For tickets to the concert Harmony & Melody: A Celebration of Black History, go to Brown Paper Tickets at: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/143247.

The renowned baritone Lawrence Beamen has performed around the world for diverse audiences such as former President Bill Clinton, NAACP honoring Ms. Rosa Parks, and for Congresswoman Barbara Lee. He has also opened for such artists as Patti LaBelle and Kirk Franklin, as well as, sang the National Anthem for the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland A's and the Golden State Warriors.

Since its founding in 1987, the Gold Coast Chamber Players have become recognized for its high quality performances and innovative programming, offering an annual series of concerts that combine 20th Century and standard repertoire chamber music for mixed instrumentation (strings, brass, reeds, piano, voice.) They were named the "Best Chamber Group in the East Bay" by the Contra Costa Times.

See a video of Lawrence Beamen's performance on America's Got Talent: go here

Purchase your tickets today!

Thank you for visiting AfroSolo's web site. On behalf of all of us here at AfroSolo, I would like to thank you profusely for giving us a chance to share our work with you.

	as featured in Theatre Bay Area August 2010

This year's AfroSolo Arts Festival 17: United in Peace was a tremendous success. This could not have happened without the support of our many community friends, partners, staff and of course all the talented artists who shared their visions of peace.

The Festival opened with a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club, The Arts: A Medium for Peace. I was very happy with the lively dialogue between artists of various disciplines -Poetry, Dance, Theater, Music and the Visual Arts. The very well attended event showed how much the community is interested in discussing ways in which the arts play a role in promoting peace.

Next was our very successful Concert for Peace, again hosted in the Yerba Buena Gardens in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The Junius Courtney Big Band Orchestra (with lead vocalist Denise Perrier) proved to be a metaphor of how music can be to used build community, foster peace and create an atmosphere of joy and harmony.

Then came the Performance for Peace at the African American Art and Culture Complex, AfroSolo's seminal event. The stage was filled with a wonderful assortment of performers each presenting variations on our theme of peace.

That same weekend Faith-Based organizations, political leaders, and individuals participated in the Festival by committing acts of peace thereby adding to our dream of promoting peace within the Bay Area and beyond.

Our visual arts exhibit at SF Main Library was exceptional. United in Peace: Visual Artists Leading the Way featured a multi-media array of artists all focussing on the message of peace.

UNITED IN HEALTH: Artists, Healthcare Workers, and Community, our health fair in collaboration with Mo'Magic, had people lined up around the building eager to get inside. Thanks to the many health care providers and agencies contributing to this event, we served more than 1500 people in about three hours.

The success of AfroSolo 17 has inspired us to continue our theme of United in Peace next year.

Please visit our site again, when we will have slide shows of all these various events. In the mean time stay tuned for upcoming programming. We look forward to an even better 2010-11 season.

Sincerely,

Thomas Robert Simpson
Artistic Director

AfroSolo's mission is to nurture, promote, and present African American and African Diasporan art and culture through solo performances and the visual and literary arts. Since 1993, we have provided a forum to give an authentic voice to the diverse experiences of Black people. Through art, we bring people of all ethnicities together to explore and share the human spirit that binds us all.