To use the universal power of music as a vehicle to bring cultures and countries together and to foster education, workforce development, and artistic expression for Haiti?s youth.

Konbit Mizik is a not-for-profit recording studio & music school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Conceived as a music and documentary film project to seek out and record the undiscovered talent in some of the roughest, most neglected parts of Port-au-Prince, Konbit Mizik has grown into a movement of smart, talented, and caring individuals from all spectra who believe that, in our increasingly-interconnected global community, it is important to celebrate our common values and acknowledge our collective ability to work, teach, learn, play music and rebuild Haiti together.

History

Producer and keyboardist Ian Evans, on hiatus from touring internationally with Homegrown Kush, Collie Buddz, Barrington Levy, and others, set this project in motion by recording scores of beats and rhythms with bassist and fellow Berklee alum Jonathan Rappaport. The vision was to finish the tracks in Haiti with singers, rappers, and musicians. Ian teamed up with filmmaker Nick Cannell and they began to build a network of brilliant, undiscovered musical talent in Haiti, recorded a compilation of hip-hop, reggae, and traditional songs, and discovered a universal truth the human spirit is indefatigable when powered through our collective love of music.

What We Need & What You Get

Projects

Over the next year, Konbit Mizik will:

- Produce and release a feature-length documentary film.

- Perform assessment & Develop a budget and workplan for construction, systems-building, curriculum and staffing.

- Develop a model and schedule for ongoing excursions by American musicians, producers, instructors, artists, and professionals from all spectra to visit and teach, and learn, and work with Haitians in the creation of a recording studio and community center.

Konbit Mizik has begun the lease of the CENEOH property located at:
19 rue  Catalpa, Fragneau Ville, Delmas 75, Port-au-Prince.

We need your help for the following:

Annual rent: $7,000 USD

Sound proof box: $1,300

Electricity: $1,000

Plumbing (toilet): $2,000

Freezer/refrigerator: $300

Misc. Kitchen: $500

Internet upgrade: $450

Local telephone line: $500

(5) Apple iMac with Logic Pro installed: $5,995

Misc. Instruments/Sound equipment: $1,000

Renovation/furnishing: $1,000

TOTAL: $21,045

As Konbit Mizik is in the middle of incorporation as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, your contributions will be tax-deductible upon receipt of our certificate from the IRS.  We will provide you with the receipt retroactively.

PERKS:

$25 - listing as a supporter on our website

$100 - free entrance to our upcoming concerts & art exhibits + listing on our website

$200 - Producer credits in the upcoming film "Konbit Mizik" + free entrance to events + website listing

$500 - Senior Producer credits + everything previously listed

$1,000 - Free RT airfare to Port-au-Prince, Haiti with Konbit Mizik & Art in Motion + everything previously listed

$2,500 - Original incorporator of Konbit Mizik + everything previously listed

$5,000 - Recording studio will be named in your honor + everything previously listed

Please join us at The Box on June 15th for the Concert for the Empowerment of Haiti thru Music & Art featuring a star-studded musical line-up0 and an exquisite art exhibition "Pou Soly Leve" (For a Rising Sun) by the children of the Diakonos Orphanage in Carrefour.  Our co-beneficiary organization is Haiti's Hope (www.haitishope.org) which sponsors the orphanage as well as other sustainable projects in Haiti.

Please join us for our VIP reception at 7 pm with our prestigious host committee which includes:

Charles King, Pres. & CEO of Housing Works
Andrew Jenks, World of Jenks, MTV
Yvonne Graham, Deputy Borough Pres. of Brooklyn
Yanick Eveillard, National Haitian American Health Alliance
Debera Johnson, Director of Sustainability, Pratt University
Fabienne Doucet, Chair of The Haiti Working Group, NYU Steinhardt
Cynthia K. Cortes, Co-Owner/Deputy Chief of Karin and Raoul + Photographer
John Dabu, CATM Chelsea
Anne K. Nolon, Pres. & CEO of Hudson River HealthCare
Brad Digital, artist/designer
Geena Rocero, model/activist
Angelina Assereto, supermodel/activist
Liony Batista, Executive Director of Friends of Hope, International

We will have a short film premier, a raffle drawing with the winning prize free roundtrip airfare to Port-au-Prince with our team, and a live video Skype chat with our friends and colleagues in Haiti.  It is going to be a truly uplifting and magical evening.  Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at www.konbitmizik.org with all proceeds going to Haiti's Hope and Konbit Mizik.

We have not forgotten about Haiti.  In fact, we are more encouraged and inspired than ever that together we can make a difference for the future generations of Haitians.  The response so far has been phenomenal, and we cordially invite you join us and lend your talents, skills, and passion for the benefit of those less fortunate.

Kind regards,
Nick Cannell
Konbit Mizik, co-founder