The Reason for the Benefit

Why is it important to keep places like White Horse Black Mountain alive and well?

White Horse Black Mountain makes a difference in the lives of people.

The venue has been a huge asset for the people of Black Mountain and the surrounding areas of Western North Carolina. The venue has been praised by musicians, audience members, and members of the community for it's quality peformances and it's warm and welcoming spirit.

But it goes beyond that. White Horse Black Mountain has demonstrated that it truly cares about people and desires to make a difference in the lives of people; locally, regionally, and around the world.

During early March, White Horse Black Mountain held it's 2nd Help Haiti Heal Benefit event. Asheville resident and friend of White Horse, Lorin Mallorie, was in Haiti at the time and helped arrange and remote Skype broadcast of Haitian musicians who once again had a stage to share their lives and music with the world. Their performance was shown live on the huge screen at White Horse and White Horse arranged to have the performance webcast live ..... so that anyone in the world could see and hear the voices and music of Haiti.

Lorin Mallorie describes the impact of that event as follows:

On Saturday evening we stage a "live" concert via satellite call to White Horse Black Mountain, which is hosting a Haiti benefit. James Vergenau (aka Rebel) of the Haitian reggae band Yizra'el sings an original tune called "Mother Nature"; Jagat accompanies him on the hand drums. The smaller venues here are still closed for reconstruction, and it's Rebel's first performance since the quake two months ago.

They tell me the White Horse audience was in tears. But what stays with me from that night in Kenscoff is the look in Rebel's eyes, alive and inspired to once again be playing the music he loves — this time for a little town in far off America.





Kim Hughes

KIM HUGHES


Kimberly Hughes sang "leading lady" roles in New York City, including Puccini's "Madame Butterfly", "Tosca", "La Boheme", and "Gianni Schicchi". Her other heroines include Countess in "The Marriage of Figaro", and Donna Elvira in "Don Giovanni", (both Mozart), Leonora in "Il Trovatore" (Verdi) and Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana" (Mascagni). She got one crack at Wagner, singing Sieglinde in "Die Walkure", sang one Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, "Iolanthe", and portrayed the title role in Lehar's "The Merry Widow". She also starred as Fanny Brice in Jule Styne's "Funny Girl."


She co-founded Dorchester Opera Theatre in Brooklyn in 1992, and released her first CD "True Voice" in 2002. Kimberly has also co-produced and performed in a series of benefit concerts in New York and North Carolina, for groups such as Doctors Without Borders, Bailey House, Greenpeace, the Brooklyn Environmental Task Force, NC radio station WNCW, and Haitian organization SOIL. Now Kimberly and her husband Bob Hinkle are co-owners of White Horse Black Mountain, a music listening room/bar just east of Asheville, NC. Kimberly also maintains a small studio of voice students and a therapeutic spiritual life coaching practice for individuals, couples, and small groups.