All-Star 'AIDS QUILT SONGBOOK' CD Features Sharon Stone, Ansel Elgort, Yo-Yo Ma and More

An all-star cast of renowned singers and instrumentalists comes together on one CD to sing for hope and in the cause of supporting AIDS research.

Grammy-winning artists Joyce DiDonato, Yo-Yo Ma, Sasha Cooke; international opera stars Noah Stewart, Jamie Barton, Matthew Polenzani, Susanna Phillips, Anthony Dean Griffey, Monica Yunus, Isabel Leonard, Camille Zamora, Daniel Okulitch and many more, accompanied by outstanding composer/ performers Ricky Ian Gordon, Fred Hersch, John Musto and many more, sing new American Art Songs in a continuation of the historic "AIDS Quilt Songbook" of 1992.

Tuneful ballads, heartfelt laments, wryly humorous showpieces and passionate calls to action combine to create a musical portrait of AIDS in today's world. Many of the songs were specially commissioned for the CD: songs about activism and antiretrovirals, love and loss, and overall, the hope for a cure. Actors Sharon Stone ("Casino", "Basic Instinct") and Ansel Elgort ("The Fault In Our Stars") contribute readings of poetry.

Produced by GPR Records and NYC-based arts volunteerism organization Sing for Hope, and distributed worldwide by Naxos Records, 100% of profits from An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope will be donated to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. More than 80 artists -- instrumentalists, singers, composers, poets, actors, photographers and filmmakers -- donated their time and talents in the making of this album.

Singers: Jamie Barton, Nicole Cabell, Sasha Cooke, Adrienne Danrich, Joyce DiDonato, Anthony Dean Griffey, Isabel Leonard, Lester Lynch, Melody Moore, Daniel Okulitch, Sean Panikkar, Keith Phares, Susanna Phillips, Matthew Polenzani, Randall Scarlata, Michael Slattery, Noah Stewart, Monica Yunus, and Camille Zamora.

Instrumentalists: 15-time Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma, New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill. Pianists: Thomas Bagwell, Scott Gendel, Ricky Ian Gordon, 6-time Grammy©-nominee Fred Hersch, Gregg Kallor, Lori Laitman, Kenneth Merrill, John Musto, and Cristina Pato.

Composers: Grammy-winner Robert Aldridge, Carol Barnett, Robert Chesley, Grammy-winner Herschel Garfein, Scott Gendel, Ricky Ian Gordon, Drew Hemenger, 6-time Grammy-nominee Fred Hersch, Gregg Kallor, Lori Laitman, Tania León, Gilda Lyons, John Musto, Kevin Oldham, Cristina Pato, Paola Prestini, Eric Reda, 4-time Emmy-winner Glen Roven, Kamala Sankaram, and Mary Carol Warwick.

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