Shelter Music Boston Inc

SHELTER MUSIC BOSTON PRESENTS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS, OF THE HIGHEST ARTISTIC STANDARDS, IN HOMELESS SHELTERS AND OTHER SHELTERING ENVIRONMENTS.

DESPITE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, SHELTER MUSIC BOSTON PROVIDED NEARLY 60 CONCERT PROGRAMS TO OUR ADULT AND CHILDREN'S AUDIENCES IN 2021. THESE INCLUDED DIVERSE OFFERINGS VIA VIDEOS AVAILABLE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL, SESSIONS VIA ZOOM, AND A HANDFUL OF LIVE CONCERTS DURING THE GOOD WEATHERMONTHS. WE SHARED OUR DIGITAL PROGRAMS WITH MORE THAN 20 ORGANIZATIONS SERVING MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN WHO ARE HOMELESS OR ADULTS WHO ARE WORKING ON THEIR SUBSTANCE RECOVERY, INCLUDING PINE STREET INN, HEADING HOME, HOUSING FAMILIES, ROSIE'S PLACE, AND MANY OTHERS. OUR YOUTUBE VIEWS MORE THAN DOUBLED IN 2021 FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR.OF PARTICULAR NOTE IS SMB'S ARTISTIC PROJECT DURING 2021 - "VOICES FROM THE LAND: AN INDIGENOUS COMPOSERS PROJECT." FOR THIS SPECIAL INITIATIVE, SMB COLLABORATED WITH THE GRAND CANYON MUSIC FESTIVAL AND THEIR NATIVE AMERICAN COMPOSER APPRENTICE PROJECT (NACAP) TO BRING 17 PIECES OF MUSIC WRITTEN BY YOUNG COMPOSERS FROM THE NAVAJO AND HOPI RESERVATIONS IN ARIZONA, INCLUDING TWO COMMISSIONS FOR SMB, TO OUR AUDIENCES HERE IN GREATER BOSTON. OTHER REPERTOIRE LAST YEAR INCLUDED CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL COMPOSERS, INCLUDING A FEW WHO ARE LOCAL TO NEW ENGLAND,AND COMPOSERS THAT REPRESENT A DIVERSE RANGE OF GENDERS AND RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS. SOME OF THESE COMPOSERS WERE FLORENCE PRICE, ROSEPHANYE POWELL, J.S. BACH, HECTOR LAVOE AND WILLIE COLON, ZEQUINHA DE ABREU, JENNI BRANDON, W.A. MOZART, AND SMB'S OWN JULIAN LOIDA.AFTER AN OUTDOOR CONCERT IN SEPTEMBER, ONE AUDIENCE MEMBER WROTE THAT BEFORE THE CONCERT HE FELT,"MISERABLE, BORED, HOPELESS, LACK OF ENERGY." YET, AFTER THE CONCERT HE WROTE, "I FELT INSPIRED, WANT TO GET STUFF DONE, AND WAS EXTREMELY SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY, AND MENTALLY HAPPY." THIS IS JUST ONE TESTIMONIAL AFFIRMING THE TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF MUSIC.