SingForHope
The project SingForHope helps to bring just that to public schoolchildren in New York, hope. SingForHope operates for two weeks in each summer, showing off 50 artist-designed pianos in all five of the boroughs in New York. The pianos are each one of a kind and allow other passersby to play on the instruments as they please, for eleven days straight.
This past summer of 2016, SingForHope donated all 50 of the designed pianos to various public schools throughout New York, bringing music to more than 15,000 students. The purpose of SingForHope is to generate awareness surrounding the lack of musical education in schools today, especially in the state of New York. The summer event from SingForHope affects more than 1 million New Yorkers annually, making it one of the more well-known events of the summer in the city. SingForHope works with all types of artists from opera singers and painters to dancers and actors who participate in the annual summer events. Working together with a diverse group of volunteers helps individuals interested in the arts to connect with and engage easier with those involved in the program.
With the street pianos provided by musicians and volunteers associated with SingForHope, both tourists and residents of New York are able to enjoy the festivities available for two weeks during the summertime each year. Every year, the official website of SingForHope also provides a map of the locations pianos are in throughout the city, regardless of where you are in New York. Additionally, SingForHope also provides instruments and assistance to hospitals and community centers along with under-resourced schools in the five boroughs of New York City. SingForHope helps to mobilize volunteers around the city to participate in showcasing the pianos and in some cases, performing themselves.
SingForHope has also teamed up with the NYC Department of Education to ensure that all of pianos used in the exhibit are placed in public schools that are currently in need of musical instruments or lacking them altogether. Bringing art and music back into schools is an initiative on the rise, especially in public schools throughout the United States. Having programs such as SingForHope helps increase awareness of the need for more support to give the education we want to our children.
If you are looking to keep the support of SingForHope alive, the website accepts donations that go towards pianos for future events and public schools in the New York City area.