CRS presents an intimate concert of heart music to lift the spirits of the earth featuring two stunning vocalists, Asuca Hayashi (EMI Japan, Pokemon soundtrack) and Kristin Hoffmann (toured with The Wallfowers, Dar Williams) backed by CRS Healer and pianist Takako Hatanaka and friends from the multimedia environmental show Bella Gaia: violinist Kenji Williams and spiritual belly dancer Lâle Sayoko.
The concert will be held Saturday, Nov 17 starting at 7 pm.
Tickets are $15 and are available online here as well as at CRS.
Asuca burst onto the scene Japan at age 13 with the powerful voice and emotional range of a mature artist. She became an instant star, her hit singles appearing on major movie and TV soundtracks and commercials.
Kristin’s beautiful, soulful voice brings her melodies soaring to life with love and light. In addition to opening for Brandi Carlile, Feist, Richie Havens and other major acts, she has released several albums on major labels. Kristin has also performed at the Sundance Film Festival and her songs have been featured on several television shows, among them “Dawson’s Creek,” “Palmetto Pointe” and “The Young and the Restless.”
Listen to Asuca perform:
“And I’m telling you I’m not going” (COVER)
Listen to Kristin Hoffmann perform:
“Mary” (recording from Pottsville Folk Festival)
More About Asuca Hayashi
Born and raised in Osaka, Asuca became a performer after her piano teacher sent a tape of her singing to a music producer, and that contact resulted in her being signed to Toshiba-EMI. Jaws dropped when Asuca began singing at Toshiba-EMI’s Music Talks showcase event in Tokyo in late 2002. Just 13 at the time, she displayed an amazingly mature, almost husky voice and a confident, charismatic onstage persona. Among those who saw her “Music Talks” performance was EMI Southeast Asia boss Norman Cheng, who decided she would appeal to Asian music fans outside of Japan and so arranged to have her perform at the after-show concert at the ninth Channel V Chinese Music Awards in Shanghai on Jan. 19, 2003.
Asuca’s music is very much in the R&B/pop-fusion vein of artists such as Hikaru Utada. Her debut single, “Ake-kaze (Morning Wind)”, which peaked at No. 14 on the Oricon singles chart, was released on Jan. 22, 2003, in both Japan and Taiwan. “Ake-kaze” — which was used as the theme song for a rice-cooker TV commercial — is a vocal tour-de-force, with Asuca hitting some very low notes before zooming up a couple of octaves for some piercing high notes. Her first album, the very impressive and assured Saku, was released in May 2003 in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. In March 2004 Asuca was one of the recipients of the New Artist of the Year award at the Recording Industry Association of Japan’s Gold Disc Awards ceremony. Her hit song “Chiisaki Mono” or “Make a Wish” (English Version) was used in the sixth Pokémon movie, Jirachi Wishmaker (Japanese: Nanayo no Negai Boshi; literally “Wishing Star of Seven Nights”). Other notable songs include “Hitotsubu no Tane ~Love the Earth~”, “Snowdrop”, “Jibun Shinjite” and “Mou Ichido Anata ni Aitai.” Asuca has since recorded in both Japanese and Chinese, collaborating with Chinese instrumentalist Chen Min on the single, “Tsubane ni Naritai.”
http://www.asuca.jp/
http://profile.ameba.jp/asuca-hayashi/
More About Kristin Hoffmann
“My goal is to spread love, light, peace and truth into the world through music and energetic frequency.” – Kristin
Kristin Hoffmann is a singer/songwriter based in New York City. She grew up studying classical piano, opera, guitar and composition, and attended the Juilliard pre-college program. Her musical influences are eclectic, ranging from Samuel Barber and Maurice Ravel to Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Peter Gabriel and Radiohead.
Her sound has been described in the press and elsewhere as: “the best new voice I’ve heard in two years,” “her beautiful soulful voice is smooth and sultry,” and “deeply positive songs,” among others. She combines a powerful keyboard technique with compelling feeling, drive and energy – and a haunting, lilting voice.
