Stacy Keach is a pre-eminent American interpreter of Shakespeare, with notable performances as Hamlet, Henry V, Coriolanus, Falstaff, Macbeth, Richard III, and King Lear.  Recently, when the Coronavirus struck, and after zooming the title role in an adaptation of King Lear, he and his wife, Malgosia, formed StacyKeachZoomTheater. Since then he has zoomed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Hughie, The Unexpected Man, and most recently, David Storey’s Home.

Performance honors include: a Best Actor Golden Globe, three Obies, three Vernon Rice Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, three Helen Hayes Awards, the Millennium Recognition Award, the Shakespeare Will Award, nominations for Emmy and Tony Awards, and most recently, the International Satellite Mary Pickford Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2015, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame and in 2019 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Filmography includes: Gotti, Truth, Gold, Fat City, Nebraska, If I Stay, Bourne Supremacy, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, The Ninth Configuration, Doc, Up In Smoke, American History X, The Long Riders, and The New Centurions.

TV series: Mike Hammer, Titus, Two and a Half Men, Blue Bloods Prison Break, NCIS: New Orleans, The Blacklist, Man with a Plan, and American Greed.

He is the author of All in All, his award-winning memoir.

Since 2004, Stacy has served on the Artistic Advisory Board of Genesis at the Crossroads, a non-profit organization dedicated to the bringing together cultures in conflict through collaborative arts, education and social justice initiatives. He participates in Sounds of Healing with a dramatic reading of the poem, A House Called Tomorrow by Alberto Alvaro Rios.

Katherine Davis’ life as a singer, songwriter, actress, and teacher is imbued with music. Whether she is portraying Bessie Smith or Ma Rainey on stage, appearing with piano accompaniment at a nightclub, fronting a large band, or singing for the Lord, Katherine steers her own course. Her command of various musical styles is saturated in blue. Katherine’s unique musical approach was nurtured from within by her circle of family and close friends. 

Her Mother was from a family of jazz performers and opera singers.  She loved to sing and wanted to be a professional vocalist, though she dedicated her life to her family. Katherine remembers hearing her Mother’s side of the family recount the stories of her Grandfather, Earl Campbell, performing with legends Louis Armstrong and Count Basie. Katherine’s father’s side of the family threw house parties all the time, during which the children were the only live performers.  If a child sang or danced, family and friends would throw money at his or her feet. She was raised on the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Nancy Wilson, Dinah Washington, Brook Benton, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson, Etta James, and Arethra Franklin.  Katherine was also exposed to and inspired by the opera singers in her family. 

She studied opera at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music under the direction of Maria D’ Albert. In studying opera, Katherine was laying the groundwork for her repertoire’s singular and all-encompassing musical style and diversity.  Raised in Chicago’s infamous Cabrini-Green housing project on Chicago’s North side, Katherine and her family moved to the Englewood on Chicago’s South side in 1967. The move proved a good one for Katherine, as it provided exposure to an array of jazz and blues clubs. Within the jazz scene, there was a subscene wherein singers and musicians would perform for stage productions. A friend suggested that she audition for an acting part in a play produced by Kuumba Theatre for which Katherine was cast. She went on to play Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith to critical acclaim in Kuumba Theatre’s production of In the Heart of the Blues, garnering the attention of luminaries who advanced her career.  She was soon singing in jazz and blues clubs, festivals and concerts throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe, the Caribbean and Venezuela. Her appearance with the Blues in the Schools children at the 1997 Chicago Blues Festival led to ongoing involvement as an instructor in the Blues in the Schools Program right alongside harmonica virtuoso, Billy Branch. 

Within the course of an evening, Katherine’s voice can span the gamut from sweet and sultry to lowdown and dirty. She can phrase like Billie Holiday, scat like Ella, and growl like Howlin’ Wolf.  Katherine is accompanied throughout Dream Shoes, her first CD (Chicago’s Southport Records)  by some of Chicago’s top jazz and blues musicians, such as piano players Erwin HeIfer and Joe Johnson, bassists Nate Stuart, Tatsu Aoki, John Whitfield and Cecile Savage, saxophonist Will Sims, and Isaac Redd Holt, Phil Thomas and Casey Jones on drums. John Barrett of Jazz USA wrote of the CD: “While apparently simple, this album speaks volumes – that’s true of the best music, and the best dreams.” Noted Chicago Tribune critic Dan Kening added, “If there’s any justice in this world, the delicious melange of vintage blues and jazz on Dream Shoes will raise the profile of veteran Chicago singer Katherine Davis as a recording artist.” 

Katherine continues to perform at clubs and concert venues at home in Chicago, and around the world. In January 2000, she was chosen to accompany Mayor Richard J. Daley to help represent the City of Chicago at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She performed there at the diplomatic reception. In the late 1980s her visage was immortalized on a 16-foot tall billboard that adorns the corner of Ohio and Orleans recognizing her contributions. Mayor Lightfoot recently bestowed upon her the 2020 Chicago Esteemed Artist Award.

