March 28, 2024
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Chesapeake Arts Center presents: The War and Treaty with Choo Choo Hu

warandtreatty2The Chesapeake Arts Center is proud to announce that The War and Treaty with Choo Choo Hu will be performing on Saturday, June 27, 2015 in the Hammonds Lane Theatre located at 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, Maryland 21225. Doors open at 6:30pm and the show starts at 7:00pm. Tickets are $15.00 for Adults, $13.50 for CAC Members & Senior Members and $15.00 for Children 12 & Under, they are available for purchase at the Box Office, by visiting the Chesapeake Arts Center website, www.ChesapeakeArts.org, or by calling the Box Office at 410-636-6597.

Four years ago, two solo artists from opposite sides of the world met at a Love Festival. Michael Trotter, Jr. had just returned home after serving in the Iraq war and Tanya Blount was performing on various stages around the world. They fell in love and combined their talents to form The War and Treaty. The duo have been performing on stage and writing beautiful music together ever since.

They are currently increasing fans on the social media airwaves with the soulful pop-folk songs from their much anticipated debut album, The War and Treaty: Live at Blue House Studios. Their music is intimate, innovative and exciting. The War and Treaty is gaining momentum and their success has led to a national 20 city tour in United States ending this year in Zurich, Switzerland.

Most will instantly recognize singer Tanya Blount from the movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit where she sang “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” with Lauryn Hill. Blount appeared on the Big Break television show (similar to Star Search) hosted by Natalie Cole. From there, she secured a recording contract with Polydor Records at age 19. The following year, she released her first album, Natural Thing, which peaked at #7 on the R&B chart. The album’s first single “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” peaked to #57 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart. Two singles followed, “Through the Rain” and “Hold On” soared to #27 at #66 respectively on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart. By 1995, Blount received a nomination for Best New Artist at the Soul Train Awards.

Michael Trotter is most recognizable as a former Indie Gospel artist trudging through the trenches of the underground pipelines. In 1996, he won Washington DC’s Futurefest Singing Competition hosted by former mayor Marion Barry. From there, Trotter joined the military where he served valiantly in Iraq from 2003-2007. In 2005, Trotter won the Baumholder, Germany “Military Idol” judged by American Idol’s voice coach Debra Bryd, ACM’s award-winning vocalist Mark Wills and legendary recording artist Michael Peterson. In 2012, Trotter was featured on Hope Channel’s My Story, My Song where he both sang as a solo artist and shared his story about his time at war. In 2013, Trotter received Congressional Recognition from the House of Representatives and was presented a certificate by Rep. Donna Edwards.

In early 2015, the duo will release their debut album entitled The War and Treaty: Live at Blue House Studios, recorded in front of a live studio audience in Bethesda, Maryland. Fifty percent of all digital album sales proceeds will be donated to Operation Second Chance, a non-profit organization committed to serving wounded, injured and ill combat veterans including those with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD hits close to home with the band, as Trotter was recently diagnosed with it after serving two tours in Iraq.

Pianist Choo Choo Hu has quickly become recognized as one of the most versatile musicians of her generation. Praised by The Bethlehem Morning Call as “one of the finest musicians I’ve ever heard…her technique was as solid and smooth as could be wished…in addition, she managed to bring out the richness of Schubert’s music with impeccable phrasing and tempi.”

Choo Choo has performed across the United States from New York to Los Angeles and a host of places in between, as well as in parts of Europe and Asia. Although she enjoys an active career as a soloist, Choo Choo is also a passionate chamber musician. She has worked with members of the Brentano, Tokyo, and Jupiter String Quartets. Recent performances include collaborations with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, musicians of the Baltimore Symphony, the JHU Choral Society, and appearances at the Strathmore Mansion, the TEDx MidAtlantic Conference, and TEDMED 2013 at the Kennedy Center. An avid proponent of contemporary music, Choo Choo is a member of the Sonar New Music Ensemble, a Baltimore-based group dedicated to promoting music written within the last century and premiering works by up-and- coming young composers.

Born in China and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Choo Choo began taking lessons at the age of five with pianist John (Yiqiang) Sun. By the time she was sixteen she had already accumulated top prizes at competitions throughout the country such as the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the Biennial Lee Competition, the Washington University Young Artists Concerto Competition, and the St. Louis Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. At age seventeen she enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano performance, studying with renowned musicians Brian Ganz and Leon Fleisher. While at Peabody, Choo Choo was the recipient of the Albert and Rosa Silverman Memorial Scholarship, the Yale Gordon Chamber Music Fellowship, and the Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music.

If You Go

  • What: Chesapeake Arts Center Presents: The War and Treaty with Choo Choo Hu
  • When: Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 7:00pm
  • Where: Chesapeake Arts Center, 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, Maryland 21225
  • Tickets: Adult $15.00; CAC Members & Senior Members $13.50; Children 12 & Under $15.00

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