By LAUREN LAURUNE
Contributing Writer
One World Tribe, a local band with a World Music focus, will kick-off this year’s “Year Of Sustainable Communities” celebration Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. in Shafer Auditorium .
“We think they bring a lot to the party,” said Tim Cooper, director of Conference & Event Services. “The band is a real melting pot. You get a lot out of the music and messages they’ve written throughout the years. We think it’s a great way to kick [the Year of Sustainable Communities] off.”
Communication Arts professor Ishita Sinha Roy, who helped plan the event, agreed. “Everyone felt that the message was good and that it was about sustainable communities,” Sinha Roy said. “It was a nice transition from global citizenship into sustainable communities.”
Global citizenship, which promotes awareness of the world’s cultural differences, was Allegheny’s featured theme last year.
One World Tribe sends a message of embracing diversity, which is why Allegheny decided the band was a good choice.
“There were two challenges [in planning Sustainable Community events],” Sinha Roy said. “We needed events that fit with the theme, and we needed them to be appealing across generational groups.”
One World Tribe consists of 12 members, most of whom come from the tri-state area, including Ohio, New York and Western Pennsylvania. Band leader Kennedy Thompson explained who One World Tribe hopes to reach.
“Our music is about the people that don’t have a voice,” said Thompson. “It’s very tied into community.”
Their style draws on a variety of different genres.
“I listened to a lot of different styles growing up, so I wanted to put it all under one roof, so to speak,” Thompson said.
Thompson describes their live show as improvisational.
“You never know where we’re going to wind up going [with a song],” he said. “The talent of the musicians allows us to do that.”
Tickets cost $7.50 for adults and $5 for students and children under 18 and can be purchased online or by calling (814) 332-3101.
