The Care for Peace
Song History
Serving the underserved
One 'Healthy Village' at a time
The Song - Stages of development
Stage #1: The idea of writing the Care for Peace song came to Jeff around 11:00 p.m. on the night of November 29, 2013 when Ko Hla Khy and Jeff had been driving all day on dirt roads to reach an airport by the next morning. They happened upon an outdoor concert called "Zat Pwe" (google it!) where an electric generator had been set up to light up the make-shift bambood stage where musicians, dancers and actors had already begun to perform a dusk-to-dawn ritual attended by everyone in the village.
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Tired and ready for a break, Ko Hla Kyi, the driver and Jeff got out and enjoyed the evening. Jeff heard one traditional Burmese song that got stuck in his head. A tune emerged which eventually became the "Tell me what I need to know" chorus. It was only after the groundbreaking ceremony for the first Care for Peace Rural Health Center that was held on November 19, 2014 that Jeff decided to ensure the children with whom he danced without music on that day would have a song to sing at the Grand Opening in June of 2016.
Stage #2: Jeff wrote several iterations of the song and finally finished writing and recording the "scratch rendition" in his garage recording "studio" by November 2015.
Stage #3: Jeff drove to Olompali State Historic Park near his home in Novato, found a granite rock outcropping under some live oak trees, set up his videocam, unpacked his baritone ukulele and recorded a demo that would be used to share both music and lyrics with the real choral experts: Jan Pedersen Schiff, Founder and Master Teacher of Singers Marin; and with Stevie Greenwell, Director of the MSA Vocal Music program.
Stage #4: In November, 2015 Jeff started sending email queries to as many schools, choirs and music organizations to find someone who might have some children available to sing the song. With thanks to Jaimie Baxter, Business Development Officer at the Center for Volunteer and Non-Profit Leadership in San Rafael, Jeff was finally received a positive response from Jan Pedersen Schiff at Singers Marin in Mill Valley. With thanks to Linda Lewis-Filippis Jeff also received a call from Stevie Greenwell at the Marin School of the Arts saying that she was interested in creating an a-Capella version of the song. The Song is afoot!
Stage 5: On April 25, 2016 Jeff trudged his videocam, laptop, microphones and recording stuff to the Mt. Tamalpais Methodist Church in Mill Valley where Jan Schiff and her talented children and young adults performed and re-perfomed the song until everyone was exhausted. (Click on THE SONG to watch the videos!)
Stage 6: On May 15th the first formal public presentation of the song was performed by the Advanced Treble Choir of the Marin School of the Arts. The girls subsequently created a professional tape at a recording studio:
STAY TUNED! More information will be added as we walk from the mountains to the seas...
