I'll pass it on to my mom (and mention that it is a valid cause) and from there it will probably become embedded in the 'senior citizens network.'


>I know I've mentioned this here before. Nathaniel (my younger son) asked me to spread the following far and wide. Please feel free to forward on to anyone you know who might be interested.
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>Dear Friends and Family,
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>As many of you know, the a cappella group I sing with, The Yale Spizzwinks(?) has been an important part of my life for the last 4 years. Last summer, on our tour of South East Asia, the Spizzwinks spent 5 days working with the Gitameit Music School in Rangoon, Burma (aka Yangon, Myanmar). It’s a small, independent school started by an American Concert Pianist named Kit Young and 2 Burmese musicians. While we were there we did workshops and concerts with several of the choirs at the school and were impressed by their sophistication given their difficult circumstances. If you’ve been reading the news for the last year or so, you’ve probably read about the terrible living conditions in Burma and the brutality of its oppressive government. This music school provides a glimmer of light and hope in an otherwise dark place.
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>The Gitameit school and the Spizzwinks’ visit was described in a recent front page article in the Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-choir30jan30,1,5302994.story). I highly recommend this article, as it captures the general stasis and hopelessness of Burma as well as the energy and vigor that the Gitameit school pumps into the lives of its students.
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>The Spizzwinks are now coordinating a charitable effort to bring a 20 member concert choir from the Gitameit school on a 3-week tour of the United States, with a week-long stop at Yale next October. As far as the director of the school is aware, this trip will be the first visit of a Burmese choir to the United States. We are also planning stops in San Francisco and Washington DC, as well as a day trip to New York.
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>According to the founder of the Gitameit School, no choir from Burma has ever visited the United States. In addition to being a ground-breaking project, the trip will be a life-changing experience for the Burmese students – an opportunity for them to experience first hand the opportunities and institutions of the world outside of Burma. The visit to Yale and the US will also be an exciting opportunity for Americans to interact with people from an entirely different culture. On our tour, the Spizzwinks were first struck by the cultural and economic differences between our countries and the people, but later by the feeling of camaraderie and connection with the Burmese students based on music. We hope that people who get to interact with the Burmese singers here will feel that same connection.
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>In order to bring this project to fruition, we need to raise a lot of money. If you are interested in helping us with this project, please visit our website (www.projectgitameit.org) or contact me, Nathaniel Granor at nathaniel.granor@yale.edu. In any case, please forward this e-mail to your friends or anyone you know who might be interested in this project.
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>Thanks,
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>---Nathaniel