InterAction Gala Awards Banquet                      Order Tickets

Tribute to the People of Haiti and to the

US NGO Impact Around the World

Featuring Emeline Michel and Beethova Obas

Emeline Michel and Beethova Obas are both Haitian performers whose musical careers have intertwined for more than 20 years. They last performed together in Haiti in December of 2009, one month before the devastating earthquake hit on January 12.

A special evening of tribute and celebration, the annual Interaction Gala Awards Banquet celebrates years of dedication to saving lives and improving the human condition. The evening honors the legacy of aid workers who lost their lives in service this past year and acknowledges the achievement of individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the world's poor and most vulnerable people.

 

  Emeline Michel is the reigning Queen of Haitian Song: a captivating performer, versatile vocalist and one of the premier Haitian songwriters of her generation. She has recorded and appeared on concert stages throughout the Caribbean, Europe, and North & South America for over 20 years. Singing both in French and Haitian Creole,
her nine albums, Douvanjou ka leve (May the Sun Rise), Pa gen manti nan sa (There's No Doubt), Rhum & Flamme (Rum & Flame), Tout Mon Temps (All My Time), The Very Best, Ban'm pase (Let Me Pass), Cordes et Ame (Strings and Soul), Rasin Kreyol (Creole Roots), and Reine de Coeur (Queen of Hearts) have catapulted her to international acclaim.

  Emeline Michel is beloved by Haitians for combining traditional rhythms with social, political and inspirational content. She emphasizes complex themes, conscious lyrics, and a broad palette of musical styles, including the native Haitian compas, twoubadou and rara. She dances, sings, and does all with style, grace and pride. in 2006 she was commissioned by President Bill Clinton to perform at his annual 2000+ attended fundraiser. She has performed at venues worldwide including but not limiting to, the Lincoln Center, Schomburg, Carnegie Hall and the Flagey Theater in Brussels to name a few.

She is a true representation of the best that Haiti has to offer.
 

 

  When he first appeared on the Haitian musical scene at the beginning of the nineties, Beethova Obas was immediately considered as one of the most talented and inspired singer-songwriters of his generation. With his painful lyrics and sensuous melodies, Beethova Obas has forged an incisive blues which appeals to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Beethova Obas was born in Haiti in 1964, under the dictatorial regime of François Duvalier. The youngest of five children, he was the son the painter Charles Obas. In 1969, after having demonstrated in front of the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Charles disappeared, never to be seen again. A passionate music lover, he left numerous instruments among the canvases in his studio, and it was in his father's now deserted workplace that Beethova first taught himself to play.

Beethova Obas first made his name as a songwriter. It was in dramatic circumstances that Beethova Obas gravitated from being solely a songwriter to a performer. In December 87, as Manno Charlemagne was leaving home to record "Nwel Anmé", a song critical of the regime in power, a band of armed men shot him on his doorstep, wounding him badly. Beethova recorded the song in his place. It was a huge hit. The following year, he was elected Best Young Singer by the jury of the Découverte RFI contest. His albums include: Le chant de liberté, Si..., Pa Prese, Planet La, Kèm Poze, Gad devan, and Best of Beethova Obas. Beethova has achieved international recognition in more than two decades of performing and in February 2006, the OAS (Organization of American States) appointed Beethova Obas as one of its peace ambassadors.

Describing the most beautiful contrasts, Beethova OBAS, while singing the confusion of his beloved Haiti, and raising his voice against the pollution of the planet, celebrates also the love and joy that his people and the others of this world manifest even in the hardest of circumstances. 

InterAction Gala Awards Banquet
7:30-10 pm Thursday, June 3
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Plaza
Washington, DC 20001
Ballroom A

$100 per person.  Tickets are limited.

No tickets will be sold at the door.

Festive Attire

Order your tickets today and show your support for InterAction,
the largest coalition of U.S. based NGOs who
save lives and work around the world to improve the lives of the world's poor.