IF YOU GO* What: Sing for Hope’s “A Musical Celebration.”* When: 7 p.m. today.* Where: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 305 W. Seventh St.* Admission: $25 tax-deductible donation.* Phone: 838-2013.DID YOU KNOW?Sing for Hope (www.singforhope.org) was founded by opera singers with a desire to lift their voices for social change. The nonprofit organization mobilizes more than 600 professional artists — from classical musicians to photographers to Broadway performers — in volunteer service to benefit communities in need through the transformative power of the arts.
Sing for Hope, a Peace Corps-style organization that mobilizes professional artists in volunteer humanitarian service, presents “A Musical Celebration” tonight for Metropolitan Ministries.
Pianist Michael Baitzer, a member of the Juilliard School faculty since 2004, will accompany rising opera stars Richard Cox and Holli Harrison, both natives of Chattanooga. The program will feature arias, songs and duets by Beethoven, Mozart, Bernstein and others.
“Inspired by a belief in the transformative power of the arts, the musicians are donating their time and talent so that all funds raised will contribute directly to Metropolitan Ministries’ vital service programs,” organizers said in a news release.
Baitzer also has served on the faculty of Aspen School of Music and the coaching staff of Washington National Opera, Central City Opera and Spoleto Festival USA.
Cox, a tenor, has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro Municpal de Santiago, Oper Frankfurt, Glimmerglass Opera and Semper Oper.
Harrison, a soprano, has sung with the Metropolitan Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and Pittsburgh Opera.
Metropolitan Ministries is a nonprofit organization that works to prevent homelessness. Its services include emergency assistance with food, rent, utilities, prescription medication, gasoline and transportation.