Benefit brings voices together

Sing for the Cure, a musical benefit designed to support breast cancer research and recovery, will bring the voices of breast cancer victims and their families and friends to the IU Auditorium on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m.\nTickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster and the IU Auditorium.\nThe idea belongs to Barbara Light, event chair, who decided to bring the performance to Bloomington after hearing a CD that was given to her as a gift, "I heard the music and was really taken. Then I felt it could be done in Bloomington." \nShe had also seen the performance done by the Turtle Creek Chorale two years ago. A core group was soon developed and planning began.\nUnder the direction of Michael Schwartzkopf, director and conductor of the IU Singing Hoosiers and chair of the Music Education Department, the Singing Hoosiers and a community choir will combine their talents for an evening of touching musical storytelling. \nThe event is a collaboration, designed to bring together the IU community and the local Bloomington community. "It's a unique event," Jennifer Naab, a member of the design team and friend of Light said, "because it combines IU and the community; the singing Hoosiers and the community choir together. I think it's going to be really exciting."\nThe performance will tell the personal stories of women dealing with breast cancer not only from the victims' point of view but also from the eyes of their friends and families, "It tells the story of breast cancer through a lot of different eyes, making the whole thing really unique," Naab said.\nThe songs are very moving including pieces from a child's voice, "Come to Me, Mother;" a spouse's voice, "The Promise Lives On" and a mother's voice, "Who Will Curl My Daughter's Hair?" \nIn addition to the Singing Hoosiers, the event will also feature world renowned soprano Sylvia McNair as narrator. \n"We were looking for somebody else who could draw people, it's a fundraiser and we wanted to get others involved," Light said. "That was our number one choice, to have her come sing. We were very fortunate."\nAn IU School of Music alumna and two-time Grammy Award winner, McNair currently serves as the IU School of Music executive advisor for outreach.\nProceeds from the performance will be benefiting the Bloomington Hospital's Olcott Center for Breast Health, The G.I.R.L. Friend Fund, and Bloomington's local Wabash Valley affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Center Foundation. Light said the performance is also a tribute to Kenda Webb, who was co-honorary chair of the event before losing her battle with cancer in December 2001.\nThe hope is that the event will draw a lot of people not only from the Bloomington community but also from the IU student population. "This is a cause I think young people should get involved in too. Somebody had said you know, the Singing Hoosiers, that's a young group, and to me that's a good group, they need to be aware of this," Light said.\nFreshman Makena Coscarelli, whose mother is Director of the Ted Mann Family Resource Center for Women of Cancer at UCLA, plans on attending. \n"I will definitely go to this because I've participated in the Revlon Run/ Walk for breast cancer for many years and I think this is another way to provide fundraising for research. I've seen how breast cancer affects women of all ages as well as their families and anything that provides awareness of the disease is worth attending," she said.