Sing for Hope is thrilled to launch a new cultural collaboration with The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, creating special concerts at Mount Sinai Hospital featuring the young American opera singers supported by the “Tuckers,” as the prestigious American opera foundation is affectionately called. The event was made possible by the generous support of THE SHELLEY AND DONALD RUBIN FOUNDATION, which has supported Sing for Hope’s Healing Arts Concert Series at Mount Sinai since 2009. The Sing for Hope Healing Arts Concerts at Mount Sinai are accessible to both ambulatory and semi-ambulatory patients. Patients, physicians and hospital staff, and family members attend the concerts together, experiencing the artists work from the atrium floor seats as well as from the surrounding balconies. The series offers a richly collaborative artistic experience, featuring vocal and instrumental music as well as dance performances in programs that reflect the diversity of both the city and the hospital community. In the words of Mount Sinai Dean of Medical Education Dr. David Muller, The Sing for Hope Healing Arts Concerts at Mount Sinai bring uplift and hope into the hospital setting.

The newly launched partnership between Sing for Hope and the Richard Tucker Music Foundation is dedicated to bringing the young American opera singers that the Tucker Foundation supports to Sing for Hope's community outreach programs, with a special focus on Mount Sinai. Tucker Foundation grantees, including the annual Richard Tucker Award winner, participate in Sing for Hope's volunteer service programs, joining in holiday outreach concerts and sharing performances at Sing for Hope partner sites throughout the year.

The Tucker/Sing for Hope collaboration was launched with a performance offered free of charge to the Sinai community as well as the general public. The special event took place in the Mount Sinai Fifth Avenue Atrium for an enthusiastic audience made up of patients, doctors, nurses, caregivers, and community members. The program featured classical gems and songbook standards, and performers included rising stars of the American operatic scene, including NADINE SIERRA, SOPRANO; JENNIFER JOHNSON CANO, MEZZO-SOPRANO; DIMITRI PITTAS, TENOR; BRANDON CEDEL, BASS-BARITONE; MICHAEL FENNELLY, PIANO; and DAVID CHANG, PIANO. Pianist David Chang, Sing for Hope Co-Founder Camille Zamora, Bass-Baritone Brandon Cedel, Soprano Nadine Sierra, Sing for Hope Co-Founder Monica Yunus, Tenor Dimitri Pittas, Mezzo-Soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, Pianist Michael Fennelly, and Richard Tucker Music Foundation President Barry Tucker top: 2015 Richard Tucker Award Winner Jamie Barton collaborates with new friends at Sing for Hope partner site in the Bronx. bottom left: Sing for Hope Founding Board Member Renee Fleming with Sing for Hope students. bottom right: Dmitri Hvorostovsky in performance at Sing for Hope Gala

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THE SHELLEY & DONALD RUBIN FOUNDATION believes in art as a cornerstone of cohesive, resilient communities and greater participation in civic life. In its mission to make art available to the broader public, in particular to underserved communities, the Foundation provides direct support to, and facilitates partnerships between, cultural organizations and advocates of social justice across the public and private sectors. Through grantmaking, the Foundation supports cross-disciplinary work connecting art with social justice via experimental collaborations, as well as extending cultural resources to organizations and areas of New York City in need. THE RICHARD TUCKER MUSIC FOUNDATION, founded in 1975, is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great American tenor through the support and advancement of the careers of talented American opera singers by bringing opera into the community. SING FOR HOPE transforms lives by mobilizing artists in volunteer service, bringing the power of the arts to those who need it most. Our programs include hospital concerts, youth outreach, and the country's largest public art project, NYC’s Sing for Hope Pianos, which embody our mission of art for all. “Sing for Hope is dedicated to bringing the healing power of the arts to those who need it most. In today’s world, that feels more urgent than ever.” – Ren©e Fleming, Sing for Hope Founding Board Member and 1990 Richard Tucker Award Winner.

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Interested in sharing your talent in programs and events like this?

Learn more at SINGFORHOPE.COM and RICHARDTUCKER.ORG.