Kim DeLacy will perform a the Mago Summer Evening Concert a the Sedona Mago Retreat Center on August 23, 7:30-10PM.  Ticket: $10 or $20 (including dinner).

Summer concert under Sedona Mago Retreat’s starry sky, August 23

Sedona, AZ - August 8, 2008 - The Mago Summer Evening Concert, a celebration of lively music and nature under Sedona’s starry sky, happens Saturday, August 23, 7:30-10:00 pm, at the Sedona Mago Retreat Center, on 160 beautifully landscaped acres in the heart of Coconino National Forest. The evening will feature two amazing acts (Kim DeLacy and Touch Acoustra Band), DahnMuDo martial arts demonstration, guided starlight meditation, and energy dancing.

According to Mago general manager Tara Kim, “We have created an evening of exciting music that responds to the natural sounds and sights of the unique setting, our Healing Garden. During this magical evening under the stars, your body will feel relaxed, your mind refreshed, and your spirit expanded.”

Surrounded by tall mountains beyond and amid late-summer flowers and herbs, the audience is seated around the Healing Garden’s lake. The performers are on a stage on the pebble beach at one end of the lake. The lake and garden have been praised for their eco-harmony of channeled rainwater.

As the evening darkens, Mago’s star-filled sky becomes vivid and dazzling.

At dusk, the concert begins with the rousing Circle of Drummers, using drums from several cultures. Situated around the lake, the drummers call all of nature to witness the gathering, and synchronize the heartbeats of nature and audience members. Kim states, “This drumming engages and unites the rhythm of the universe. Drums are the heart, creativity and backbone for all songs. The definition of ‘universe’ is literally uni-one verse-song.”

The healing garden and lake will be the venue for the Mago Summer Evening Concert to be held at the The Sedona Mago Retreat on August 23rd.

The first act is Kim DeLacy, a poetic storyteller whose instrumentals and graceful finger picking patterns blend poignantly with her voice’s raw emotion. Insightful, heart-wrenching lyrics, melodic guitars, and looped percussive beats create a haunting atmosphere.

Raised in Northern Arizona, DeLacy has always been passionate about music. This talented young songstress continues to evolve as a spontaneous and innovative artist. She released her first full-length album “The Kim Show” in 2004. At its release party, the consensus was that she had become a timeless songwriter.

DeLacy recently joined Rachael Yamagata on stage at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, CA. She has accompanied legendary guitarist Stanley Jordan live in concert. She has performed with experimental artist Keith Martini, among many others.

Referred to as a musician’s musician and not limited to any particular sound, DeLacy is a quarter of the indie rock band Red Skedly, and half of the indie rock band Apocolypstick. She has also played drums for the punk-rock bands Cherry Soda Freak Show and Big Dick & The Boys.

Kim's early 2006 release “Songbook EP” received a heartwarming response from her fans. It was followed by the full-length release of “Crescendo's & Cadences,” a brilliant mix of Indie, Folk, Rock, Alternative, Country and Distortion. Her next album, to be released later this year, has been self-proclaimed as “electracousic crunk.” She has candidly composed a musical blueprint of her soul.

Between the two musical acts, Mago’s Master Instructor Chung Suk leads a series of activities: DahnMuDo martial arts, stargazing meditation, and energy dance.

Chung Suk demonstrates the awesomeness of DahnMuDo, the self-empowerment martial art, accompanied by dramatic recorded music. He comments, “DahnMuDo helps people to claim their internal power and uncover their vast creative physical and mental-emotional energy. Dahn means pure energy, Mu tranlates to limitless, and Do is Tao for the way to discover reality.”

With its non-combative style, DahnMuDo embraces a comprehensive system of healing and martial arts rooted in 5,000-year-old Korean traditional principles and practices. As a powerful yet gentle method, it taps into the wellspring of energy deep inside the body, using an equal balance of powerful movement, exquisite grace, and calm stillness.

DahnMuDo exercises actually offer a strong path to advance the human growth process. While physically demanding, this program is also gentle and deeply healing of both the body and mind. DahnMuDo’s ultimate goal is to develop a feeling of wholeness within, so that one can attain mastery over the body and mind, and thus one’s life.

In the stargazing meditation, Chung Suk guides the audience through a heightened experience of seeing the star-filled sky in a new light, and intimately connecting to the stars.

With the awareness of the stars’ energy around and inside of us and accompanied by music of the spheres, Chung Suk directs audience members to move according to their inner rhythm and express themselves in movement of one’s own energy dance. As Chung Suk puts it, “With our brain waves calmed by this dance, we can more authentically feel our essential interconnection with Nature.”

The main musical act is Touch Acoustra, a nationally acclaimed five-piece band from Washington, DC. It has cultivated accessible jazz with world music sensibilities, especially African and Brazilian melodies.

Tommy Acoustra

With several years of performance in the Washington, DC, New York and New Orleans music scenes, and a growing European connection, Touch Acoustra has cultivated sophisticated and accessible jazz with world music sensibilities.

Headed by guitarist Rob Coltun, the band draws from an eclectic palette evident in its unusual compositions and chemistry. Joining Coltun are Anthony Pirog (guitar), Janel Leppin (cello), Steve Zerlin (bass), and Bruce Guttridge (drums). Especially with the cello, this unusual combination produces a fresh and rich sound.

The players have absorbed a variety of musical influences, including classical, jazz and R&B music, and they share a love of composition and arranging. Touch Acoustra’s songs were conceived mostly through improvisation, leading to layered jazz narrative – ranging from free-spirited tone poems to guitar-driven multi-cultural melodies, reminiscent of African and Brazilian music.

Touch Acoustra’s 2003 release “When It Comes Upon You” has received much critical acclaim and ranked high in the jazz charts in the U.S. and Canada.

For a sneak preview of Touch Acoustra in performance, see the band at Relics Restaurant and Nightclub, 3235 West Highway 89A, West Sedona, Friday, August 22, 7:30-10:00 pm; information at 928-282-1593.

Admission for the Mago Summer Evening Concert is $10 per person. Guests are invited to come for a gourmet vegetarian buffet dinner; with seating in Mago’s Dining Hall, 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Admission and dinner are $20 per person.

For guests who want to enjoy an overnight stay at Mago, there is a special offer for two persons in a room, $99 per night. Enjoy a spacious two-bed guest room, plus a one-hour morning yoga class. Additional buffet meals are available per person: breakfast at $10, and lunch at $10. Children under five years old can sleep and eat for free.

Sedona Mago Retreat Center is at 3500 E. Bill Gray Road, which is between Sedona and Cottonwood, 10.8 miles from Highway 89A.

For more information about Sedona Mago Retreat Center, reservations and directions, visit www.SedonaMagoRetreat.org or call Sandra at 877-624-6786.
om.
 

[Home Page] [News Home Page] [Back to Community Page]