Genesis at the Crossroads’
SOUNDS OF HEALING™
Live, in-person
Summer 2023 Tour
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21ST
Washington, DC
Capitol for the US Congress, Rayburn Building
5:00 – 7:00 PM
VIP reception to follow
THURSDAY, JUNE 22ND
Chicago, IL
Francis W. Parker School, Diane and David B Heller Auditorium
4:30 – 6:30 PM
We invite you to experience healing
With our multicultural musicians from
Brazil, Venezuela, Morocco, The Middle East,
Europe, Pakistan, The Congo, Chicago & more
All proceeds and additional donations will be used towards Genesis programs addressing healing and the Genesis Peace Hub.
To make a tax-deductible donation, click here

#GenesisAtTheCrossroads
#AmplifySoundsOfHealing
#SaffronCaravan
Join us for a live, in-person program with musicians from Brazil, Venezuela, Morocco, Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Congo ,& more…
A performance featuring Saffron Caravan, Genesis’ professional world music ensemble with Genesis’ youth musicians from Chicago and other conflict areas worldwide.
Guest Artists:
Chicago Blues Vocalist & Keyboardist
American Actor

A Global Collaboration of Saffron Caravan and Youth Musicians from Chicago and Other Conflict Areas Worldwide
For the very first time in our 20-year history, Saffron Caravan, Genesis’ professional world music ensemble made up of artists from cultures in conflict, will be joined by youth musician graduates from the last five years of our Genesis Academy Summer Institutes. The youth are from Chicago and many different areas of conflict. (DR Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuela, and more…)
All the students worked together virtually around the world to collaboratively compose four original songs for Sounds of Healing, one with Saffron Caravan. For the remainder of the program material, Saffron Caravan artists did the same.
Saffron Caravan
Genesis at the Crossroads’ professional world music ensemble unites artists from Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, Morocco, India, the Middle East, Brazil, Venezuela and the US for cross-cultural collaborative performances, music education and roundtables on music, healing, and peacebuilding. This program features:
Lebanese-Brazilian Vocalist & Guitarist
Moroccan Vocalist
Middle Eastern-European Oud Player
Venezuelan Percussionist
Founder & Executive/Artistic Director, Genesis at the Crossroads
Guest Artists:
The Genesis Academy Summer Institute Graduates
A leadership and peacebuilding educational program for high school-aged youth from Chicago and other global areas of conflict. They live and learn together in four curricular areas: Heroes and Human Rights, Music and Peacebuilding, Environmental Sustainability, and Peace Journalism. With the arts thread throughout the program, students work to explore their individual voice, collective humanity, and the daunting issues we all face here in Chicago and as a global community.
Additional Student Performers:
Genesis Academy Summer Institute Graduates from 2015-2019

Ariba
Pakistan

Veronica Urbina
Venezuela

Safiyah Simpkins
Chicago/USA

Azar
Afghanistan

Andreina Conde
Venezuela

Socheata Hong
Cambodia

Atiq
Pakistan
Inspired by the Poetry of:
We are honored to be able to use the lyrical poetry from these two acclaimed writers for two original pieces in the Sounds of Healing™ repertoire.
“A House Called Tomorrow”
“Held in the Light”
Original Sounds of Healing™ Lyrics
All the students worked together virtually around the world to collaboratively compose four original songs for Sounds of Healing. Saffron Caravan artists did the same.
House of Healing
by Muhammad Faran
Es Tiempo de Sanar
by Roheena Madni and Andrea Valentina Perez
Millions of Hearts
by Victor Angel Araque Rangel
Mother
by Roheena Madni, Diego Madriz, and Andrea Valentina Perez
Sounds of Healing™
Production Team
Join people from around the world in this one-of-a-kind event
Sounds of Healing™ Roundtable – The Power of Music
Why do we turn to music to soothe ourselves in times of heartache, to ease our burdens and help heal our pain? Why does music enable us to find our center and feel joyous even when things are difficult? How can the arts and our own creativity help us become more resilient, manage protracted challenges, and transcend our circumstances? (These are core components of social and emotional learning for all ages.)
Join Saffron Caravan musicians, guest artists and Genesis Academy Summer Institute youth musicians from Chicago and around the world to explore the subject of healing more deeply in this live interactive discussion (facilitated by founder Dr. Wendy Sternberg.)
Roundtable Format
Live Zoom call with 2-5 musicians & facilitator
Capacity: 10-20 participants
Duration: 90 minutes – 2 hours
Number: One roundtable event or multi-segmented programming
Participant pre-requisites:
- Experience Sounds of Healing™ virtual program
(80 minutes) - Technology for participants to access Zoom
Programs can be further tailored to your needs upon request. We also offer programming for the military and refugee organizations.
Special Programming
SCHOOLS
One or multi-segmented summer, semester, or year-long programming $4,500 USD/Roundtable; we do ask your school/institution to contribute 1/3 ($1,500) of the total cost
NURSING HOMES
Roundtable cost varies depending on quantity of programs booked
INDIVIDUALS
Interested in getting together a group of 10-20 friends or colleagues? Please email us at info@gatc.org

