Singing For Shelter, the annual Christmas concert featuring Newport-area musicians raising money for local homeless shelters, is going virtual this year.
“Because COVID is preventing us from all gathering in one place on one night, we decided to offer a series of home concerts, featuring our local musicians going live from their living rooms on Facebook,” Singing For Shelter co-founder Mark Gorman said.
“Beginning on December 5 and continuing almost until Christmas, there will be 20 ‘living room concerts’ involving a total of 50 local musicians, all raising money for Lucy’s Hearth and The McKinney Shelter. Viewers will be urged to visit the shelters’ websites and donate directly to them.”
“Can you imagine being homeless at Christmastime in the middle of a national pandemic?” Gorman asked. “ We’re very grateful to all these musicians for once again stepping up to help their homeless neighbors during this unprecedented emergency. Singing For Shelter has raised over $85,000 for these shelters, due to the generosity of our musicians and the unwavering support of our wonderful island community.”
The thirty-minute online shows will feature many of Singing For Shelter’s perennial performers as well as some exciting newcomers.
As always, there will be a mix of traditional holiday music, some heartwarming tunes, and even some originals. For the complete schedule, visit ChristmasInNewport.org or SingingForShelter-Newport on Facebook.