Zimbe! A Magical Musical Production Premiers in Carmel

Director Darren S. Herring was instrumental in bringing the local and international players together for the Zimbe! North American premier. He is shown here in the foreground with the CRAVE choir from the Carmel Repertory Theatre.

To sing is to produce musical tones with the voice. When all the elements of creating a song are joined together in celebration, the result is nothing less than powerful.

The Carmel Repertory Theatre has outdone itself in bringing the work of world renowned composer, arranger and musician, Alexander L’Estrange to Carmel for the North American premier of ZIMBE! L’Estrange has worked in both the film and television industries, writing and arranging music. Most recently, he composed the incidental music for the hit television series GLEE.

He is also known for his work with the well known English choirs, the Swingle Singers and the King’s Singers. His original production of ZIMBE! is a celebrate mix of African music written for chorus, unison children’s choir and jazz quintet. Composer Alexander L’Estrange combines traditional song with infectious accompaniments and vibrant percussion to take us on a whirlwind tour of life in an African village.

Kathleen O’Neil Stevens commissioned the artwork that has become the face of Zimbe!

ZIMBE! will launch the kick-off of the Carmel Repertory Theatre season, and will serve as a charity event designed to raise awareness of the struggles of life in Africa. Darren S. Herring, Director of ZIMBE!, and a Carmel Repertory Theatre Board Member, has long been an admirer of Alexander L’Estrange exciting and fresh voice in choral music; and when the idea of premiering ZIMBE! in Carmel was presented to L’Estrange, it met with immediate interest from this successful London based international superstar.

Herring says, “Bringing the arts together and bringing art to the community is the soul of this undertaking. This is the first of many opportunities designed to bring the artistic community of Carmel together, and to show Central Indiana that we are working towards the promotion, production and presentation of quality arts programming. Together, we can show the region that we are unified in our support of the arts and of the city’s future.

"Earth Beauty" is an original Pique Assiette created by Kathleen O'Neal Stevens.

In addition to the musical celebration, Kathleen O’Neil Stevens, owner and founder of Carmel’s Renaissance Fine Art & Design Studio, was commissioned to create a one-of-a-kind art creation in a mere 10 days. “I was given a DVD of the original score for ZIMBE!. As I listened to the recording, the music was so beautiful … so stirring. I wanted to create something that would connect an artistic rendering with the power of the music. I began with a blank canvas and created a Pique Assiette, which encompasses a medium of materials such as ceramic tiles, vintage china, gemstones and other vintage findings. When it was finished, I named it “Earth Beauty.” Earth Beauty is on track to be displayed in Carmel’s magnificent Palladium when it opens in 2011.

Adding to the fun and celebration, mark your calendars for the ZIMBE! Black Tie “Gala” to be held on September 9. The event, sponsored by ADDBAC (Arts and Design District Business Association of Carmel), is a community fundraiser that includes a cocktail reception, a silent auction and an opportunity to mingle with composer Alexander L’Estrange and artist Kathleen O’Neil Stevens, who will be attending this special event held at the Indiana Design Center, 200 South Range Line Road from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Individual tickets are now on sale for the “Gala.” Priced at $100, ticket includes admission to the cocktail and silent auction festivities, and a commemorative bag and fine art print of “Earth Beauty.” Proceeds will benefit the Carmel Repertory Theatre and the ADDBAC Scholarship Fund. For more information please call 317.767.3973 or to register online, go to http://zimbefundraiser.eventbrite.com.

The September 9th Black Tie “Gala” sets the stage for three opportunities to see the wonderful community performances of ZIMBE! Tickets for ZIMBE! performances are $10 each, with $5 going directly to local and African charities. As a special added bonus, the composer, Alexander L’Estrange, will also be in attendance for all performances and will be playing in the jazz combo. He is excited to be traveling from England to visiting Carmel, not only for the premier, but also to meet and work with students from local schools and universities

ZIMBE! will be performed on the following September dates:

• Friday, September 10, 7:00 pm – First Methodist Church, 602 South Rangeline Rd, Carmel, IN
• Saturday, September 11, 7:00 pm – St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 1402 West Main Street, Carmel, IN
• Sunday, September 12, 4:00 pm – Clay Middle School, 5150 East 126th Street, Carmel, IN

ZIMBE! Come Sing the Songs of Africa
COMPOSER NOTES

Alexander L'Strange

“A composer can find inspiration in the unlikeliest of settings, and the genesis of ZIMBE! is as extraordinary as any. The seeds of my affinity with African music and the gospel tradition were sown in the early nineties through a chance encounter on a train in route to London. Sitting opposite me was a woman with a small book of manuscript paper on her lap. I asked politely whether she was a musician and she replied that she was on her way to lead a music group at a prison. She was working on ‘African and gospel’ music, but, although she knew many excellent songs, she was really an artist, not a musician, and was rather lacking in confidence when it came to leading a singing workshop. ‘I could help,’ I offered gamely, and it all took off from there.

