“Access to music in post-war Hungary allowed me to feel human again. It is vitally important to ensure arts access to people who are working to uplift themselves, and to heal. That is why I sing for hope.”

 

– Eva Haller, Sing for Hope Board Chair Emeritus and 2015 Gala Honoree

As all friends of Sing for Hope’s Board Chair Emeritus Eva Haller know, because no doubt she has told them, excitedly, on multiple occasions: Sing for Hope transforms lives by bringing the power of the arts to those who need it most. From the intimate setting of a hospital bedside, to a school classroom, to a nursing home, to a veterans’ center, Sing for Hope’s arts programs uplift lives and act as a delivery system for hope. And yes, we have pianos! The Sing for Hope Pianos project is the country’s largest annual public art project, and every summer, these pianos transform our city into the world’s biggest, most colorful, and most welcoming concert hall. In Eva’s words, she sings for hope because it brings together her two key philanthropic passions: the arts and healing. Sing for Hope brings what is best in us–our human capacity for creativity and hope–to bear on society’s areas of greatest need. Through dynamic arts outreach programs, Sing for Hope uplifts and transforms at-risk youth, the elderly, the ill, our veterans, the most vulnerable among us. Sing for Hope has become a game-changer for New York City’s arts scene, and a life-changer for so many of the people it has touched. Many lucky people are adoptees of Eva’s, Sing for Hope’s Co-Founders MONICA YUNUS and CAMILLE ZAMORA included. Eva has spent her life incubating nonprofits on both coasts, growing ideas into organizations, and organizations into movements. As the Board Chair Emeritus of Sing for Hope, and our very first board member, Eva has always had gift for seeing right to the core of a problem, and then finding the way through. She unfailingly manages to do this with a tremendous lightness of spirit that keeps us all laughing along the way. Eva has a laundry list of accomplishments in a variety of sectors. She was the co-founder of the Campaign Communication Institute of America, a marketing and research company that revolutionized the use of telemarketing in political campaigns. She is a trusted advisor on numerous boards including Dotopia, A Blade of Grass, Video Volunteers, Creative Visions, Free The Children, University of California Santa Barbara, and the Rubin Museum of Art, and she a visiting professor and 2014 Magnusson Fellow at Glasgow Caledonian University. Eva is a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and true show-up-when-you-need-her friend to so many. She is the person whose arrival signals either that the party has started, or else we are about to set to the business of changing the world–or both. And Eva is someone who, at age 14, walked up to a Nazi officer and told him that she was too young and beautiful to die, and ensured not only her own safety but that of her neighbor’s 10-year-old son. In short, Eva is who we all want to be when we grow up.  She believed in Sing for Hope even before our beginning, and has been a constant advocate of our mission for the past decade. As we enter our second decade at Sing for Hope, we thank you, Eva, for all that you do, and for the twinkle in your eye that accompanies your every moment! DOWNLOAD THE 2015 SING FOR HOPE GALA COMMEMORATIVE PROGRAM BOOK HONORING EVA HALLER You can make a donation in honor of Eva Haller by clicking the button above or by contacting us at 212.966.5955. Eva Haller is the Sing for Hope Board Chair Emeritus and the 2015 Sing for Hope ART FOR ALL Awardee.