What role can classical music play in America, year 2024?
Mission
Gather Hear Tour delivers professional quality, live, inclusive classical music experiences to audiences who may otherwise not have access to the art form. Specifically, we tour widely across all 50 states with a piano in a van and perform in community gathering spaces, free to the public. We target locations that lack access to the arts - whether it is a rural town or a disadvantaged neighborhood of a city.
Gather Hear Tour’s mission is to foster human connection and dialogue across socioeconomic and political differences and to capture an honest, intimate, and ultimately hopeful portrait of America through documentation of its tours amidst a national climate of division and violence.
Activities
Gather Hear Tour has given 90+ free performances in Alaska (2017), West Virginia (2018), Maine (2024), Massachusetts (2021), and Utah (2021), Louisiana (2022), and Alabama (2023). Performances are organized in collaboration with a local organizations or businesses - libraries, cafes, bars, schools, community centers, soup kitchens, etc…
Gather Hear is constantly reimagining the format of the classical recital, centering every audience member as a vital part of the musical experience. We have collaborated with theater director Daniel Pettrow and composers Brendon Randall-Myers, Ariel Friedman, and Elisabet Curbelo to commission and create original shows and music.
Gather Hear documents and shares its stories and findings on American life. It has created three films, a vlog series (WV), and a blog series (AK and LA).
Gather Hear, Inc.
Gather Hear Tour is a project of Gather Hear, Inc., a nonprofit organization with 501(c)3 status.
Your donation to Gather Hear, Inc. is tax deductible; please also check for matching programs with your employer.
Gather Hear, Inc.’s mission: to provide professional quality, live, inclusive classical music experiences to people who may otherwise not have access to the art form.
CEO: Miki Sawada
Board of Directors:
Ruby Chou, President
Andrew Rizzardi, Treasurer
Kristopher Tong, Clerk
Thomas Filardo
Marguerite Hinrichs