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Dr. G Hannabiell Sanders is an African American Jamaican, originally from New Jersey, USA. She holds a BFA in Music from Mason Gross School for the Arts, Rutgers University and a Masters and PhD in Music Performance from Newcastle University. With a musical career starting at the age of 9 she has become an award-winning performer, bass trombonist, African & Latin hand percussionist, composer, and activist.
Hannabiell is the musical director, composer and performer for Hannabiell & Midnight Blue Collective and the Ladies of Midnight Blue who have performed nationally & internationally. Both ensembles fuse together Afro-Caribbean & Latin percussion, Jazz, Afro-beat, and Funk to create their unique sound. 
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Hannabiell is a charismatic musician and progressive music teacher who is committed to using music to break stereotypes and bring diverse communities together. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Harambee Pasadia CIC, an organisation dedicated to promoting the arts as a means for social change and civic engagement in the North East of England. Harambee in Swahili means ‘let’s get together’ and Pasadia in Spanish means ‘to spend the day.’
Hannabiell was the creative associate for Freedom on the Tyne 2017, and the musical Director and composer for A Christmas Carol in 2018 and the Snow Queen 2019, both produced by the Northern Stage. She became the Artistic Director for Harambee Pasadia CIC in April 2018, a cultural organisation that creates, organises, and manages the activities and events showcasing music, dance, arts, theatre, and films from the African and Pan-African Diaspora. Harambee Pasadia CIC flagship event is Harambee Pasadia, Afro Fusion Arts Festival. Hannabiell created and facilitated Human is My Name the North East Freedom Song project that brought together a group of students and staff from Newcastle University, musicians, and people for the local community to create a freedom song and a lesson framework designed to introduce young people to Martin Luther King Jr., human rights, and the links between music and social activism. |
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Hannabiell is supported by PRS Foundation’s Women Make Music
"A brand new musical take on the story, this performance has been scored (and performed) by musical director Dr Hannabiell Sanders (of Ladies of Midnight Blue, among others), and it’s her contribution that is most likely to stick in the mind. Expertly weaving traditional English Christmas carols with elements of New Orleans-style jazz, blues and soul, Sanders’ score not only brings foot-stomping boogie to the well-worn festive elements, but also a real sense of menace and the unknown that echoes the unsettling nature of Scrooge’s visitations." --NARC
"Hannabiell Sanders’ music breathes new life into Christmas Carols with a fantastic jazz sound."
--Stage Review |