, Turn.

In 2007, Toshi executive produced the Emmy Award winning documentary, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song.

Like her husband, Toshi was very involved in social and environmental issue. In 1965, she took part in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and in 1966 co-founded

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