Voices of Faith Concert

The following videos are clips from the Voices of Faith-Arizona Interfaith Movement concert  which took place in the fall of 2009 at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. The first 3 videos feature the New Thought choir, which is a combination of  some of the members from the One Voice of Love choir (of which I am part–you’ll see me jamming out in the 2nd row on left) of Creative Living Fellowship  and the Divine Intuitives choir from Unity of Divine Love. 

The fourth video is a wonderful compilation of the various religious and faith traditions in the greater Phoenix area who took part in  this concert.   For more information about the Arizona Interfaith Movement  visit: www.interfaitharizona.com

The first  video is introduced by Dr. Paul Eppinger, Executive Director of the Arizona Interfaith Movement.  The song is Live with Joy by Zephryn Conte who is on piano.  The soloists are Cerise Patron, Renee Morgan Brooks, Barb Horton (of the JaJa’s) and Jeanne McLaughlin (of the JaJa’s).

The song in this "Let Freedom Ring"  by Cerise Patron and Mark Broder.

 The song in this video is "Oh How Usual"  by Zephryn Conte.

 This video shows clips from all the different faith groups who participated in the concert.

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Desiderata Performed by Renee Morgan Brooks

Inspiring Performance of the Desiderata and Amazing Grace

My good friend, Renee Morgan Brooks, performing an amazing version of Desiderata and leading straight into a soulful rendition of Amazing Grace.  The word "desiderata" is Latin and means ‘things that are yearned for’, and ‘essential things’.  After watching Renee’s inspiring performance scroll below the video to find out more about the fascinating background of this amazing poem.  

 Who Wrote Desiderata?
Desiderata was written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann. Max was born on September 16th, 1872 in Terre Haute, Indiana to German immigrants. He graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle in 1894, and after studying law and philosophy at Harvard returned to Terre Haute to practice law.  He also began a life-long love affair with writing and became known as the ‘Poet Laureate’ of Terre Haute, even though his writings did not become widely known until after his death.  Desiderata, one of his most famous poems, was originally copyrighted in 1927 as ‘Go Placidly Amid The Noise And Haste’.

In 1933 Max included a copy of Desiderata in a Christmas message to a friend but never added any copyright notice, a factor which featured strongly in legal considerations in the 1970′s about Desiderata copyright .

In 1942, US Army psychiatrist Merill Moore contacted Max to let him know that he used the Desiderata poem in his therapy work.  He wrote to him again 2 years later suggesting that the poem should be bottled and sold as ‘Dr Ehrmann’s Magic Soul Medicine’.

Shortly before his death in 1945, Max married Bertha, also an avid and published writer. After Max’s death, Bertha published  among other poems, the Desiderata in a collection titled The Poems Of Max Ehrmann. She re-renewed the Desiderata copyright in 1948 and 1954. When Bertha died in 1962, the copyright ownership passed to her nephew, Richmond Wight.  In 1975 he sold the copyright to Crescendo Publishing Company.

Confusion Over Date Desiderata Was Written
Confusion around the date Desiderata was actually written began in the late 1950′s when Rev. Frederick Kates, the rector of St. Paul’s Church in Baltimore, Maryland, (1956-1961) compiled the poem into a small booklet of devotional poetry for his congregation.  The page on which Desiderata was had the notation, "Old St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore A.D. 1692 — the year of the church’s founding.

As the material was shared and passed along from one person to another and made its way outside of St. Paul’s congregation copies with the "Old St. Paul’s Church" notation were printed and circulated and at some point someone assumed that the poem itself was from 1692, the date that was on the letterhead indicating the founding of the church. The ancient date probably added to the poem’s attraction and even though the language used in the poem is of a more modern vein people people who came across the poem mistakenly assumed it was written in 1692.

Adlai Stevenson’s Influence
The poem gained widespread attention in 1965 when a copy was found near the bedside of American politician, Adlai Stevenson when he died.  Apparently he had planned to put a copy in his Christmas cards. The incorrect date of the poem’s origin continued and believing there to be no copyright concerns because of the poem’s age printers began putting out numerous posters of the poem. Around this time or even before the "Flower Children" of the 1960′s adopted the Desiderata.  They adored it because they felt that the "ancient" writing validated their avocations for a world of peace and love.

