The first part of March was pretty all-consumed with the Benefit Recital I presented on March 20th and I was so grateful to have an amazingly supportive, patient, and helpful family along for the ride!
Ever since Steve and I were made aware of the issue of human trafficking back in 2007, particularly the trafficking of children, we knew we had to do something about it. No matter how small it may seem, something to fight against it... When a friend of ours from NYC choreographed a dance piece inspired by the stories of trafficking survivors, a light bulb went off in my head that maybe there was some way I could combine my passion for music with this desire to see an end to trafficking, and that's how these "benefit recitals" came to be!
After presenting two in New York, I had been wanting to make one happen in VA since we moved here and it all finally started coming together toward the end of last year as I finally got the venue and pianist (who accompanied me for my undergraduate senior recital!!!) worked out. Through one of Maelee's classmate's moms, I was connected with Polaris, an organization in D.C. that fights against trafficking, which was the perfect fit for a locally based non-profit for which to raise awareness and money.
As the majority of my practicing time has to take place while Lilee's napping (which isn't even a guarantee anymore, sigh), I knew this wouldn't be the time to learn all new repertoire. So I pulled out some of the favorites from the two previous benefit recitals, and connected the music to the cause both by the emotions the pieces evoke, and also by presenting various trafficking facts and statistics of the composer's country of origin.
The girls were troopers and Steve was a champ, allowing me to sneak practice sessions here and there on evenings and weekends leading up to the date, and putting the information packet together with the trafficking stats. Not to mention all the help with the programs and countless other details... Friends and family pitched in to pull together a lovely fruit and dessert reception, and I was blown away by the generosity of my pianist, Roy Hakes, who graciously donated his time and incredible talent, allowing me to give 100% of the proceeds to Polaris!
I was equally blown away by the support of friends and family who showed up, traveling from a couple hrs away from DE and different parts of VA. Not to mention my middle school band director who came and a childhood friend of my brother's who came with his two sons! Over $1100 was raised and I was both humbled and thrilled by the outcome.
Onto the pics and the music! If you're bored and feel like listening... :)
and Holland loved her time with him!
The "Lingo ladies" are three special women!!!
along with three of my cousins!
A whole lot of effort went into pulling this event off and it was amazing to see God work through all of the little details- even graciously sparing me the cold that both Steve and Lilee had just days before! It was an honor to get to do what I love and make even the littlest bit of difference in raising awareness and money for such an important and necessary cause!!!
1 comments:
Beautiful, Becky!! And wow. What an incredible amount that was raised for Polaris! So awesome. Miss hearing you play!
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