Disasters. Poverty. Disease. These are not elements of a tragic opera plot, they are part of our daily news diet. Kindhearted billionaires donate financial resources to combat them. Kindhearted singers, in contrast, contribute their vocal resources. I spoke with many such singers to learn why they decided to involve themselves in charitable efforts, what they did, and how they did it.
Why
There are many different reasons why singers undertake charitable initiatives. For Camille Zamora, the impetus was the death of a close friend from AIDS. For Amy Shoremount-Obra, it was a World Vision infomercial about poverty. For John Daniecki, it was a desire to preserve certain genres, such as American sacred music of the 18th-20th centuries, and boychoir concerts.
Other singers develop an interest in charitable endeavors after performing outreach concerts. “I got hooked on singing that thing we call ‘outreach’ during my residency with the Opera Colorado Outreach Ensemble,” says Michelle Trovato. “It’s true that with Opera Colorado, it was part of our contract, but I think we would have sung even if it were not.” Elizabeth Hillebrand had a similar reaction. “I had always wanted to volunteer and had never taken the time to do it, I’m sad to say, until I had to for school. Now I’m hooked and can’t really see my life as a performer without some form of giving back to people who probably need it more than anyone else.”
What
The paths toward charitable work vary widely. Singers I spoke to agreed that the easiest way to help others through performing is to volunteer with an organization that arranges charitable concerts. “You can’t just go into a hospital, school, or prison without having your credentials checked,” says Hillebrand. “There are several wonderful organizations set up to help you through the regulatory hurdles.” Daniecki advises: “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are people all over the world doing something similar to what you plan or want to do. Talk with them and get involved with an established organization before you set up your own shop.”
This is wise advice, considering that there are several reputable organizations that accept singer volunteers. Examples include Sing for Hope, which mobilizes more than 700 professional artists in volunteer service programs that benefit schools, hospitals, and communities; Opera for Humanity, which arranges benefit performances to alleviate poverty and disease; and the Art of Elysium, which organizes workshops for children who are battling serious medical conditions. There are undoubtedly more such organizations that singers can identify in their local communities.
That said, there is not always an avenue available for a specific cause, and so some singers have organized their own benefit concerts. Daniecki, for instance, frequently provides recitals for guests at the home of an organization’s donor. He has also offered his recitals in online auctions, the proceeds of which benefit an organization. Natalie Mann (profiled in the March 2011 issue of CS) planned a benefit concert on behalf of the American Heart Association, which took place at Carnegie Hall in February.
In some cases, a benefit concert serves as a launch pad to the establishment of a full-fledged nonprofit organization, as was the experience of conductor Joseph Jones. When he heard about the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, he felt compelled to do something. As he points out, however, he was not “rolling in cash,” so he decided to put on a benefit concert of Brahms’ Requiem. Two performances brought in $8,000 for Haiti, and Jones began putting together other performances with the help of friends and music associates. The result was the eventual formation of the Empire State Sinfonia, which debuted on New Year’s Eve with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth.
Sing for Hope also had small-scale origins. A “scrappy concert” organized by Zamora in Houston to benefit an AIDS hospice raised $2,000. Later, she and her Sing for Hope co-founder Monica Yunus responded to Hurricane Katrina by putting on a concert that raised a few thousand dollars in aid. In contrast, a recent Sing for Hope concert in High Point, North Carolina, featuring Anthony Dean Griffey and pianist Warren Jones raised approximately $65,000 for an organization serving homeless in the area. In addition, Zamora’s “scrappy concert” has since morphed into an annual Sing for Hope event involving Continental Airlines and Houston Grand Opera that has raised more than $4 million for AIDS.
How
Sing for Hope is an amazing success story, but its co-founders warn that its transition from these initial undertakings was not simple. “Everyone told us to avoid starting our own nonprofit because the administrative work is complicated and could detract from our focus on our humanitarian outreach,” says Zamora, “not to mention our full-time singing careers. We are fortunate now to have a staff of eight who handle our admin, but our advice to others is, when possible, look for already extant organizations to partner with so you can spend your time where your heart is—on your charitable mission—and not on all your legal filings!”
Shoremount-Obra, the founder of Opera for Humanity, agrees. “It takes a lot of dedication, hard work, and organization,” she observes. “You also have to have great people you trust around to help guide you.”
Fortunately, both organizations had this advantage. Shoremout-Obra’s father, Robert Shoremount, helped her establish Opera for Humanity, drawing on his extensive business experience. Yunus’s father, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had useful international connections that helped Sing for Hope get off the ground. In addition, Yunus and Zamora benefited from the support of prestigious members of the musical community, including Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo, and Juilliard President Joseph Polisi—all founding board members.
