"An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope" to Benefit amfAR

An all-star cast of 40 renowned singers and instrumentalists comes together on one CD to sing for hope and in the cause of supporting AIDS research. The new CD, "An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope" will be launched on December 1, World AIDS Day, with 100 percent of profits going to amfAR.

"It's incredibly powerful and it's healing on both sides of the equation. Art is just an easy way for us to feel connected as humans," said Camille Zamora, co-founder of "Sing for Hope."

Among the 40 artists participating in the project are Grammy-winning artists Joyce DiDonato, Yo-Yo Ma, Sasha Cooke; international opera stars Noah Stewart, Jamie Barton, Matthew Polenzani, Susanna Phillips, Anthony Dean Griffey, Monica Yunus, Isabel Leonard, Camille Zamora, Daniel Okulitch and many more.

Accompanied by outstanding composer/performers Ricky Ian Gordon, Fred Hersch, John Musto and many more, they sing new American Art Songs in a continuation of the historic "AIDS Quilt Songbook" of 1992.

"The idea of the album is based on the famous Names Project AIDS quilt, and we are adding new songs and taking them away, so it's really like a quilt," said volunteer Thomas Bagwell.

Tuneful ballads, heartfelt laments, wryly humorous showpieces and passionate calls to action combine to create a musical portrait of AIDS in today's world. Many of the songs were specially commissioned for the CD: songs about activism and antiretrovirals, love and loss and overall, the hope for a cure.

Actors Sharon Stone ("Casino" and "Basic Instinct") and Ansel Elgort ("The Fault In Our Stars") contribute readings of poetry.

"I'm an actor and performer, and I'm so happy to volunteer two poems for this CD," said Elgort.

Produced by GPR Records and NYC-based arts volunteerism organization Sing for Hope, and distributed worldwide by Naxos Records, 100 percent of profits from "An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope" will be donated to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

More than 80 artists - instrumentalists, singers, composers, poets, actors, photographers and filmmakers - donated their time and talents in the making of this album.

Singers on the album include Jamie Barton, Nicole Cabell, Sasha Cooke, Adrienne Danrich, Joyce DiDonato, Anthony Dean Griffey, Isabel Leonard, Lester Lynch, Melody Moore, Daniel Okulitch, Sean Panikkar, Keith Phares, Susanna Phillips, Matthew Polenzani, Randall Scarlata, Michael Slattery, Noah Stewart, Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora.

Among the instrumentalists are 15-time Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma and New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill. Pianists include Thomas Bagwell, Scott Gendel, Ricky Ian Gordon, six-time Grammy-nominee Fred Hersch, Gregg Kallor, Lori Laitman, Kenneth Merrill, John Musto and Cristina Pato.

Composers for the CD are Grammy-winner Robert Aldridge, Carol Barnett, Robert Chesley, Grammy-winner Herschel Garfein, Scott Gendel, Ricky Ian Gordon, Drew Hemenger, six-time Grammy-nominee Fred Hersch, Gregg Kallor, Lori Laitman, Tania Le�n, Gilda Lyons, John Musto, Kevin Oldham, Cristina Pato, Paola Prestini, Eric Reda, four-time Emmy-winner Glen Roven, Kamala Sankaram and Mary Carol Warwick.

Artists and organizers hope that the album will help bring the struggle for a cure to AIDS to the forefront once again.

"I've been HIV-positive for over 30 years but beyond that, the community of artists and general human beings need to keep AIDS at the forefront, keeping the pressure on," said volunteer Fred Hersch.