Phoenix Symphony plays free concert for homeless
May 27, 2013, 1:20 PM
PHOENIX — Sitting in the front row of the Lodestar Day Resource Center’s lobby, Wade Roeker bobs his head to the brass quintet.
“I love music and I love great musicians,” he said, who is homeless and looking for work.
Roeker’s never seen a quintet play live, until Monday when the Phoenix Symphony showed up to the downtown Phoenix shelter and put on a free concert.
“If I were to attend the symphony I doubt if I would be so lucky as to have such a great vantage point,” said Roeker.
The concert was part of the symphony’s B-Sharp Homeless Initiative, a program that uses the power of music to inspire those who might feel powerless.
“When you have people who are experiencing extreme hardship in life they get to come in here for an hour and just relax and experience something beautiful,” said Kim Leavitt, director of education and community involvement at the Phoenix Symphony.
Leavitt said they put on concerts once a month at different shelters around the Valley.
