By Leaps and Sounds!

The Sing for Hope concert is on, barreling full speed ahead, and we even have a name: SING FOR HOPE: By Leaps and Sounds! Benefiting the Music Programs of Children’s Aid Society

Tuesday we met with six (six!) staff members of Children’s Aid Society to talk about our collaboration and how we can make the most of it in six short weeks. They had folks there from Development, Programming, Major Gifts, Marketing, and Volunteer Services, all eager to come together and make this a major event.

I talked about the evolution of the concert idea, and explained that I found CAS simply by doing a web search for NYC children’s charities. I was initially drawn to their music programs, but after a while I wondered if that was being altruistically selfish, focusing on giving in an area that directly related to me. Maybe there was a more important, more financially needy area of CAS that would benefit more from our gift. So, I told the group that we were there to help in any way we could. Imagine my joy when they responded that the Chorus and Music program is actually one of the areas that needs the most help right now!! Let that be a lesson: if a charity connects with you and the things you hold dear, they will welcome your help.

My friends have been coming forward with rep ideas, and I can already tell that it’s going to be a lovely program. I wanted to have a general theme of children or childhood, so we’ll have selections from Bernstein’s I hate music!, Schumann’s Frauenlieben und -leben, folks songs from a few different cultures, some Mahler, some Ives. I’m being joined by friends I haven’t seen a years, folks from NEC and Tanglewood as well as my friends at the Met and around New York. What an absolute joy.

On Tuesday, when we first met and shook hands with the Programming Director in the CAS lobby, he said, “I’m so excited about this, I just want to hug you! But maybe we’re not at the hugging stage yet…” By the time we parted ways an hour later, after sharing our visions and the needs of the Society and realizing that we had stumbled upon a perfect fit, there were certainly hugs.