What can singers without these kinds of connections do if they want to organize a benefit concert or, eventually, a nonprofit? The first task is to simply get the word out about your interest. Jones found a sponsor for his Brahms’ Requiem concert through a recommendation from the organizer of an after-school program where he taught, and the sponsor helped him find a venue. He subsequently put an orchestra and chorus together through word of mouth and Craigslist.
You can also go directly to a charity to explore options, as Mann did. “I had worked with the AHA in Chicago and realized that we don’t pay enough attention to our hearts,” she relates. Her concern for the issue prompted her to reach out to the AHA with her benefit idea, and it was “well received.” The result was the solo recital at Carnegie Hall with the proceeds benefitting AHA’s “Go Red for Women” campaign.
Some charities, too, may offer grants. Shoremount-Obra, for example, received a Sing for Hope Grant for Arts Activism at Juilliard to support her own charitable efforts.
Singers without sponsors may want to explore the option of fiscal sponsorship. Fiscal sponsors, as Zamora and Yunus explained to me, are umbrella organizations that can accept tax-deductible donations. They specifically recommend Fractured Atlas, The Field, and Creative Visions.
Benefits to You
Whether you volunteer for an existing organization, arrange a benefit concert, or establish a nonprofit, your efforts will require commitment of time and energy. You are likely to find, however, that these efforts are entirely worthwhile. Rachel Glickman, the New York City program director for The Art of Elysium, notes: “The most common response from musicians who participate in The Art of Elysium programs is the realization of not only the gift they give to the children that they work with, but the overwhelming gift they receive in response from that interaction. Through the eyes of the children they work with, the artists have found a new vision and experience in their own creative expression.”
According to Trovato, who has volunteered for both The Art of Elysium and Sing for Hope, “It’s nourishment for the soul—not only for those for whom you sing, but for yourself as well. You will get back so much more than you give!” Daniecki agrees 100 percent. As he suggests: “Get off your butt and do something for other folks and you will get back a hell of a lot more than you put into it.”
There are practical benefits as well. As Shoremount-Obra points out, you can create opportunities for yourself and help people at the same time. Her own experience is a case in point. After graduating from Juilliard and going through “the usual audition/rejection streak” many young singers experience, she needed to get some roles on her résumé. “All of a sudden, I found myself organizing a concert-version performance of L’elisir d’amore,” she remembers. “That was the start of Opera for Humanity.” Similarly, for Mann, her benefit concert not only helped a charitable organization, but it also enabled her to realize her long-held goal of performing a solo recital at Carnegie Hall.
Benefits to Others
The impact that singers can have on people and organizations in need is both quantitative and qualitative. From the quantitative perspective, the numbers speak for themselves. Singers I interviewed for this article alone were directly involved in raising thousands of dollars for a wide range of causes, only a few of which are mentioned here.
The qualitative impact is also significant. Yunus considers one of Sing for Hope’s greatest successes its “Bringing it to YOU Day,” which involved a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 200 New York City schoolchildren, who visited the galleries and also enjoyed concerts from a range of artists, including modern dancers, actors from the show Avenue Q, and soprano Nicole Cabell. What was particularly striking, Yunus notes, was that “despite living in the cultural capital of NYC, most of these kids had never been to a museum before.”
“We’ve found that the right arts interactions can have a profoundly positive effect on helping [arts-based support groups for medically disabled or ill children and teens] reach their therapeutic goals,” says Glickman of The Art of Elysium’s Self-Esteem program. She adds that the organization’s music program humanizes hospital environments “that can be otherwise clinical and intimidating.”
An anecdote from Hillebrand further attests to the power of music for hospital patients. She, along with internationally acclaimed soprano Monique McDonald, sang for a long-term care patient at a hospital under the auspices of Sing for Hope. After they sang, the patient told them how lucky she was. “We were a bit taken aback,” Hillebrand recalls. “She explained that had she not been ill, she would never have been able to afford a ticket to come hear us and that she was so blessed to receive the gift of our talents.”
This experience is a good example of why Hillebrand believes that volunteering is so meaningful. “We spend so much time in the ‘business’ end of singing, it is so important to remember why we are doing what we are doing,” she says, “and volunteering can really help bring us back to that. People who really need to feel the power and joy of music really can through your generosity of spirit. The amazing thing is, it fills you up just as much as them.”
Useful Links and Contacts
• The Art of Elysium: www.theartofelysium.org. Contact Rachel Glickman, program director–NY, at rglickman@theartofelysium.org or Leslie Culp, program director–LA, at lculp@theartofelysium.org.
• Creative Visions: www.creativevisions.org.
• Empire State Sinfonia: Contact Joseph Jones at Joejones@musician.org.
• The Field: www.thefield.org.
• Fractured Atlas: www.fracturedatlas.org.
• Opera for Humanity: www.operaforhumanity.org.
• Sing for Hope: www.SingforHope.org Email: Info@singforhope.org