Tony Milano is a Chicago-born keyboardist performing, producing, and experimenting with jazz, neo-soul and electronic genres. Rooted in the blues, Milano studied with Chicago blues legends Katherine Davis and Erwin Helfer when he was eight years old. Milano has also studied with Willie Pickens, Ed Simon, and Robert Irving III, to name a few. In his high school career, he became actively involved with the Chicago Jazz Institute Student Council, which gave him opportunities to represent the City at venues/festivals such as Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion and the Chicago Jazz Festival. He was also involved at the renowned Merit School of Music and Chicago Public Schools Advanced Arts Program, Gallery 37. Following high school, he attended the Oberlin Conservatory and graduated from University of the Pacific’s Brubeck Institute.

Milano is equally active in creating popular music, as he is in creating jazz-based and blues-based music. He has worked with pop artists such as Omar Apollo, members from Chance the Rapper’s band, Carter Lang, and many others. Aside from fluency leaping between genres, Milano is consistently creating music that draws from different influences to innovate blended genres. Equally invested in giving as much he is invested in creating, his passion for teaching inspired him to work on a project that focuses on community building while providing musical resources for youth. Upon graduating college, Milano gained further experience as a community leader through teaching music classes to high school and middle school students in a neglected area of Stockton, California. Milano seeks to make his mark creating his own original works and collaborating with a diverse array of artists, all while helping youth and strengthening music communities.

Tony Milano performed the accompaniment for Genesis’ Sounds of Healing™ version of Sweet Home Chicago.

Born and raised in Pakistan, Faran is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Computer Technology from Bilkent University in Turkey. While he focuses on his undergraduate studies, he also enjoys exploring Turkey and its beautiful culture, adding to his diverse experiences growing up in different Pakistani cities, eventually spending his teenage years in Peshawar, the “City of Flowers.” Before his very own eyes, he has seen the “City of Flowers” become the city of bombs and terror. 

Faran deeply associates the City of Chicago with his own personal development, having spent a year there from 2014-15 as an exchange student/ambassador with the US Department of State Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange Program.   His fondness for the city grew even more when he attended the 2016 Genesis Academy Summer Institute and left inspired, moved, and motivated, all thanks to what he believed was an experience of a lifetime. In Chicago, at the Genesis Academy Summer Institute, he learned that much can be done to reclaim peace and to unite diverse people. He learned that artistic, and particularly musical appeal can have tremendous power in bringing people together. 

While he soars through his life and lives every experience to the fullest, he always thinks of achieving peace and solidarity while fostering feelings of community. While he familiarizes himself with new technologies, he continues to dabble in music, including the rabab, a string instrument native to Afghanistan, Turkey and other neighboring countries.  Like many others, Faran recognizes the seeds of peace within him, ready to be sown, ready to bloom.

Patrick came to Chicago when he was eight as a refugee fleeing violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He attended Alcott College Preparatory High School in Chicago, graduating in 2018.  While there, he was the recipient of the 2015 Raised Voices Award for his original workshop speech.  He was also named Most Improved Player for Boys’ Soccer (2014-15) as well as Boys’ Track and Field (2015-16). During his high school years, Patrick was deeply involved in Marwen’s visual arts program, wherein he created an entire professional portfolio, including photographic essays of his original work.  He subsequently served as a Marwen volunteer video-editing student projects.  

Patrick is currently a Junior at Columbia College Chicago on scholarship studying photojournalism.    He worked as part of the photography staff for The Chronicle, Columbia College Chicago’s school paper.   While pursuing his degree, he also works part-time as a professional freelance photographer capturing a variety of subject matter including engagements and weddings.  In June 2020, his photograph of one of the Black Lives Matter protests in Chicago was published by the Chicago Sun Times. Patrick aspires to connect his passion for photojournalism with his interest in both environmental sustainability and human rights.  He is a graduate of the 2017 Genesis Academy Summer Institute.

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Andrea graduated from Madison Academy High School in 2019. As a little girl, she expressed such a deep interest in the arts and music that she consequently received a creativity-based education along with Flamenco dance lessons from that point onwards. Captivated by folkloric Hispanic music movements, Andrea recently began studies in Latin American music accompanied by vocal lessons both to forward her goal of building a foundation for her future career in music and creativity. 

After her experience as a participant in the 2018 Genesis Academy Summer Institute, a global leadership and peacebuilding educational program for next-generation youth from areas of conflict, she came to realize her desire to further explore how the arts can be used to promote peace, especially in the field of human rights. Her collaborative peace journalism blog from the Genesis Academy Summer Institute examining the issues around xenophobia was published on the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting’s website to the world.  Following the program, Andrea began working on her ground-breaking creative project, Alas (Wings) which explores issues of identity and childhood spent in the midst of civic unrest and state-sanctioned violence. It includes a compilation of short poems and songs, including those in the folkloric Spanish tradition, Nana.  