MAKE MORE HEALING SOUNDS!
Sounds of Healing™ Global Lyrics Competition
Enter your original song lyrics. Details coming soon.
Submission deadline: August 31, 2024
The top three entries will be turned into songs for a future performance
Building peaceful communities at the intersection of social justice, education, and the arts to foster healing since 1999.
We envision a world where cross-cultural artistic expression and collaboration serve as a catalyst for interethnic dialogue and innovation, global understanding, healing and world peace. Our education and humanitarian initiatives sustain and further those bridges while nurturing global leadership. Together, we foster a just world for all, honoring our collective humanity.
Over the past 20 years we have created and produced over 150 performance, education and arts-based humanitarian peacebuilding programs.
Our future Genesis Peace Hub will house all future Genesis peacebuilding programs, including a social entrepreneurship center, teaching farm, and sports and social change program.
We are a Chicago-based 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Genesis at the Crossroads’
SOUNDS OF HEALING™
Timeline
Sounds of Healing is a multi-year array of performances and interdisciplinary work focused on arts, trauma and healing. Components include musical performances, music and dance programs, multimedia and sculpture exhibits with musical installation accompaniment.
Signature Cross-cultural, Collaborative, Middle-Eastern/North-African Festivals & Peacebuilding Education Programs
Cross-cultural, Collaborative, Middle-Eastern/North-African Festivals & Peacebuilding Education Programs
Expansion to two-day outdoor festivals
Original performance work tours across the Featured at the UN’s 60th Anniversary
Showcased at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC
Saffron Caravan Tours the World
The Genesis World Music Ensemble is created and plays at Genesis’ HAMSA-Fest in Chicago, The Kennedy Center, The Rialto Theater, Casablanca, Morocco, Bosnia, throughout the Middle East, and the United States
DuSable Museum of African American History (Chicago)
Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Forum on Global Cities, Adjunct Program, 2019
Featured at WBEZ/Chicago’s NPR Station’s 25th Anniversary, 2019
Genesis Academy Summer Institutes
World Premiere & Rebroadcast: Sounds of Healing™ (virtual concert)
Sounds of Healing™ and
In-Person Tour
Join our newsletter to get notified of in-person concerts
June 2022 in Chicago
June 2023 in Chicago and Washington, DC
International sites TBA:
South Africa, Rwanda and Ghana, UAE, Brazil, Austria, Germany and France

the sound of healing
is the sound of peace
Spotlight
We cherish and honor specific individuals who have made a significant difference to forward
Genesis at the Crossroads’ work of building peaceful communities that foster healing.
For the flagship SPOTLIGHT, we have chosen to illuminate
Though he is no longer with us, his legacy lives on…
Mike Pettersen
SHURE
Wendy Sternberg, MD
Genesis at the Crossroads
Mark’s Family
Wife Jo Pangilinan & Sons Derek & Brandon
Sponsors
LEAD SPONSORS

Co-SPONSORS



We greatly appreciate the support of
Congressman Mike Quigley (5th Congressional District of IL)
Donate to the Sounds of Healing™
How Your Donation Makes a Difference
$10,000 | Become a Seed Donor of the Genesis Peace Hub in Chicago |
$5,000 | Support Sounds of Healing™ World Tour |
$2,500 | Scholarship a Genesis Academy Summer Institute Student or Sponsor a Saffron Caravan Artist in the Sounds of Healing™ Tour |
$1,000 | Purchase a flight for a Genesis Academy Summer Institute Student or Saffron Caravan Artist |
$500 | Bring Sounds of Healing™ to a Chicago Public School |
$250 | Support the Sounds of Healing™ Lyrics Competition & Songbook |
$100 | Be a Genesis Fan |
You can apply your donation to the Genesis Peace Empowerment Fund, the Harold Ramis Legacy Fund, or the Mohammad Arif Noorzai Memorial Sports Fund.