When she joined the Tucson Symphony Orchestra four years ago fresh out of grad school, violist Candice Amato knew there was one thing she was really going to miss after leaving the Eastman School in Rochester, New York.
Each year, she and fellow students and Eastman faculty would put on a chamber concert to aid the communityβs food insecure population through a program started by viola professor Carol Rodland. When she told Rodland how much she would miss the experience, Rodland suggested she start her own event in Tucson.
On Sunday, April 28, Amato will join a handful of University of Arizona faculty and students and some of her TSO colleagues including Music Director JosΓ© Luis Gomez on violin to perform the fourth annual βIf Music Be the Foodβ concert. Proceeds from donations of non-perishable food items and cash will benefit the Interfaith Community Services Food Bank.
βWeβre all doing this because we love to play chamber music and we love to connect with our community,β Amato said.
Since it began, Tucsonβs βIf Music Be the Foodβ series has raised about $1,000 cash and 800 pounds of food.
βWeβre hoping to grow that,β Amato said.
Since its founding at Eastman in 2009, βIf Music Be the Foodβ has grown into a national, grassroots movement to raise awareness and support for the countryβs food insecure populations. Programs are now held in cities including Tampa Bay, Florida; Dickinson, North Dakota; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City; and Boulder, Colorado. Most of the programs were started by Rodlandβs former students.
Sundayβs concert begins at 3 p.m. at Grace St. Paulβs Epicopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. The program includes works for viola and piano and Mozartβs String Quintet in G minor.
In addition to Amato and Gomez, the musicians expected to perform are Tim Kantor, Laura CΓ‘sarez, Sarah Toy, Marybeth Brown-Plambeck and Chia-Chun Ko.
For more information, head to ifmusicbethefood.com.
