To quote the Joe's Pub blurb:

"Marta and her group perform a repertoire of original compositions based on a vast amount of rhythms from Latin America. Marta mixes the joy of the Caribbean with the nostalgia of the Andes adding jazz and pop elements, taking the authenticity of South American indigenous folk music into a new realm."

We've seen Marta at Joe's Pub whenever we can - and it's always a grooving, moving show. Buy tickets here -

http://bit.ly/IW9VAq

BECAUSE -

I intend to ask them to perform a Hope Sings song!

Remember how the Dartmouth Women's group, the Decibelles, arranged and performed our song, "Hope" last spring?

So that song is ready and waiting for them to perform and raise awareness of/funds for microfinance.

So help MF - and vote! Up to 10 times per email address.

http://www.nbc.com/sing-off/vote/

It's about my personal "f" word - focus.

http://betterafter50.com/2011/11/chasing-squirrels/

In September, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Campaign UNiTE To End Violence Against Women invited 26 artists from Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in a workshop in Panama City.

Over three days, those artists used their talent to generate compelling messages and other initiatives to raise awareness of and advocate for an end to this scourge of violence against women and girls.

http://www.saynotoviolence.org/join-say-no/26-artists-unite

Are you interested in being involved? Let us know!

"In 2002, when IBM purchased the consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company turned to Rometty to massage the egos and assure a successful transition. At the time, the $3.5 billion purchase was viewed as a big risk...CEO Palmisano..."She did the deal and she made it work" ... George Colony, chairman of Forrester Research, called it a "massive charm campaign" and cited Ginni's "performance and charisma."

Really? The next CEO of IBM is charming? We have promoted a woman to lead the single largest company ever led by a female in the history of the country, because of her charisma? For a Boomer feminist like me, those words should make my skin crawl.

Instead, I say bring it on. A few years back, it was the women who had the courage to speak out on the need for internal business protocols and compensation systems that favor long-term investment over short-termism. Anne Mulcahy at Xerox, Indra Nooyi at Pepsi, Peggy Foran at Pfizer, and Sarah Teslik at Apache Corporation were among the first to lead or persuade their companies to sign on to the Aspen Principles, an unprecedented agreement among companies, investors, and corporate governance professionals who have vowed to dedicate themselves to long-term value creation over short-term profits. I am quite sure that smarts and charm were needed."

So maybe we're getting closer to the day when we'll get to see what the world would look like if women were in charge...

In November of 2010, I learned from my friend Evelyn that UNIFEM, where she worked, was morphing into a brand-new entity -- UN Women -- which would be the umbrella for the UN's other women's agencies.

Before I could think, I blurted out, "They need a theme song." (My social enterprise, Hope Sings, is in the business of creating music to support causes that support women).

And three (very) short months later, they had one. Graham Lyle ("What's Love Got To Do With It" and many other hits) and British/Somalian singer-songwriter Clay composed the music, and I wrote the lyrics, based on stories of women whom UNIFEM/UN Women had helped.

"One Woman" was the grand finale at the launch ceremony in the UN General Assembly Hall, where 1800 guests stood and sang along with the reprise (it's a pretty catchy song).

Over the next few days, requests poured in from UN offices around the world to perform the song in honor of International Women's Day. Frankly, we weren't ready for that kind of reception. We didn't have sheet music, didn't have a demo, didn't have a karaoke track -- nada.

After that, we all knew we wanted to produce the song, and produce it big. The vision was a veritable United Nations of international female singing stars -- a sort of "We Are The World" for women. We'd get Quincy Jones on board, Peter Gabriel, Shakira -- she's tight with the UN (even if it is UNICEF) and personal friends with Michelle Bachelet, the Exec. Dir. of UNW and former president of Chile.

And then, a few weeks back, UN Women said they had the money to produce the song.

So... how exactly do you make a "We Are The World" for women happen -- when you're not Quincy Jones?

That's what I plan to share in this blog.

We have a mind-boggling Wish List of women from every continent. Singers, producers, instrumentalists, even non-singers -- humanitarians, politicians, businesswomen. The list runs to six pages, from Beyonce to Esperanza Spalding to the 13 Grandmothers to Michelle O. and the girls.

There are men, too -- because they are part of the equation, both in the song and in the world.

We also want women from villages all over the world to sing along on the refrain of the song, "We Shall Shine." No idea how to make that happen. But we will.

And of course, we need video. Not just your basic 3-minute music video, but also the "Making Of" video-mentary. Mind you, UN Women doesn't have budget for that. Translation: we need to find a sponsor.

All by March 8, 2012 -- the next International Women's Day, when we have agreed we'll launch the song (on the Today show. Of course. Though they don't know that yet. Unless they're reading this now.)

This blog is a few things.

This blog is my stake in the sand. Your eyeballs make us accountable. Please smile when we soar (or post a comment). Please offer Kleenex when we crash and burn (or post a comment).

This blog is my publicist. Who knows, maybe some of the women on my six-page list will read this and email me. Maybe even a sponsor will email me. One item less on my to-do list.

This blog is also, I'm hoping, a way to inspire others to blurt out things like, "They need a theme song." And then make it happen.

