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Artists Registry
Belleville ON Canada
Artist's Statement
"11 Psalms For September 11" Just like everyone else, I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out about the devastating crash into the twin towers. I watched in horror along with the rest of world and was moved to tears at the havoc that was wreaked upon the people who were in New York that had such an impact on all of us. Good friend and fellow songwriter, Suzanne Pasternak called me within 2 days saying she had started to write melodies to 5 psalms and wanted to put together a tribute to the Canadians who lost their lives and wanted to present it on December 11, 2001 in Prince Edward County, Ontario Canada where we both resided. I have to admit I looked at her incredulously for thinking we could write, rehearse & perform this tribute in less than 2 months' time. She was so convinced that it could be done that she inspired me to suggest that we choose 6 more psalms and call it "11 Psalms for September 11". I went home that night and promptly read every Psalm in the old testament not knowing which ones were going to become a part of the tribute. I just wrote & wrote & wrote and eventually a theme started to emerge which Suzanne & I laid out in Four Movements: The Attack The Search Courage Hope We performed the tribute in Picton, Ontario in December 2001 and again in Kingston, Ontario that same year on New Year's Eve. Subsequently, we performed excerpts for a Tribute to First Responders and I included 7 of the Psalms on my album "Arise" which was released in 2004. It is our dream to have the opportunity to present the full 45-minute program at the 9/11 Memorial Museum and for yearly memorials to First Responders.
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Jeanette Arsenault is a Canadian singer/songwriter who has independently released 7 albums plus 1 with a gospel trio, Trinity and will soon be releasing a children’s double album. Her patriotic song, This Is My Canada/Mon cher Canada was recorded by iconic Canadian artists and currently has almost 300,000 views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAYhT5f0i-I. In 2012, Jeanette received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for helping to raise awareness, funds for world causes & community projects such as “11 Psalms For September 11”. She sang for our Canadian Olympic athletes in Athens, Greece and in Salt Lake City, Utah, opened the World Congress of the Business & Professional Women International in Helsinki, Finland with her call-to-action anthem, “Women of the World”. www.jeanettearsenault.ca Suzanne Pasternak has spent over 33 years collecting oral histories in the field, filming and photo documenting her subjects. Her focus has been in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the various islands in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. This work led her to create historically based folk operas, musicals, plays, 3 books, 2 documentaries and 2 albums. Suzanne also has a lecture series that she presents regionally. Her latest cross border work between Halifax Nova Scotia and Boston Massachusetts is told in her newly published book titled “The Story of the 1917 Halifax Explosion and the Boston Tree”. This book has been donated to every library in Boston by the esteemed A.C. Ratshesky Foundation. www.suzannepasternak.com