Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins Presents "Forgotten Voices" at Carnegie Hall

Founded in 2005, Music Kitchen – Food for the Soul is the pioneer organization to present concerts by top classical music in homeless shelters.

In celebration of 30,000 clients served, 100 concerts, and the 15th season in March of 2020, Music Kitchen commissioned "Forgotten Voices" with support from Carnegie Hall.

"Forgotten Voices" is a composite song cycle featuring comments by the homeless shelter clients during the first 100 concerts, set to music by 15 of the most celebrated and emerging composers of our time.

Beginning in January 2019, the project premiered one new song each month in shelters, by 15 commissioned composers: Courtney Bryan, Jon Grier, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Gabriel Kahane, James Lee III, Beata Moon, Paul Moravec, Angelica Negron, Kevin Puts, Steve Sandberg, Kamala Sankaram, Jeff Scott, Carlos Simon, Errollyn Wallen, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

"Forgotten Voices" will culminate in the World Premiere concert of the complete song cycle at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall on March 31, 2022. To attend, click here.

Performers will include singers Allison Charney, Adrienne Danrich, Jesse Blumberg, and Mark Risinger; violinist Ling Ling Huang, violist Andrew Gonzalez, cellists Alexis Pia Gerlach and Peter Seidenberg, and double-bassist John-Paul Norpoth.

Special guests will be NBC News’ Harry Smith and actress Jessica Hecht. A moderated Q&A session after the performance will conclude the event.

“The 15 songs of Forgotten Voices explores the full range of the human experience, from loss to exhilaration, gratitude to hope, flights of imagination to intimate dialogue, and takes us to a place of soaring inspiration,” said Hall-Tompkins in the press release.

“I’m so excited to finally share this historic song cycle for the first time at Carnegie Hall, elevating great artistry in service of social justice and giving a voice to the voiceless in an unprecedented way,” she added.

Hall-Tompkins additionally reached out to organizations including The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, Dudamel Foundation, Colburn Conservatory of Music, Bloomingdale School of Music, and the Sphinx Organization to invite students to the concert.

A trailer for the event can be watched below.

Kelly Hall-Tompkins is a winner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize and has been featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Described by the New York Times as “the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive,” she is an in-demand artist on international stages and festivals and was also “Fiddler”/Violin Soloist of the GRAMMY and TONY-nominated Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.