“Shaya Bendix Lyon doesn’t play an instrument herself … but she is passionate about promoting the work of musicians playing a genre she loves,” writes Melanie Lidman in Wednesday’s (10/16) Times of Israel (Jerusalem). “The Seattle/Puget Sound region has one of the highest rates of community orchestras per capita, with more than 50 orchestras in a four-hour radius around Seattle, said Lyon. There were plenty of concerts, but what was missing … was … a searchable calendar…. Lyon’s Live Music Project website launched in March 2014 with the aim of allowing users to access information about classical music performances, as well as helping small orchestras and ensembles … connect with new audiences…. The Live Music Project is also … working with social services to obtain free tickets for immigrant families, or people transitioning out of homelessness or addiction [through] their Spontaneous Free Ticket program. The [nonprofit’s] group of volunteer programmers is working on rolling out an updated website to offer national listings…. The website …calendars [are] searchable by instrument, by free concerts, by family-appropriate concerts, and [include] job and audition postings for musicians. ‘The magic behind the community calendar is that there’s a community there,’ said Lyon.”
Posted October 21, 2019