We struck up a working relationship, and she introduced me to songs, tapes, books, and friends with a plethora of songs to share. I immediately fell in love with the music. Together we ran singing groups in Oxford, London and beyond, and I quickly became immersed in arranging, teaching, sharing and performing African songs. I later produced a collection of choral arrangements for Faber Music entitled Songs of a Rainbow Nation, and it was in response to performing these arrangements that Justin Doyle, conductor of the Dorking Choral Society, approached me with a view to commissioning a more substantial piece based on African and gospel themes. Justin happened to call the morning after the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency had been shown on TV; we had both watched it, and both had been moved by the use of music in the production (filmed on location in Botswana). One particularly moving moment, depicting a funeral scene, involved a huge number of local ‘extras’ breaking into an apparently spontaneous performance of a traditional funeral song. It was decided that my piece would aim to reflect some of the manifold ways in which music plays a part in everyday life in Africa – from the rising of the sun to its setting, both literally and figuratively. I wanted to capture the essence of the African spirit through glimpses into the human experience – simple children’s playground songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe; a Xhosa lullaby for mothers of the victims of Apartheid; a raucous drinking song; sensuous wedding songs; and some beautiful funeral and worship music – all imbued with the spirit, energy and simplicity that is so typical of the African song tradition.

ZIMBE is Swahili for ‘sing them’: just as others have shared these wonderful songs with me, I wish to pass them on now. Scored for SATB choir, unison children’s choir and jazz quintet, with copious percussion, the settings reflect my own musical make-up: within the piece we find references to jazz, pop, the Western choral tradition and, of course, ‘world music’. African songs are easy to learn and impossible to forget; that is the very nature of the communal song tradition. The songs I have chosen to arrange are fun, moving and infectiously tuneful – and through them we find ourselves in a wonderfully simple, joyous ream where music imitates life, and the life inspires music.”

Alexander L’Estrange

About the Composer

“If you had to create from scratch the perfect 21st century musician, Alexander L’Estrange would be your template.” This accolade from composer and broadcaster Howard Goodall acknowledges not only L’Estrange’s outstanding musicianship – he graduated with a First in Music from Merton College, Oxford, and was a chorister in the famous New College Choir – but also his huge versatility. Born in 1974, he is active as a composer, arranger, jazz double bass player and pianist. He has carved a successful career working in a variety of musical fields with respected musicians from all around the world.

L’Estrange has shared the stage with jazz greats John Dankworth and Kenny Wheller, toured the world with The Swingle Singers, conducted thousands of children at the Royal Albert Hall for the Primary Proms and musically directed the National Youth Music Theatre in shows on Broadway and in Edinburg, Japan and London. His TV and film credits include singing, playing on, and writing a number of soundtracks, and theme tunes. He is the voice on the BBC1 “helicopters” clip, and he also appears as part of the church choir in a number of episodes of The Vicar of Dibley.

ZIMBE! is a 40-minute African-inspired work originally created for SATB chorus, children’s choir and jazz quintet. It was commissioned by Dorking Choral Society and premiered in November 2008, bringing together performers young and old from across the local community. The musical production of ZIMBE! in Carmel will mark the first time it has been performed in North America.

Other recent publications include three choral Prayers for Peace and Love’s Philosophy, lyrical settings of three love songs by the great Romantic poets that are now on the ABRSM singing syllabus. Besides choral works, L’Estrange has written an award-winning jazz-infused musical, in collaboration with novelist Michelle Magorian entitled, Hello Life!, as well as hundreds of arrangements of folk, pop, jazz, music theatre, African and gospel songs, many of which are part of Faber Music’s popular “Choral Basics’ series; this also includes a set of choral jazz warm-ups called You Can Sing … But Can You Swing?, which was co-written with his famous wife, musician Joanna Forbes.
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