“Merci Bon Dieu” carries a Haitian composition by Frantz Casseus into the world of Chicago Immigrant Orchestra, appearing on the ensemble’s latest album Sanctuary. The piece links a well-documented strand of Haitian repertoire — made widely known through Harry Belafonte — to a Chicago project shaped by musicians who arrived in the city from multiple regions.

The orchestra’s path gives the track its frame: created in 1999 by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events under Willy Schwartz, paused in 2004, and revived in 2019 when Fareed Haque and Wanees Zarour were appointed to rebuild the ensemble as a twenty-piece drawn from Chicago’s immigrant communities.

On the album, the song is presented in Haitian Creole, keeping Frantz Casseus’s composition intact. The live rendition, recorded for WGN TV, shows how the orchestra re-framed the piece: it opens in Haitian Creole, moves into an Igbo vocal section sung by Ugochi Nwaogwugwu, and closes with spoken-word text written for the arrangement. These additions reflect the languages and creative voices within the ensemble.

Listen to the song and stream Sanctuary through THIS LINK