Music and Young Americans Help Orphaned Refugees Integrate Into German Schools

California-based international, non-profit, music performance group- The Young Americans announced today its collaboration with the German city of Giessen and its officials to conduct its Signature Music Outreach Workshop involving 100+ “unaccompanied youth” refugees from Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia and 100+ German high school students.   The goal of this first-ever collaboration is to use music as the vehicle to build bridges of hope and understanding between the young refugees and the local youth of Germany. Giessen County will host the event at Dietrich Bonhoeffer School in Lich, Germany, October 25^th-28^th and cover the costs for all refugee participants.

“These young refugee students have somehow made it to Germany to seek asylum,” says Michael Heib, German resident and Director of European Tours for The Young Americans. “All of these children have lost their parents and their homes due to the war events. They now get food and shelter from Germany but that does not make them part of our society. We are pleased to be part of the solution and honored to bring in The Young Americans music program to create harmony and understanding among these traumatized youth.”

The Young Americans has worked with over 800,000 youth across the world and serve as the largest youth-led music revolution in the world.  The 45-member college-age casts tour worldwide, year round, and stay in the homes of local residents. At each tour stop, they teach three-day music outreach workshops that include classes in singing, dancing, and theater performance. On the final day, a spectacular two-hour show is produced featuring the workshop participants as they perform alongside The Young Americans in front of parents, families, teachers, friends and community members.

“We have always been willing and ready to go wherever the world needs us most,” says Bill Brawley, Executive Director of The Young Americans. “Music is the most powerful tool we have for connecting and understanding among cultures. We have seen our programs work everywhere we go. Our performers continually show people all over the world how genuine love and understanding can overcome all the obstacles that stand between us as human beings.”

To document this project, The Young Americans will bring with them a crew of filmmakers from Los Angeles, One-Eleven Entertainment, to create a documentary and capture these monumental moments in our world’s history. Together, they will produce a ‘good-news’ story to share in the midst of such tragedy and devastation. “Incredibly and appropriately, The Young Americans are right in the middle of this story, able to make deep and lasting connections between two culturally different peoples – using music as the tool to do so,” states David Swift, Co-Director and CEO of One-Eleven Entertainment. “This story must be told now, with reverence, while it’s happening …. while it matters most.”

For more information or to schedule an interview with The Young Americans’ directors or cast members please contact:

Brooke Robinson-Wollner, Publicist media@youngamericans.org or call 615.485.7705

Onsite Local German contact:

Michael Heib   +49 172 52 47 913 or email nartan@t-online.de

EDITORS NOTE: For more info about The Young Americans Please visit www.youngamericans.org or view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AAHy0QVRrI

More About The Young Americans

Founded over 50 years ago in Hollywood, California and known as the world’s first show choir, this non-profit performance and music education group is not politically or religiously affiliated and uses music as a tool to inspire youth and audiences all across the world.  From their early days of performing with legends such as Andy Williams, Ed Sullivan, and Bing Crosby, to their current Turn Up The Music International Music Outreach Tours which include 400+ shows each year across 17 countries, The Young Americans remains the pinnacle of excellence in both music and dance performance.

About The Young Americans

The Young Americans is non-profit dedicated to the promotion of understanding and goodwill among people throughout the world through music, dance, performance, music education and cultural interaction among student members and their audience