Bread And Roses

Micah Press and his jazz combo at the San Rafael farmer's market.

Fall is a time when many nonprofits step up their fundraising efforts in order to meet end-of-year goals. This fall, Bread & Roses was delighted to be on the receiving end of the generosity of thirteen-year-old Micah Press, who took our mission to the streets with the help of his school’s jazz combo.

We first met Micah a few months ago when he set out to raise money in support of our organization. Being a musician himself, he said that of all the Marin nonprofits he could support, he felt most aligned with the mission and impact of Bread & Roses. In order to raise money, Micah played with his jazz combo at the San Rafael farmers market and requested that for his bar mitzvah, his guests make contributions to Bread & Roses in lieu of gifts.

In an ironic turn of events, we were recently able to give back to Micah when he spent time at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital for a neck problem. Singer/songwriter Francesca Lee (who is also a Bread & Roses producer) performed a bedside concert for Micah, reminding him that through his generosity, he had become a cherished member of the Bread & Roses extended family.

Recently, Micah was discharged from the hospital, and one of the first things he did was to deliver his donation. Amazingly, he exceeded his goal of raising $1,800, a number he chose because in Judaism, the number 18 is an expression of life. Micah says that he will continue to raise money for Bread & Roses with the help of his jazz trio once he is fully recovered. In the meantime, we will use his generous gift to sponsor shows for kids in other pediatric hospitals throughout the Bay Area.

Thank you Micah. A whole lot of hope, healing and joy will soon be shared thanks to your generosity.

By Liz Donaldson

Comment (0) Read More...

Michael Pritchard as Emcee at Bread & Roses Volunteer Celebration on August 28, 2011

For the past several years, Michael Pritchard has been Bread & Roses ambassador-at-large. As a comedian and motivational speaker,  he helps us convey the heart of our work and inspires all to continue Mimi Farina's legacy of providing  hope and healing through live music and the performing arts to those isolated in institutions who need it most. As emcee at our recent volunteer celebration at the Freight & Salvage, Michael reminded us that it is generosity of spirit that connects us and makes us happy. 

Appearing in the new independent documentary The Happy Movie,  Michael Pritchard helps us understand how to measure happiness. Those of us who live in the Bay Area can see the film Friday September 30 &  Saturday October 1 at 7 pm at The Rafael Film Center in San Rafael and afterwards hear Michael in a Q & A with Associate Producer Omid Heidari.   The Happy Movie will be shown at The Rafael for six days only (through Oct. 5) so don't miss the opportunity to see it.  It will also be screened on Monday Oct. 24 at 5:30 pm in Palo Alto as part of the United Nations Association Film Festival co-sponsored by the Stanford Film Society and the UNA Mid-Peninsula Chapter.  

Comment (0) Read More...

 Robert Gupta's story is an inspiration to us all: not only does he play first chair violin for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he is also their youngest performer, having joined the orchestra in 2007 at the age of 19. What is perhaps most remarkable about this young prodigy is that in addition to his professional music career, he also directs his own free concert series, The Street Symphony, which brings live classical music to the homeless and mentally ill on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. KQED's California Report recently did an audio story on Robert's social service outreach, which includes comments from the patients after his concert. You can listen to the report here: http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201108250850/b

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Bread & Roses serves a number of residential mental health facilities at major hospitals including short-term units at San Francisco General, and California Pacific Medical Center, as well as longer-term treatment facilities such as Cordilleras in Redwood City and Canyon Manor in Novato.  Among our most challenging audiences, we know that mental health patients, particularly those who are also homeless, can be hard to engage and at the same time, are often deeply appreciative of and positively affected by music's healing force.

Gupta's interest in music as therapy for the mentally ill was perhaps inspired in 2008 when he met and began tutoring Nathanial Ayers, the schizophrenic musical virtuoso who is the subject of the bestselling book, The Soloist by L.A. Times columnist, Steve Lopez. Many of you might be familiar with the film adaptation, which stars Jamie Fox and Robert Downey Jr. Of his time working with Ayers, Gupta remarked that he was struck by how music seemed to calm Ayers and act as a sort of medicine or therapy. It was at that time that Robert began The Street Symphony.

Comment (0) Read More...

Please Note: This blog is best view in Firefox or Google Chrome.

Having written songs recorded by Emmylou Harris and Joe Cocker, Marshall Chapman is very plugged in to the songwriting socket. Her styles range from Alternative Country to Rock 'n Roll, and her intelligent humor pervades all of her writing including her books. While in the Bay Area recently to promote her  new book, They Came to Nashville on West Coast Live, she performed her first institutional concert for Bread & Roses.

On June 19, 2011 Marshall shared songs and stories with the men and women working on their sobriety at New Bridge Foundation in Berkeley. "Music and 12-step programs saved my life," she told them. Songs about her life before, during and after recovery (from substance abuse) were met with great enthusiasm and empathy. "Why Can't You Be Like Other Girls" told of how she didn't fit the mold growing up in South Carolina. "Goodbye Forever" chronicled her obsession and difficulty in kicking a bad relationship. And the happy ending song reminded everyone that "It's Never Too Late to Have a Happy Childhood."

Comment (0) Read More...

At Bread & Roses every day, we are privileged to witness the healing power of music, and today scientists and neurologists are confirming what we’ve known for over 37 years: that “humans are hardwired to respond to music.”  

Listen to this June 1^st interview on NPR’s Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan, where he interviews Elena Mannes, author of The Power of Music: Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song. Esteemed neurologist and president of the  Society for Music Perception and Cognition,  Ani Patel joins in on the conversation. There is also a link to the transcript, as well as an excerpt from the book - http://www.npr.org/2011/06/01/136859090/the-power-of-music-to-affect-the-brain.

How have you been affected by the power of music? Please share on our blog or our Facebook page.

Comment (0) Read More...

Bread & Roses serves people of all ages and backgrounds who are isolated in institutions. Some of them suffer from lapses in memory.  We have seen seniors with Alzheimer’s disease, for instance, who may not recognize their grandchildren, but are still able to recall all the lyrics of a song.

Those who know the power that music has to invoke memory will appreciate The Music Never Stopped, a 2011 Sundance Film Festival pick that examines the relationship between memory, music, and healing. In the film, Gabriel (Lou Taylor Pucci), is reunited with his parents, Henry (J.K. Simmons) and Helen Sawyer (Cara Seymour), when he turns up at a hospital in New York in 1986 with a large, yet benign brain tumor that has severely damaged his memory.  The past, present and future are virtually indistinguishable for him and he is incapable of interacting with those around him, including his parents, from whom he’s been estranged for 20 years.

When medicine and traditional therapy fail to help Gabriel regain his memory, Henry contacts a music therapist, Dianne Daley (Julia Ormond), who discovers that when Gabriel listens to the music that he loved as an adolescent, especially the Grateful Dead, he is able to reconnect with the world. We all have a soundtrack to our lives, and somehow that musical memory seems to survive even the most traumatic of brain injuries.

Comment (0) Read More...