ABOUT US

CRAVINGS: Songs of Hunger & Satisfaction

premiered at Ko Festival of Performance in Amherst, MA where it was commissioned to close a season curated on the theme of “FOOD: Appetites, Attitudes & Politics.”  It has since been performed at The Firehouse in Newburyport MA, Emerson Umbrella in Concord, MA, Scullers Jazz Club in Boston where it consistently garnered standing ovations.  It is soon to open the Cabaret Series at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA.

Belle Linda Halpern

has performed as a cabaret singer and actor at clubs and theatres in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Paris, Munich, Jerusalem, and Bombay. Each summer she sings cabaret concerts in the villas and castles of Northern Italy.

A graduate of Harvard/Radcliffe, she performs in French and Italian as well as Yiddish and Hebrew. Her theater roles include Esther in Elizabeth Swados’ rock opera Esther, Alice in her Alice in Concert, Josephine in Laura Harrington’s (N) Bonaparte, and Sally in Cabaret. Belle’s other theatre credits include work with Robert Wilson and Andrew Serban at the American Repertory Theatre and featured roles with Speakeasy Stage.

She has taught singing and performance since 1986 at Harvard University and each summer in Italy through the Tuscany Project. She has co-created Moon Over Dark Street, a Brecht/Weill Cabaret with Pilgrim Theatre and Cutting Crosstown: From 2nd Avenue to Broadway with fellow performer Jeffrey Korn. Her interest in Weill and Yiddish music was inspired by the generous spirit of her teacher, Martha Schlamme.

She has also co-authored Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate, and Inspire published by Penguin Putnam about the leadership development work she does with her company, The Ariel Group.

Ron Roy

Pianist and Musical Director Ron Roy is a full time faculty member at the Boston Conservatory of Music, teaching in the Musical Theater department. Ron has extensive credits in theater, cabaret, and opera both here and abroad. Additionally, Ron is a faculty member of The Tuscany Project, a voice and performance workshop that takes place every summer in Italy.

Theatrical credits include: Disappearing Act, Forbidden Hollywood, Crazy For You, Forever Plaid and Forbidden Broadway.

Additionally, Ron works with The Ariel Group, an international organization unique in its use of music in developing leadership skills to members of multi-national corporations around the globe.

Sabrina Hamilton

Director and Designer Sabrina Hamilton is the Artistic Director of the Ko Festival of Performance which has just completed its 18th season in Amherst, MA. For many years she worked with the acclaimed New York theatre company Mabou Mines.

Other credits include work at the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and 6 years as Route Lighting Designer for New York’s Village Halloween Parade under the direction of Ralph Lee. International lighting credits include work in Bologna, Florence, Milan, London, Grenada, Geneva, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Amsterdam, Brussels, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Tampere, Finland, as well as at the Bristol Old Vic, and at the International Theatre Festival in Havana, Cuba. Her directing work, primarily original pieces, has been seen in New York, Berlin and throughout New England. She is on the Board of the Network of Ensemble Theatres.

Ko Theater Works

is an organization based in Amherst, MA, founded in 1991. It is named for the 49th hexagram of the I CHING, the ancient Chinese Book of Changes. “Ko,” or “Revolution” can be visualized as a shedding of skin, a sloughing off of the old. Ko is dedicated to fostering innovative artistic collaborations in order to create work that draws from both comic and tragic traditions, mixing them with innovative uses of design and technology, in an atmosphere conducive to deep collaboration. We create and present pieces that are a springboard for community dialogue, ones that consider themes and issues vital to our civic and personal lives.

For the past 18 summers, we have produced the Ko Festival of Performance, a theme-based season of performances, workshops and rehearsal residencies. For more information visit www.kofest.com