PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Center City nonprofit partnership is combining the warmth of hospitality and the uplifting power of music to help Philadelphians experiencing poverty find community and connection.
“And everybody sings. It’s just gorgeous,” says Jane Boyd, who visits Broad Street Love daily. Broad Street Love is a community services nonprofit that aims to guide people in deep poverty toward security and self-sufficiency.
Boyd says, when she heard about the Harmonious Communities partnership with Opera Philadelphia, she said, “An old gal can learn some new tricks” — and she joined up.
Veronica Chapman Smith and her team at Opera Philadelphia started the partnership with Broad Street Love in the fall. Every week, a dedicated artist teaches participants group singing and vocal techniques in a supportive environment.
“It’s the community of Opera Philadelphia and our musicians, and the community of Broad street Love and their wonderful musicians,” says Chapman Smith. “This is two organizations coming together to find joy during the holiday season.”
The singers are compensated for their hour-long sessions, but Boyd says she’s there to make connections.
“So far, with this choir, I am having a lovely time. It’s the camaraderie, the music that we’re singing.”
More than 100 guests have taken part in the choir since its inception — like Jamal Chestnut, who attends the holiday choir regularly.
“We have some type of unity, and we all come together and just sing and sing and sing and sing,” Chestnut says.
Like the other guests, Chestnut visits Broad Street Love daily for what he describes as gourmet meals and companionship. Now that he’s singing with the new choir, he says, there’s a lot to look forward to.
“A whole lot of joy on the holidays,” says Chestnut, “and make everybody feel good.”
He says, for at least one hour a day, this community of people making beautiful music together helps clear away some of his worries.
It’s all leading up to a pair of winter concerts to be performed on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at Broad Street Love, 315 South Broad Street.
“They’ve been working on this set for months,” says Larry Downey with Broad Street Love.
The song lineup will include Christmas classics and some popular favorites like Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway hit “Rent.”