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Virginia Symphony Orchestra Plays for Food to Aid Food Banks!
Musicians Play, Audiences Bring Food as part of National Orchestras Feeding America Project Inspired by Film The Soloist
VSO Collaborates with Farm Fresh and Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula March 27, 28 and April 2, 3, 4 to Collect 1,500 Pounds of Food
Hampton Roads, VA… March 27 and 28 and April 2, April 3 and April 4, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra will play for food! The orchestra will participate in Orchestras Feeding America, the first national food drive by America’s symphony orchestras. The Virginia Symphony musicians, staff, volunteers and audiences are being asked to bring non-perishable food items to the Symphony concerts in late March and early April: The concerts are: Brahms Violin Concerto, Friday, March 27, 8pm, Ferguson Center, Newport News and Saturday, March 28, Chrysler Hall, 8pm, Norfolk . There will be Food Bank containers located in the lobby of Ferguson Center and Chrysler Hall to collect the food donations. Food donations will also be accepted at the Beethoven Violin Concerto concerts Thursday, April 2, 8pm, Ferguson Center, Newport News, Friday, April 3, Sandler Center, 8pm, Virginia Beach, and Saturday, April 4, Chrysler Hall, Norfolk..
Even easier, Farm Fresh Supermarkets has joined the Symphony food drive as a community partner and will have Food Bank containers in their Farm Fresh stores to receive the food. The Symphony encourages you to use those containers as well.
The Symphony’s goal is to collect at least 1,500 pounds of food, 500 pounds at each of its concert venues as well as other locations. “We have a wonderful collaboration with Farm Fresh and our Foodbanks and with thousands of concert goers attending these five concerts and opportunities to drop off food at local Farm Fresh stores, we believe this is an achievable goal,” said Donna Hudgins, Director of Public Relations. We hope all the members of our Symphony family will respond generously to this special appeal.”
“We are also accepting food at the Symphony offices, 861 Glenrock Road, Suite 200, Norfolk, VA. 23502. If you stop in to pick up your tickets, we hope you will also bring a can or two of food,” Hudgins said. The food list can be found on the Symphony website: www.virginasymphony.org.
The nationwide food drive spearheaded by the League of American Orchestras was inspired by a new film, The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr., directed by Joe Wright. It will be released by Paramount Pictures to theaters nationwide on April 24th. A DreamWorks Pictures/Universal Pictures presentation in association with Studio Canal and Participant Media, the film is based on the true story of the relationship between Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers, a gifted Juilliard-trained string player whose mental illness landed him among the homeless on the streets of Los Angeles. The relationship has expanded to include staff and musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Soloist, which also features the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a testament to the redemptive power of music and a reminder of our connections to the most vulnerable of us.
“The VSO’s mission is to enrich the lives of our community through our various concert activities and to that end we see this food drive as an important part of that commitment,” said trombonist Tim Owner.
One in eight Americans is at risk of hunger. According to the USDA, there are 36 million people at risk of hunger in the U.S.; 12 million of them are children. In December 2008, Feeding America conducted a survey of 160 food banks nationwide – the results were troubling, with food banks reporting a 30 percent increase in demand for emergency food assistance, compared to one year ago.
To date, more than 218 orchestras across the country have come together to combat hunger in their communities through Orchestras Feeding America, organized by the League of American Orchestras, which represents the nation’s professional, volunteer, and youth orchestras, and Feeding America’s network of over 200 food banks and 63,000 agencies.
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The Virginia Symphony Orchestra with a complement of 79 professional musicians under the direction of Grammy-nominated Music Director JoAnn Falletta performs 140 concerts annually, reaching 200,000 concert goers every season in venues throughout the region. Our education and outreach programs reach 53,000 students and adult learners every year. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra is the cultural cornerstone of the performing arts in Hampton Roads.
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