Chicago, Illinois, USA - Five acclaimed vocalists sing the international language of love as part of Love Songs of the World on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 at 6 p.m. in Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street. Featured artists in this stellar line-up are Baimei, Issa Boulos, Paulinho Garcia, Michaela Marchi and Joe Reilly, and Bobbi Wilsyn. Their diverse repertoire of contemporary and traditionally inspired music includes Brazilian bossa nova, Arab maqam, Chinese pop, American Indian blues and African American jazz.

Beimei is an internationally acclaimed vocalist and songwriter from China. In Chicago, Baimei has hosted a TV music show and anchored the news for Chinese Television. She recorded original songs for the Museum of Contemporary Art audio presentation "Divided We Stand" and has performed locally at the Park West. A graduate of China's National Institute of Traditional Performing Arts in Beijing and DePaul University, she has extensive training in both vocal music and opera.

Issa Boulos is a Palestinian 'ud player, singer, composer and teacher who is trained in singing Arab classical maqam repertoire. His recent work is a blend of tradition and innovation that incorporates Western musical practices with Palestinian sensibility. Boulos has composed hundreds of instrumental and vocal pieces and performs regularly. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Chicago and director of its Middle East Ensemble.

Paulinho Garcia was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and began his musical career at the age of nine as a singer. Since his 1979 arrival in the U.S., Garcia has performed and recorded two albums with the band Made in Brazil, and currently performs with his own band Jazzmineiro, and with saxophonist Greg Fishman (Two for Brazil) and singer Grazyna Auguscik. He is the recipient of the 2001 "Best Jazz Entertainer Award" by the Chicago Music Awards.

Michaela Marchi began her formal artistic training at the age of 14 at the Chicago Academy for the Arts focusing on voice performance, piano and composition. In college, she specialized in ethnomusicology, language systems and education. Marchi is of Italian, Filipina and Isleta Pueblo heritage and performs regularly as a vocalist in various genres including opera, jazz, R&B, musical theater, blues, alternative folk and world fusion.

Joe Reilly has been performing and collaborating on creative projects for the past year with Michaela Marchi. Reilly is of Italian, Cherokee and Irish American heritage and has been playing guitar since age 14. His repertoire as a singer/songwriter includes blues, folk, rock and traditional Native American singing with the drum group Treetown.

Bobbi Wilsyn is a veteran Chicago vocalist known for her glamour and ultra polished vocal style. Her versatility as a singer and entertainer comes from nearly 25 years performing for all occasions in various Chicago clubs, churches and concert halls. After touring with Milt Trenier in the '70s, she settled in Chicago where she currently is an artist-in-residence on the music faculty of Columbia College and regularly performs with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. She also performs with her all-female jazz combo She and the contemporary jazz group, Bobbi Wilsyn & Co. She will be accompanied by Miguel de la Cerna on piano and Jim Cox on bass.

Love Songs of the World is part of the MVP Series: Multicultural Voices and Perspectives presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the American Indian Center; Arts Council, Arab American Action Network; Center for Asian Arts and Media, Columbia College; Center for Cultural Understanding and Change, Field Museum; Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, and the Gamaliel Foundation. The MVP Series primary purpose is to present multicultural arts programs to foster better cross-cultural understanding and exchange.

[Photo: Issa Boulos].