I am excited to share that the Third Annual Homeless Benefit Concert (see my last post) was an amazing success! It was a great concert, with our largest audience ever, and together, we raised over $2,400 to support four great nonprofit organizations working to help those in poverty and who are homeless.

This concert is a way to give back to the community. Many of us young musicians depend on the support of parents, relatives, friends, teachers and mentors, who dedicate time, money, and invest in our success. In gratitude for the opportunities offered to us, my sister, friends and I presented this concert as a gift to the community and to raise money to support local nonprofit organizations.

Concert1We were fortunate enough to have several fantastic guests, Trevor Fitzpatrick from the Oregon Symphony, and friends from the Portland Youth Philharmonic String Quartet. Carly Cooney, a mezzo-soprano studying at Juilliard Pre-College, sang a Handel Aria and O Holy Night. I knew Carly from the Metro Arts Young Artist Debut which we both performed at in Spring 2014. Esther Shim, pianist and violinist, was the accompanist for several of the pieces.

Concert4This is the third year in a row that I have organized this concert. There is a short story behind why I began organizing these concerts.  I raise a portion of my musics expenses through busking and, while I was performing.  One Sunday at the Portland Saturday Market, two homeless men watched me for a couple songs, and proceeded to compile their change and dump it into my jar. That act of kindness stunned me, and made me really come to realize the importance of giving back to the community.
 Concert2
The donations received are split between several local agencies serving the homeless. This year’s concert was definitely a success. We raised over $2,400, which benefited Human Solutions, Street Roots, JOIN, and PACS. A huge thank you goes to all the musicians who so generously donated their time and hard work.
Thank you also to Tabernacle Church for hosting the concert and providing volunteers. We also had several very generous donations, including flowers from Laurlhurst Florist, Coffee from Peets, and a delicious cake from Whole Foods.
Stay tuned next year around the holidays for our next benefit concert!
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