An immersive multimedia musical performance that weaves songs with narrative to delve into the intimate, universally resonant, and timely themes of trauma, grief, and the path to healing.
🎫 Tickets: http://bit.ly/45Adk6q
📅 Date: September 18, 2025
⏰ Time: 6:30-7:30pm
📍 Location: JCC CenterStage
🖌️ Format: Live Music, Storytelling and Projected Visuals.
The Concept
Sarah De Vallière released a 10 song concept album in June 2024 called “The Healing”. It vulnerably explores the universal themes of trauma and grief, and the healing and growth that follows.
The songs on this album have been performed and well received on stages both big and small as individual pieces. The aim of this particular performance is to perform the album from beginning to end in it’s entirety, interweaving songs with storytelling and a backdrop of artistic visuals, to create an immersive show that is beautiful and captivating.
While not a musical, each song tells a story, and each story leads into the next, creating an arch that is cathartic. These songs delve into challenging subjects with sensitivity and an ever present clarity that hope is around the corner.
The Music
Below is a sampling of the album to give an idea of the diverse collection of songs. To listen to the album in full please visit https://sarahdevalliere.com/the-healing-album/ where you can choose your streaming service of choice.
Indie/Jazz/Latin-Fusion, upbeat, exciting and dramatic
The title track of the album, this song is autobiographical but highly influenced by “Canopus” a graphic novel by Rochester native, Dave Chisolm. It’s about that moment where you metaphorically wake up and realize the trauma you’ve experienced, and begin to feel the inescapable and nessecary pain of the healing process.
The Songwriter
Sarah De Vallière has been steadily developing a name for herself in Rochester and beyond, not only as a talented and charismatic performer, and also a skillful songwriter. An award winning singer-songwriter and composer with a background in film scoring, she crafts songs that not only tell powerful stories, but also create immersive sonic experiences, brimming with visceral feeling and evocative imagery.
Her critically acclaimed 2019 release, “Dreams On Hold” (described by CITY Newspaper as “an enthralling Americana storybook”), established her as a significant voice in modern singer-songwriter music, earning comparisons to artists like Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin, and Tori Amos. Her latest album, “The Healing,” is an even more expansive and ambitious project, showcasing her diverse musical background, technical expertise and visceral vulnerability. Featuring noted musicians Damon Grant (Mary J. Blige, Eric Hutchinson), Alex Cotè (Mikaela Davis), Kurt G. Johnson (Maybird, Mikaela Davis, Moho Collective), and members of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, “The Healing” was praised by Ground Control Magazine as “one of the most beautiful albums heard in a long time.” Her songs have received radio play across America and beyond.
The Band
Sarah has been playing and recording with some of Rochester’s best musicians. This show will include her core band, as well as some select guest musicians to help reproduce the album as well create a dynamic and multi-dimensional show. For recent live video and more:
Multi-Media
This show is much more then just a band performance:
Quotes + Visuals: To offer a broader understanding of grief and healing, the show features a curated collection of quotes gathered from a diverse range of sources, including friends and fans worldwide. These poignant anecdotes, stories, and inspirational thoughts are thoughtfully paired with evocative imagery, designed to create a seamless and impactful flow throughout the performance.
Looping Video: Furthermore, each song is accompanied by a uniquely selected, looping video, intended to facilitate deeper meditation on the music and lyrics. This deliberate choice shifts the audience’s focus from the musicians to the shared stories and experiences being conveyed.
Why Fringe?
In a world that often seems divided and disconnected, songs about grief and healing have the ability to unite through the power of empathy.
With everything currently taking place in our world, there needs to be creative spaces where audiences can explore even the hard things, and by doing so, leave the space feeling resilient and hopeful.
Fringe Fests all over the world are known to go outside the box and present material that is thought provoking and moving, albeit potentially out of the box, making it an ideal venue with the ideal audience to present this show.
Thank you for considering.