Online Concert Saturday with Rachel Barton Pine and Others Will Benefit Artist Relief Tree Fund

By Laurie Niles: Violinist Rachel Barton Pine and other musicians including Emanuel Ax will hold a Virtual Benefit Concert at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT, 5 p.m. PT) on Saturday (April 4) to benefit the Artist Relief Tree, a relief fund created for classical musicians affected by cancellations due to COVID-19. "The whole purpose is to raise money for artists -- orchestra members whose entire livelihood has been put on hold, free-lance musicians, everyone struggling to keep going and make it during this unprecedented time," Pine said. "Like many people, I've been wanting to find a way to help, and this a is a great opportunity to both help people in need and also to share my music with the public, which I've missed doing for the last few weeks." Besides Pine, other performers will include pianists Emanuel Ax and Jon Kimura Parker, singer J’Nai Bridges, clarinetist Anthony McGill, harpist Bridget Kibbey, and others, who are all donating their time to benefit their colleagues. They will be performing live from their homes. For the concert, Pine will play a piece that she arranged last summer, a "A Day at the Ball Park," in which she created a piece out of snippets of music you might hear from the organ at a baseball game. She'll also play a version of Brahms' Lullaby by Albert Spalding. "There's nothing more comforting than a beloved lullaby," she said. Contributions begin at $5, and you can click here to purchase tickets at the OurConcerts.live website. The Artist Relief Tree fund, which has already received more than 3,500 requests, will distribute US $250 each to artists who qualify, on a first-come-first-serve basis. Click here to sign up on the Artist Relief Tree Waitlist to request funding.