Philanthropic chorus Resounding Harmony lends voices to benefit NTFB
Songs in the key of “eats” fill the bill at upcoming concert by Resounding Harmony, a 125-voice all-volunteer Dallas choir that sings to raise money for local charities.
Music, the Food of Love! is the theme for the event at Moody Performance Hall (the just-renamed Dallas City Performance Hall) in the Dallas Arts District on June 23. The concert honors the memory of WFAA food contributor and critic Stacy Fawcett, with ticket sales benefiting the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB). WFAA’s out news anchor Ron Corning hosts.
Led by choral director Russ Rieger, the program will feature tasty numbers on a foodie theme, including “Food Glorious Food” from the musical Oliver!, composer John Rutter’s complicated, comical “Banquet Fugue” and “Biscuits” by country star Kacey Musgraves.
“It’s all kind of a tribute to the late Stacy Fawcett,” says Resounding Harmony board chairman (and Reiger’s partner) Mark Knight, who is also a founding member of the chorus. “Ron Corning was one of her best friends, and when we asked what we could do in her memory, he said her favorite charity was North Texas Food Bank.” (Stacy Fawcett was murdered in her Plano home in 2016 by her 19-year-old son, who also stabbed to death his 17-year-old brother and then killed himself.)
The concert is the last event in Resounding Harmony’s ninth season, though the group often pops up throughout the year at neighborhood festivals. The choir has raised more than $300,000 for the Susan G. Komen breast cancer organization, Make-A-Wish, Wounded Warrior Dallas and other nonprofits. Choir members have also made and donated teddy bears to local children’s hospitals.
Many of the singers are culled from other music groups, including The Women’s Chorus of Dallas, the Turtle Creek Chorale and church choirs, as well as simply being individuals who just enjoy harmonizing for good causes.
“They’re the most generous people I’ve ever known. They often pool their pocket change to pay for concert hall rentals,” says Knight.
Choir member Barb Bach used to sing with the Women’s Chorus; now she’s an alto with Resounding Harmony. “I jumped at the opportunity to sing with them,” says Bach, who works in real estate. “I can’t give to every charity that I want to, but this is a way I can give back to the community. I really enjoy it. I’m a charter member. I’ve sung in every concert, and I was right there at the beginning.”
The NTFB is a nonprofit that provides access to more than 190,000 meals every day for hungry children, seniors and families through a network of more than 1,000 programs and agencies across 13 counties. In 2016, NTFB provided some 70 million meals. The organization is well served by food drives, but donated cash provides increased buying power through co-ops, local farmers and food storage units. For every $1 donated, NTSB says it can feed three people.
“Every dollar we can give through our concert’s donations far exceeds what we could do with a food drive,” Knight says. “To sing for a chorus that’s changing lives, there’s a little different feeling to that. We call it ‘giving where we’re living.’”
Something about that just hits all the right notes.
— Elaine Liner
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 16, 2017.
