Voices from the Heart

Voices from the Heart is a 200-voiced women's a cappella chorus located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA


Joanne Connolly, founding director and conductor, formed Voices from the Heart in the fall of 1995.

Photography by: Deb Cram
Courtesy of Seacoast Media Group
dcram@seacoastonline.com

Tour in 2001 to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

On July 5, 2007 Ms. Connolly will be taking the chorus on a ten day international tour, to Croatia and Slovenia. Voices from the Heart is not just a chorus that sings, but rather a chorus that believes in giving back to the community.  Each year, Voices from the Heart donates money to local non-profit organizations such as a Safe Place, a program supporting women and children who are victims of domestic violence or Friends Forever, a leadership and peace camp in Maine and NH.  During our first International Tour in 2001 to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Voices raised money at all concert venues for Women's Refuges (known as safe places in the US) and scholarships to Catholic and Protestant youth from Northern Ireland to attend the Friend's Forever Camp in Maine. 

This time, Voices from the Heart is raising funds for Adopt a Minefield, a program of the UN in America. We learned from our research that approximately 712 square miles in 12 counties in Croatia contain 243,276 which indiscriminately maim and kill its citizens; 30-40% are children. The County in which most of the members live here in New Hampshire is approximately 694 square miles. This means that none of us could safely live in our communities, our children wouldn't be safe walking to school, our agricultural lands would lay fallow, animal habitats destroyed, and water sources polluted from heavy metals. In fact, this is the story in Croatia today. Voices from the Heart committed itself to raising money for landmine clearance before departure and during the tour. It costs $3.00 to build a landmine and $1000 to clear just one mine.  Adopt a Minefield designates that one adopted minefield cleared of its mines costs $25,000. We made that figure our goal and in fact have exceeded it.  Voices from the Heart will be able to give $30,000 to AAM. The International Trust Fund for Demining and Victims Assistance (ITF)  will match our donation dollar for dollar so we can now ostensibly help clear two plus minefields.  The members of Voices from the Heart joined the international event known as the Night of a Thousand Dinners, held between March 1 and April 4th to raise awareness of the global land mine crisis and to raise funds for mine action programs.
 
As Ambassadors of Goodwill to Croatia, Voices from the Heart hopes to educate and raise the consciousness of our own community and beyond to the horrors of landmines, a cruel and indiscriminant weapon of destruction.  We envision the continuation of fundraising for this very important cause long after we have departed Croatia.  We believe that  documenting the efforts of 130 American women traveling thousands of miles to help a country barely known to us and the plight of people just like us suffering long after wars end that it will move people to take their own personal action. We plan to create two DVDs, one short ten to twenty minute documentary we can show in schools, to service groups, at our concerts, and in any other willing forum. The other will be a feature length documentary we plan to submit to film festivals around the country.

Joanne Connolly, conductor and director
http://www.voicesfromtheheart.org

TOUR DATES INFORMATION

5 JULY DEPARTURE FROM BOSTON
6 JULY ARRIVE DUBROVNIK FOR 3 NIGHTS
7 OR 8 JULY PROPOSED CONCERT IN DUBROVNIK
9 JULY OVERNIGHT IN SPLIT WITH CONCERT
10 JULY OVERNIGHT AT PLITVICE LAKES
11 JULY OVERNIGHT IN OPATIJA. CONCERT IN RIJEKA
12 JULY ARRIVE PORTOROZ FOR 3 NIGHTS
13 JULY PROPOSED CONCERT IN PULA
14 JULY PROPOSED CONCERT IN PIRAN
15 JULY DEPARTURE RETURN TO BOSTON FROM VENICE

Christine Pelham
goingpl@bestweb.net

Going Places of Pleasantville, Inc.
50 High Ridge Court,
Pleasantville NY 10570
tel:  914.773.1415
fax: 914.773.0455
www.goingplacestours.net

contact:
Ann C. Bliss: ABliss426@aol.com cell: (603) 781-4058
Deb Cram: dcram@seacoastonline.com

Related websites:
http://www.voicesfromtheheart.org
http://www.goingplacestours.net
http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/
http://www.visitnh.gov

Peak into the location scouting tour of Croatia in January of 2007:

Christine Pelham

Ann C. Bliss

Glimpse of Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA, a new Croatian friend


Steve Marchand

Steve Marchand was elected Mayor in November 2005. He officially took office in January 2006 as the youngest Mayor in New Hampshire and the youngest in Portsmouth in more than 40 years. Full bio: http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/mayor/bio.htm

Mayor of Portsmouth
Steve Marchand

Mayor's Office Hours
By Appointment.
To schedule an appointment,
please call (603) 610 7200 or
email stevemarchand@comcast.net


Contact Information
Mayor's Office, 1 Junkins Ave,
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Tel: (603) 610 7200
Email:stevemarchand@comcast.net