This blog is also (and I swear, after this one, I'm done) a way to share our learning so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. How do you work with a behemoth like the UN? How do you get through to Beyonce? How do you decide which celebrity to call first? Why are celebrities so powerful, anyway? How exactly do you do a global simulcast? I hope I don't lose my nerve to tell it like it happens, hiccups and all. "Tune in" to see.

So, welcome. On my to-do list for next week: finding a way to get to Alicia Keys, our first choice to produce the song.

Beth Blatt is the founder of Hope Sings, a social enterprise dedicated to harnessing the power of song and story to empower, inspire and connect women around the world. Hope Sings was selected by UN Women to create the agency's theme song for their launch in February 2011, and to produce and release the song in time for International Women's Day, March 8, 2012.

When you buy Hope Sings songs this week, 50% of your money goes right to Cirila and her team (through Kiva/Edaprospro) - and to the artists whose music supports them. Artists like Christine Vaindirlis from South Africa (shooting for the stars and organizing an African music festival in New York next summer ) and Rebecca Brusca (trying to make her music dreams come true in Romania).   

50%. That's not a typo. Through Tuesday Monday August 1^st.

Why are we doing this??

It's summer. Vacations, doldrums, heat exhaustion. We've got to get your attention somehow.

Go to www.hopesings.squarespace.com/buy/ and pick your songs. If the word "PayPal" makes you break out in hives, it's easier than you think. You don't have to have an account, you can simply pay with your credit card.

Everyone who buys all 12 songs will make the "Nice" list on our website. And everyone who doesn't will be on the "Naughty" list. Well, there won't really be a "Naughty" list. But you'll know who you are (and so will we!).

So shake off that summer lethargy, go to www.hopesings.squarespace.com/buy/ and do your good deed for the day/week/month. Create some good KARMONY (karma+harmony).

THANKS!!!

http://bit.ly/pFsty3

Cool on her site today? Tiny Tao Tuesday's. This week is about obscurity and being an observer. That felt GREAT to me - being in a situation where you take the pressure off of yourself to perform and instead, just...be. Listen. Watch. Ah.

Gotta go and "be."

Well, better late than never!

John Rosser, founder of Sustainatopia, asked us to program some great music around his 7-day conference/culture event that focused on impact investing in Latin America/the Caribbean and women's empowerment. 

And so we did. Our first foray into live events in Miami. And thanks to billboard space donated by Fuel Outdoor (thank you, Michael Freedman) and on-air PSA's from Clear Channel radio stations (thank you, Alih's sister) we were a huge hit!

Saturday, April 2, two great Latin bands - Lanzallamas Monofonico and Elastic Bond wowed the crowd. Both groups are fronted by women: Cintia Lovo (Lanzallamas) and Sofy Encanto (Elastic Bond). They even learned our song from Marta Gomez, "La Esperanza Canta," and sang a duet. The bands did shout out's for Hope Sings all night. It was amazing. See some video below.

On Tuesday, the Van Dyke Upstairs on Lincoln Road was the venue for a singer-songwriter night with some of Miami's best women: Omine Eager, Michelle Forman, daphna rose, and Jill Hartmann. I can't imagine four more different - or gifted - performers. Again, shout-out's galore for Hope Sings and the women we're helping.

A big THANK YOU to all the musicians who helped us rock Miami, and likewise to John Rosser for having us!

The all-women group, the Dartmouth Decibelles did a special arrangement of "Hope," by Alih Jey and Ines Gaviria. See the video below.

The song was the finale of a fundraising benefit held at Dartmouth for Hope Sings and Grameen U, the initiative from Grameen America that sets up clubs at universities around the country to support them.

Kudos to Campbell Secrest and Mahala Pagan, who organized the event for Grameen U, and Bailey Hoar, the musical director for the Deci's (as they're called). Bailey did the arrangement of "Hope" and rallied the other a cappella groups who performed (the Brovertones and the Cords).

It's one of those fun, synchronicity stories how it all came about. When HS founder Beth Blatt was at Dartmouth, she sang with the Woodswind, as the Deci's used to be called. The musical director of the group back then was Eve Pratt, now Eve Hoar - and by the last name, you can perhaps tell that she is Bailey's mother. About six months prior,  Beth was chatting with Bailey, and they noodled on how cool it would be to do an a cappella arrangement of a Hope Sings song. One day.

Enter HS intern Raul Silva-Behrens. One of his tasks was to connect with college campuses and microfinance clubs to let them know about Hope Sings and search for collaboration opportunities. At Bucknell, he found Nicole Meyers, who was heading up the Grameen U effort. Turns out, they'd just formed a chapter at Dartmouth. Wouldn't it be great to do an event with Grameen U and Hope Sings at Dartmouth?

And thus the evening was born.

Money was raised. Awareness of microfinance was raised. The roof was raised by some great singing. Check out the video here, or go to our youtube channel  http://www.youtube.com/user/hopesingsmicro#p/a/u/2/S9oxz14Ci9w

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL - we now have an a cappella arrangement of the song that ANY GROUP ANYWHERE CAN PERFORM!! What better way to get the word out about the power of microfinance than with the power of song - an original Hope Sings song? Tell all the a cappellistas you know, it's through them that HOPE SINGS!

You can download Bailey's arrangement on our "buy" page.