Collaborating for a Cause – From the Top & Music for Food
It is just past 8:00 PM in New England Conservatory’s Brown Hall where a single piano is set center stage. The lights dim, the audience quiets down, and 18-year-old cellist and From the Top alum Lev Mamuya steps out from behind the curtain.
Inspired by the arts leadership orientation and outreach event he participated in as components of his October radio appearance on From the Top, Lev decided to create a From the Top alumni benefit concert. This concert was put on in partnership with Music for Food, a Boston-based organization that uses music to raise awareness and resources in the fight against hunger. The project also satisfied his senior project requirement at Roxbury Latin High School.
“100% of the proceeds of tonight’s performance will benefit the Women’s Lunch Place,” he says to end his speech, and the audience murmurs excitedly.
The languid tones of the Bach Suite No. 6 for Solo Cello, the sweet blend of flute and harp in Mozart’s Concerto, and the passion in Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Minor filled the hall. With several other pieces, From the Top alumni and staff are the featured performers of the evening. An enthusiastic audience response generates close to $1,200 in donations for the Women’s Lunch Place, a safe, welcoming day community for all self-identified women who are experiencing homelessness or poverty.
“The most rewarding part was definitely seeing it all come together on the evening of the concert, and understanding the impact the raised money would have,” Lev reflects. “It was sometimes easy to get lost in the tedium of the emails, scheduling, and legwork. But reading about the number of meals funded and hearing all of the beautiful music really affirmed my goals, and made the whole project very rewarding.”
The success of this endeavor is a noteworthy event for both organizations because it is the first time they have worked together.
“The project really started to help me consider a career in the arts,” Lev says. “It was an extremely valuable learning process for me to be on the ‘organization’ side of things and learn about planning, rather than just performing.”
Do you use art to help a worthy cause?
Learn more about the Women’s Lunch Place. Learn more about Music for Food.
