Faculty members at the New York campus of SAE Institute, which was cited as being the world’s “best of the best” audio engineering school by Vibe Magazine, recorded “Ambassadors Sing for Peace”, a compilation of songs promoting world peace, hope, and togetherness performed by five United Nations Ambassadors and youth choirs.
The album includes new recordings of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”, Bob Marley’s “One Love”, Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind”, John Lennon’s “Imagine”, Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”, and six other popular tunes as well as one original. All of the songs were by performed by Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Guillermo Rishchynski, Cape Verde’s Ambassador Antonio Pedro Monteiro Lima, Costa Rica’s Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri, Romania’s Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu, and Naura’s Ambassador Marlene Moses.
SAE instructors Rich Cresenti and Sean Kalaras recorded the songs at SAE’s new campus in Chelsea using the school’s Neve console. Cresenti is a veteran of New York’s Soundtrack Studios. While at Soundtrack, he worked on such film projects as Martin Scorsese’s ” Shine A Light”, Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna”, and the “Sex and The City” movie – as well as such TV shows as “Law & Order”, “Fringe”, “Gossip Girl”, and “Ugly Betty”. Kalaras has engineered and mixed tracks for Island Records recording artist Jenna Andrews, Brooklyn-based trio Market East, and S-Curve Records band We The Kings.
“Every time the ambassadors got together, they were so joyful and enthusiastic about the music,” says Gary Fry, Emmy Award-winning composer who arranged and provided artistic direction for the album. “In their daily routines, they’re often dealing with very tough issues. I hope everyone can see how much nicer the world could be if everyone just treated it like a big jam session.”
The “Ambassadors Sing for Peace” CD is being made available at the UN Bookstore, as well as on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and other major international digital and online sales hubs. Proceeds from the album will go to support youth assemblies organized annually at the UN by the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation.
