Every year around this time; people begin to prepare for the upcoming holiday season, whether at home or plan to celebrate the upcoming holidays with family or close friends; either near or far.
But, what does the holiday mean to those who have no home, family, or friends to go to? How does one navigate the elements of the weather and literally living on the street or at best a temporary homeless shelter for just one night - only to do it all over again tomorrow.
How does one cope with life being lived among strangers in environments that are designed to simply give you a temporary shelter for you to sleep and get up to do it all over again-- How does one manage their personal, mental, physical, and spiritual challenges? The very thought of the experiences far too many people must endure; is heartbreaking.
During these last few years of COVID 19 has been a major challenge for far too many people. And yet, there is still a glimmer of hope for humanity with small yet, wonderful acts of kindness continuing to happen for those who might otherwise feel despair.
Yet, A certain extraordinary, celebrated classical violinist, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, has spent the past 15 years of her career--bringing her gift of music, along with her celebrated friends; all of whom are classical musicians who volunteer their time to visit homeless shelters to perform for those who do not attend such great performances.
These performances are brought to these lovely souls through her foundation Music Kitchen, Food for The Soul.
Who is Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Founder, Executive/Artistic Director of Music Kitchen Winner of a Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize and featured in the Smithsonian Museum for African-American History, Ms. Hall-Tompkins is a violin soloist entrepreneur who has been acclaimed by the New York Times as "the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive,” for her "tonal mastery" (BBC Music Magazine) and as New York Times’ “New Yorker of the Year.” She has appeared as co-soloist in Carnegie Hall with Glenn Dicterow and conductor Leonard Slatkin, in London at Queen Elizabeth Hall, at Lincoln Center and with the Symphonies of Baltimore, Dallas, Jacksonville, Oakland, recitals in Paris, New York, Toronto, Washington, Chicago, and festivals of Tanglewood, Ravinia, Santa Fe, France, Germany, and Italy. She was “Fiddler”/Violin Soloist of the Grammy/Tony-nominated Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof. Inspired by her experience, she commissioned and developed the first-ever Fiddler solo disc of all-new arrangements, “The Fiddler Expanding Tradition,” which is featured in the new documentary “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles” on the 55-year history of the musical. As the founder of Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul, Kelly Hall-Tompkins is a pioneer of social justice in classical music, bringing top artists in over 100 concerts coast to coast in homeless shelters from New York to Los Angeles and internationally in Paris, France. Music Kitchen makes its Carnegie Hall debut to present the Forgotten Voices Song Cycle in Association with Carnegie Hall coming soon.
But why music? Music is the universal language to all. It is the thing that can express so beautifully the human emotion of so many without saying a word. It is the one thing that you can put words to when you want to dramatically, or beautifully express your emotions.
But if music is so powerful why is it the first thing that is often cut in school funding. Why is this art form not protected? It is one of those things that simply can’t be explained by our society. We love the arts, we take pleasure in the joy it brings us. But for some reason, our capitalist society takes great pleasure in exploiting beauty, but when it no longer finds use for it, it is simply discarded without calculating the cost of the lives that may be empty without it.
Music is said to have saved the lives of many artists. So can you imagine what it means to the audience who have the pleasure of hearing it?
So the next time you tune into your favorite playlist, watch your favorite movie, even your children’s cartoons, or anything else that involves music-- ask yourself what would life be without music.
These performances are brought to these lovely souls through her foundation Kelly Hall-Tompkins and her foundation or to see her perform at her upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall visit her website. Let the music continue to soothe and feed your soul.