Music Kitchen Celebrates 10 Years of Serenading Homeless
Music Kitchen - Food for the Soul's decade celebration is heightened by a $24K grant to continue bringing hope to the homeless.
NEW YORK, June 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- (By Elizabeth M. Owens, Correspondent News) -- Music Kitchen is pleased to celebrate its 10th anniversary of sharing music with the homeless of New York City.
Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150611/222618
"The program has also received a $24,500 Sphinx MPower Artist Grant through the Sphinx Organization," stated Kelly Hall-Tompkins, solo violinist and founder of the Music Kitchen.
"I was one of 19 artists selected nationally…and was awarded to fund my Music Kitchen projects for the '15-'16 season, including concerts in LA with Glenn Dicterow (former concertmaster of New York Philharmonic)," explained Hall-Tompkins.
"The goal is now to have donors match the grant," she added.
Hall-Tompkins, who has plans to take the concept to other cities, has presented 79 homeless concerts to date in NYC and L.A., and one in Paris, France.
The whole concept of Music Kitchen started when the violinist needed a small audience as she prepared for a performance. Hall-Tompkins said her husband suggested she come down to the shelter for which he was a volunteer coordinator. The people in the shelter enjoyed listening to her and asked her to return.
Return she did, with world renowned artists such as pianist Emanuel Ax, Berlin Philharmonic principal oboist Albrecht Mayer, violinist Glenn Dicterow, cellist Carter Brey, and violinist/composer Mark O'Connor.
Additionally, Music Kitchen audiences have heard artists from various chamber ensembles, such as the Kronos Quartet; members from orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Metropolitan Opera; and emerging artists, such as Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Grammy-nominated pianist Terrence Wilson, and Harpist Bridget Kibbey.
Hall-Tompkins' goal: Reach people in need through music.
One listener stated, "The live music at Salvation Army Soup Kitchen was wonderful, very soothing - it was like [a] 5-star restaurant."
According to their website, part of Music Kitchen's mission is: "To bring top emerging and established professional musicians together in order to share the inspirational, therapeutic, and uplifting power of music with New York City's disenfranchised homeless shelter population."
For more information on Music Kitchen: http://www.musickitchennyc.org/help.htm
Contact: [email protected]
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Violinist/Founder/Director
Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul
c/o Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
3 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
Please make checks payable to Music Kitchen
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SOURCE Music Kitchen
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