WHEN: Sunday May 21, 2023 – Noon – 2:30 pm
WHERE: The University Club, One West 54th Street
Tickets can be purchased HERE
Back on schedule following last fall’s “make up for the pandemic” gathering, The New York Carolina Club, UNC Department of Dramatic Art, UNC Department of Music, Ackland Art Museum, Carolina Performing Arts and the UNC General Alumni Association cordially invite you to attend the 24th Brunch to Celebrate the Arts at Carolina.
This year’s recipient of the John L. Haber (“Habey”) Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts will be Lachi Music ’05. PlayMakers Rep Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch, Department of Music Chair David Garcia, Ackland Art Museum Director Katie Ziglar and other UNC officials will be in attendance, as well as various past-Habey honorees. Per tradition, we will also spotlight a Young Alumnus: actor-director-comic Bryan Burton ’12. The event will be emceed by Bryan Tucker ‘93, senior writer for “Saturday Night Live.”
Price: $75 / GAA members: $65.
Young alumni (Classes of 2012-22): $55.
Young alumni GAA members (Classes of 2012-22): $45.
Tickets can be purchased HERE
Lachi Music ’05 is a singer songwriter, composer, producer, actress, author, disability advocate (she happens to be legally blind) and cultural activist. She was born in Towson, Maryland to Nigerian immigrant parents and grew up in many places, including
Raleigh, NC. During her time at Carolina, she created Cadence, which now twenty years later describes itself as “UNC’s sassiest a cappella group: Yeah, we’ve been hotter than your girlfriend since 2003.” After completing her BA degree, Lachi moved to
NYC to embark upon a music and writing career beginning with graduate studies at NYU. Apart from obtaining music gigs on the side, she worked at NY District’s US Army Corps of Engineers.
Lachi’s first albums, both independently released, were And This Is My Life in 2006 and Ugly Beautiful in 2008. She was spotted at a South by Southwest showcase by Fanatic Records/EMI, which resulted in her 2010 self-titled “Lachi.” During this time,
Lachi was featured on Oprah Radio, CW and NPR and performed at PrideFest (Milwaukee), where she opened for Patti LaBelle.
Lachi later released The Boss EP through Trend Def’s Sony imprint in June 2015, and in August 2016, she collaborated with Israeli World Music producer Zafrir Ifrach and Moroccan vocalist Maxime Karouchi to create the Mediterranean-infused EDM
(Electronic Dance Music) track “Dalale” which garnered over a million views on YouTube. She again collaborated with Trend Def to co-write and co-produce the song “Rude” which features pop artist Kendra Black and rapper Snoop Dogg.
In 2017 released the EDM Hip Hop crossover track “Living A Lie” featuring Styles P. She then collaborated with Markus Schulz on a song entitled “Far” which Schulz placed on his 2018 Trance music album, We Are The Light. The song was also chosen by
DJ Armin van Buren for his mix album A State of Trance Year Mix 2019.
In March 2020, Lachi received her second Independent Music Awards nomination for her a cappella arrangement of the song “Money” by Cardi B. And throughout 2021, Lachi’s music career and advocacy work began to overlap, starting with her
appointment to co-chair of The Recording Academy New York Chapter Advocacy Committee. She met with White House officials working in tandem with the UK non-profit SYNC Inspire – striving to make a global impact on visibility accessibility and awareness in the entertainment industry and beyond. She also founded Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (RAMPD), an organization aimed at unifying the voices and goals of music creators and professionals with disabilities and
promoting inclusion.
In February, 2022, Lachi released the track “Say The Words,” attributing the title to a need for society to simply say the word “Disability” a social campaign popularized by civil rights expert and historian Lawrence Carter. The following month, Lachi received a Becoming America grant, from the prestigious Pop Culture Collaborative, to begin work blending disability concepts with popular music. The award resulted in the creation and release of Dance-pop single “Black Girl Cornrows” featuring Yvie Oddly and QuestionATL, a blind artist and producer.
Lachi has just made her acting debut this month in the musical film Unlucky in Love.
*DRESS CODE: Please be advised of The University Club’s dress code, which is in effect at all times. Male guests must wear dress shirts and jackets (ties are not required). Female guests must wear clothing of equivalent formality. Jeans and other denim apparel, sneakers and shorts are strictly prohibited.