Mark Shepard: A Life In Song

Yesterday, (Friday, April 18, 2008) was pivotal in my life as a songwriter.

There’s a long and complex back story that I will be sharing with you in the next few weeks… but here’s the first installment which picks up on the story somewhere in the middle.

(Please note, for technical reasons I had to take this video out. As soon as I get those issues ironed out it will be back)

This video is of the rehearsal of “Together We Can Change The World” which I originally wrote at Bill Rodman’s urging for Ginny Dye (Learn more about Ginny Dye and her Social Entrepreneurship )

Bill Rodman called Thursday night giving me the time and location for a rehearsal of 3 of my songs by a group of teens from Uganda. They call themselves the SIFA choir. What’s important about these kids is that the majority of them have lost their families to the African AIDS/HIV epidemic. They are here in this country on tour to raise money to help themselves and others like them live better lives.

See them in full costume performing…

Friday afternoon, I met up with Bill Rodman and Joe Mennona as well as the SIFA Choir kids in order to rehearse 3 of my songs in preparation for next week’s recording session. I found them at a summer camp in Clinton CT and immediately I knew there was something special about these kids.

I walked up the driveway and they were so warm and open I was immediately touched.

So as we gathered together to begin rehearsing, several camera people were filming the whole process as part of a documentary that will be released in the next few months. My friend Rob Bronsen was there with is cam-corder so that I could give you an unofficial sneak peek into the process.

Joe wrote 3 separate parts which the kids learned easily and rapidly.

Please feel free to share this story with others who may be interested. I also appreciate your questions and comments.

Some of the key characters we’ll be introducing in future blog posts are:

Bill Rodman, former ESPN producer who has created a company, 4E Productions to create meaningful and positive message entertainment for children, teens and adults in various formats.

Ginny Dye, “Social Entrepreneur” CEO of a family of companies designed to make a positive difference in the world through the leverage of the internet and network marketing.

Rilee O’Neill, 12 year old singing prodigy who I’ve been writing songs for as part of a musical called “Letters To Daddy: A musical detention”

John O’Neill, Elementary School Teacher, Rilee’s dad and Bill Rodman’s friend and partner in developing the “Letters To Daddy” project as a character education program

Joe Mennonna, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, sound engineer. My long time friend and trusted collaborator, Joe is a virtuoso pianist, as well as flutist, saxophonist, accordian player, guitarist, and holds his own on trumpet, trombone and tuba.

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Tags: africa, aids, bill rodman, ginny dye, hiv, mark shepard, orphanages, orphans, rilee oneill, SIFA choir, together we can change the world, uganda

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Modern Jedi Songs, Rilee Project, SIFA Choir Project. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.