She was a presenter/performer in the Arts and Creativity segment of the 2019 Genesis at the Crossroads’ Women’s Leadership Salon in Chicago, “How Can Women’s Leadership Critically Shape the 21st Century?”

In the future, Andrea looks forward to not only creating more songs inspired by Latin American music, but also starting her university studies, majoring in communications. She aspires to become a voice for Latin American human rights issues.

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Victor attended a music conservatory for six years in Venezuela, playing and performing on piano.  He and his family were forced to flee to Colombia in 2016 due to Venezuela’s escalating political and socioeconomic crisis.  His exodus took place just following his participation in the 2016 Genesis Academy Summer Institute.   It was at the Genesis leadership and peace education program that he first made contact with so many diverse cultures and first learned the importance of peacebuilding and methods to work on achieving it, especially those integrating social justice efforts with the arts. He was the youngest participant ever to be in the Genesis program, having just turned 15 when it began.  Following the program, he created an original project for his high school International Baccalaureate degree based on this notion of music for peace with musical compositions and reflections to help resolve conflicts among young students and guide them towards promoting peace.  He subsequently graduated from Gimnasio de Norte High School with an International Baccalaureate diploma. 

Passionate about applied science and engineering, he is currently in his third semester of Computer Engineering at La Universidad de La Sabana in Colombia.  He recently began teaching young students in mathematics, physics and chemistry.  His fascination with other cultures also led him to study French and German with the aim of specializing in languages from those countries.   Among his other hobbies, Victor enjoys sports and is both an avid karate and volleyball player.

Roheena recently graduated from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi with an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences and Liberal Arts. While pursuing her major in psychology, she took on the role of research assistant in the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts. During her tenure there, she worked on two research projects, one of which revolves around behavioral psychology that navigates the veiling practice among Pakistani Muslims; her work is soon to be published.

From community welfare activities to environmental sustainability projects, Roheena has spent a considerable time giving back to society. In 2018, she represented Pakistan in a global competition wherein her team presented a product idea based on the notion of sanitation without water. The proposed product was a diffusible ball that could be used in toilets as a substitute for water, thereby saving billions of liters of water annually. The product idea turned out to be a potentially promising solution to global water shortage issues and placed in the top three ideas presented worldwide.  

She is currently employed at a leading consumer packaged goods company as the Group HR Excellence and Innovation Lead, where she works on corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects, employee engagement, corporate communication, and public relations. She is also a strong advocate for nurturing emotional and mental well-being in the workplace.  She plans to attend graduate school for her Master’s Degree in Psychology in the near future.  

Roheena seeks inspiration from the smallest of things and aspires to inspire the biggest of changes. In addition to being an alumna of the flagship 2015 Genesis Academy Summer Institute, she was also selected as the Junior Staff Member for the 2017 Genesis Academy Summer Institute where she contributed towards participants’ personal growth along with their leadership development. She embraces Genesis’ mission and passionately looks forward to dedicating her efforts to the Genesis Academy and Peace Hub in the near future.

Currently a student of Economics at the Central University of Venezuela, Diego has dedicated himself to defending human rights and promoting a culture of peace in Caracas’ diverse communities by leveraging the power of both the arts and education.

He currently serves as a youth leader in the Federation of Human Rights for Venezuela. In the capacity of volunteer, Diego has been involved with several different NGO’s in Venezuela. In 2018, for Friends of the Child Foundation that Deserve Protection (FUNDANA), he taught child victims of abandonment, neglect and abuse, including sexual abuse. in 2019, with the NGO Opportunity (Oportunidad A.C.), he was part of multiple theatrical productions primarily targeting the low-income Venezuelan “barrios” population to help raise their awareness of the processes of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Since the beginning of his university studies, Diego has participated in several extra-curricular activities which advocate for the defense of student rights, motivating students to go beyond their comfort zone and achieve personal growth. His own varied roles have included: Delegate to the Model United Nations UCVWorldMUN, Social Media Secretary for GeneraciónUCVista, and Active Member of Gestión Economía UCV, the latter two being the most important student associations at the Central University of Venezuela. Additionally, he tutors youth in bilingual education (Spanish-English).

His participation in the 2018 Genesis Academy Summer Institute was one of the most meaningful experiences of his life. Even though his dedication to make the world a better place began when he was just a young child, the Summer Institute gave him agency and helped him clarify his particular focus areas: namely human rights and peacebuilding. During the Summer Institute, Diego was featured on 91.5 FM WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR station to discuss his role in Genesis’ program. His collaborative peace journalism blog from the Genesis Academy Summer Institute examining the issues affecting Chicago’s homeless was published on the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting’s website to the world. In addition, Diego’s confidence grew exponentially from the program, such that he found the courage and inspiration needed to begin working and become more involved in his home communities. He came to profoundly understand that his age did not have to be an impediment to his global contributions as a youth activist. Wherever he is and whatever he does, Diego always hears and responds to Mahatma Gandhi’s imperative: Be the change you want to see in the world.