Kristin has performed her music at many venues in NYC and toured with The Wallflowers and Tina Dico, as well as opening for Brandi Carlile, Feist, Howie Day, Dar Williams, Richie Havens and Ben Lee. She was signed by both Capitol Records and Interscope Records and currently has her own indie label, Starr Records. She has performed at the Sundance Film Festival and her songs have been featured on several television shows, among them Dawson’s Creek, Palmetto Pointe and The Young and the Restless.
Kristin is also a musical spokesperson for ocean awareness and conservation, with her “Song for the Ocean,” and has recently released a music video of the song, created with the videographer/environmentalist and founder of Global Classroom, Colin Garland.
She has written more than 150 songs for health-challenged children as a writer/producer for Songs of Love, a non-profit organization. In 2006, she began working alongside acupuncturist Dar Gadol at Chelsea Healing in NYC and was then inspired to create a powerful bi-coastal workshop series called YogaSong which is an ingenious combination of yoga and sound. Kristin has also studied at the Tama-Do Academy of Sound, Color and Movement with its founder, the legendary sound healing pioneer, Fabien Maman.
In addition to her 3 previous CD releases, Spring Comes, Divided Heart, and Real, Kristin has released her first CD of healing music, which she calls SOL~AUM (Songs of Light). Her newest mainstream CD, The Waking, has also recently been released.
She is a featured performer at New York’s Caffe Vivaldi, is the singer for Bella Gaia, the Living Atlas multimedia immersive theatre experience, and is working with the dance group PURE, whose powerful piece Beauty Reimagined is set to her music.
http://www.kristinhoffmann.com/
About Kenji Williams
Kenji Williams is an award winning filmmaker, music producer, theatrical show director, and classically-trained violinist. A world bridger of music, visual arts, science and unique storytelling, Williams explores the nexus of art and science through collaborations as diverse as NASA scientists, consciousness researcher Deepak Chopra, and top world-music musicians. With over 30 years of music experience, performance, composition and production, and 20 years of film production experience, his current live multimedia project, ‘BELLA GAIA’, involves collaborating with institutions such as NASA, The Smithsonian, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and has raised over half a million dollars in funding from NASA and other foundations. In addition to public and critical acclaim, Pioneer, Panasonic, and Sony corporations have sponsored Williams with technology to support his artistic vision. Combining unique skills in film and music, Williams has earned international film awards from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, Sundance Film Festival and other organizations. He has presented at conferences such as The Economist magazine’s “World in 2011” conference, the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, and the 2010 Aspen Institute Environment Forum,and the 59th Intl. Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland. Kenji has also worked with the Just Think Media Education Foundation, running workshops teaching high school students video production and digital arts in Bhutan, and Harlem, NY. Williams has been featured in the media from BBC radio, tomainstream Japanese press, to NPR, XM Radio, AV Revolution, Tricycle and Apple.com.
Composer and producer of 6 music albums, Director of 15 films andmusic videos, 3 feature length projects, 3 multimedia theatrical live shows and 1 fulldome planetarium show, Kenji Williams is respected for pushing the boundaries of audio visual art and pioneering the convergence of art and science.
http://kenjiwilliams.com
About Lâle Sayoko
Lale was one of the founding members of Japan’s famous Samanyolu professional bellydance group, and has since developed her own solo career touring with UK’s Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers on a 44 city tour of the UK, to Turkey’s Baba Zula, to New York’s Bella Gaia multimedia Earth from Space journey show. Appearing in Japanese and American magazines and newspapers, Lale aspires for dance to be a powerful communicator though traditional technique and spiritual embodiment.
http://lalesayoko.com/
About Takako Hatanaka
Takako is a pianist, singer, composer/arranger, and piano/voice teacher. She has been performing as a jazz singer and recently has been more active as a solo performer (vocal, piano) of rather pop-style original compsitions in Tokyo, Osaka and NY. She has an MA in Jazz Performance (voice) from Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College.