Seven years ago, Erin Hannigan, principal oboe in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, “organized the first Concert for Kindness” to raise money for Dallas Animal Services, a no-kill animal shelter, writes Kate Peebles in Friday’s (7/27) D magazine (Dallas). The annual concert, held in March, is “performed by volunteer[s] … including performers from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Opera, and the Avant Chamber Ballet…. In June, Hannigan received the 2018 Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service [from the League of American Orchestras], given to just five orchestra musicians across the country who use their musical talents to improve their communities…. Over the past five years, Concert for Kindness has raised more than $200,000 for Operation Kindness, allowing the shelter to raise adoption rates and provide spots for more animals…. The concerts have also helped cover the cost of medicine that the shelter pays to treat its animals, an expense of over $120,000 every year…. Hannigan’s … aims go beyond the animals. ‘I want [people] to see the Dallas Symphony as a group of community members,’ Hannigan says. ‘We’re here because of the Dallas Symphony job, but we are entrenched in the community and it’s a wonderful thing.’ ” Learn more about the League’s Ford Musician Awards for Excellence in Community Service here.
Posted August 1, 2018
