You can take the guy out of Australia, but you can't take Australia out of the guy!
Sydney's favourite son in Broadway and international theatres, MiG Ayesa may have been based in New York City since 2007 but he still calls Australia home, and is crazy about anything Australian. At his last visit to his family in Sydney for Christmas, despite his tight schedule, he happily agreed to headline a fundraising concert for NARRA and enthralled the audience with his love for music.
Back in his second home, NYC, he then spearheaded an event held on Australia Day, January 26 for two purposes. Firstly to celebrate a music festival which showcased Australian artists based in the USA and at the same time extend help to those affected by bushfires in Australia.
In response to messages of congratulations, MiG typically attributed the success of the event to others who were involved in it. He said: "The inaugural Aussie Music Festival NYC was a huge success, due to the incredible support from friends, family and fellow Aussies. Wonderful performances from Nadia Ackerman, Karen Jacobsen and Tracey Yarad were inspirational and I was so honoured to share the stage with these amazing ladies. We reached our goal in raising money for WIRES, and plans are already underway for our next event in March. This event has already caught the attention of the Australian Consulate here and the potential for ongoing and related events are evolving every day.
"Stay posted to our website aussiemusicfestivalnyc.com for all the latest updates."
The Aussie Music Festival which also aimed to extend help to those affected by the bushfires also drew the support of Nenad Bach, Croatian-American singer, songwriter, world peace, social justice and environment activist who is a long time friend of the Fil-Aus community. Both Nenad and MiG endorsed a charity CD in 2012 to help the Haiyan Typhoon victims.
But wait, there's more. MiG was also part of two more fundraising events held on January 27 for the bushfire cause.
"I was honoured to be a part of these two fundraising events on the same night in the same city! MONDAY IN THE PUB FOR AUSTRALIA and MAKE IT RAIN RALLY (with the cast of MOULIN ROUGE). . . . We raised a lot of money, we sang a lot of songs, we ticked a lot of boxes."
From us in Australia, thank you very much MiG and all involved! We are touched by your kindness!
Next time that MiG is back here for a visit, don't miss the opportunity to watch this talented artist share his heart for Australia and music!
Watch this space!
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