For the past 20 years I have had the incredible privilege of singing and playing guitar
as part of MTA/Arts for Transit’s “Music Under New York” program,performing several
times a week in Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station. Being part ofthis
program has been nothing less than a magnificent gift that I could never
have planned in a million years.
Every single time I perform I am deeply moved by the kindness, generosity,
and enthusiasm of the people who stop for a moment or two to listen, throw tips into
my guitar case, purchase CD’s, and/or verbally share their appreciation of the music.
For 20 years I have earned my living from this extraordinary graciousness.
I now want to evolve my Music Under New York experience into something
that expands upon and somehow re-pays the immense generosity –
from people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and parts of the world.
In President Obama’s recent address to the UN General Assembly, he said
“…let me put forward four pillars that I believe are fundamental to the future that we
want for our children: non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and
security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy
that advances opportunity for all people”.
Something I can do personally is to put my music
to work towards the “preservation of the planet”.
I get regular solicitations from numerous environmental advocacy organizations and it
is a source of great frustration to not be able to give large (or sometimes even small)
amounts of money to all of them. I hate throwing any of those pleas into the trash.
So I am launching a new community-based concert series called
Conservation Concerts to benefit environmental protection,
conservation, and advocacy organizations involved in:
Wildlife protection, conservation of land and energy, development of
alternative energy sources, recycling, planting trees, etc…in short, everything
that is required to address and hopefully prevent catastrophic climate
change/global warming and to preserve our planet.
Please read on for details of how it works. I hope you’ll join me in this exciting endeavor!
|