Les Crane and Copyright Issues
In 1971singer Les Crane used the Desiderata words in his 1971 hit pop record, for which he received a Grammy award for the ‘best spoken word recording’. Supposedly he saw the Desiderata verse on a poster and believed the words to be in the public domain, but then (so the story goes) had to share his royalties with the then Desiderata copyright owners — the Crescendo Publishing Company.

Confusion continues to abound over the copyright status of Desiderata. While it appears that the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division (Bell v. Combined Registry, Co.) supporting the abandonment of copyright is valid (it was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit), the late Mr. Robert Bell, the owner of the copyright until his death in 2009, had been successful in pursuing his copyright claim in other jurisdictions of the United States.

Old St. Paul’s Continues to Receive Inquires about Desiderata
As for the relationship of the poem with Old St. Paul’s Church — the ongoing confusion also  continues. Old St. Paul’s has received inquiries on the Desiderata from all around the world and numerous visitors to Baltimore come to the church expecting to be able to see the original Desiderata.

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Steve Balsamo Gives a Knockout Performance of “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar

In honor of Good Friday here’s an amazing version of the song Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar performed by Steve Balsamo. 

When I was growing up in London, England I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palace Theatre, many times. Contrary to what some people thought, that Superstar was sacrilegious, it actually opened me up to exploring more of who Jesus was and is.  It actually assisted greatly in my own spiritual journey.  To this day I love, love, love the music from Jesus Christ Superstar.

Steve Balsamo”s success in music is an inspirational story of what can happen when we really stay true to following our passion.    

Thrown out of his school choir and told he couldn’t sing, Welsh-born Steve put his creative energies into art for a while, yet never forgot about  singing.  When he was 17 he decided to follow his musical passion and for the next few years formed several bands and mainly performed classic rock songs.

Steve turned down a spot at Bristol University to study Graphic Art, instead following his intuition and attending a local music college.  Here he first played Jesus in a college production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Around the same time he attended a workshop in Cardiff put on by the Pince’s Trust, a UK charity founded by Prince Charles. His performance at the workshop led to him being asked to open for the The Princes Masters of Music Concert at London’s Hyde Park in 1996.  150, 000 people came to hear this concert which featured, among many others, The Who, Alanis Morissette, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.  

When Steve discovered Andrew Lloyd Webber was auditioning for the part of Jesus in Superstar, Steve  made up his mind the part was his. Although thousands of other hopefuls auditioned, many with more experience, Steve’s focus, determination and amazing voice landed him the role in the 1996 revival of the show at the Lyceum in London.

Steve’s gone on to write and record his own successful albums. In addition he’s performed in the French musical "Notre Dame de Paris, performed in 2003 at  the world premiere at Abbey Road Studio of a musical based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe: More Tales of Mystery and Imagination, (music and lyrics by Alan Parsons Project writer Eric Woolfson).

In 2004 he formed The Storys, a West Coast influenced harmony country-rock band.  This band has  twice toured Europe with Elton John and has also toured and performed with such greats as Joe Cocker, Katie Melua, Celine Dion, Santana, Runrig, Sinead O’Connor, Daniel Lanois, Van Morrison and Tom Jones.  The Storys songs are featured in the teen drama  "One Tree Hill", and the British movie "The Bank Job", in which they make a cameo appearance playing two of their own songs. The Storys currently have two albums out which have both been received with wide acclaim.

Steve continues to work on several side projects collaborating with musical greats and continues to be a songwriter much in demand   scoring hits in Europe and Australia, with artists as diverse as Meatloaf, Anthony Callea, Jonathon Cerrada and Slash of Guns N’ Roses fame.

As for his own singing, through the years he’s sung on stage with such artists as Mario Frangoulis, Justin Hayward, Lara Fabian, Madeline Peyroux, Glenn Hughes, Steve Harley, Roger Daltry, Robert Plant, Lulu, a couple of Stones, a couple of Eagles, a couple of Pink Floyd, Jon Lord, founder writer and and ex-keyboard player with Deep Purple and this is just to name a few!

What a testament to what can happen when we stay true to our dreams, goals and passions.  Congratulations on all your success Steve!  I wonder what the person who kicked you out of choir thinks now?  

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