‘Save the Music’ concert series strives to help musicians and area nonprofits

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - So much has changed in the past several months, but one that is nearly unanimously missed is music - live music at restaurants, concerts, any music.

That’s why one Charlottesville nonprofit has been working to bring it back, safely.

The economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic has been hard on musicians and the Charlottesville-based nonprofit The Front Porch that supports them. But, pandemic-era problems require pandemic-era solutions.

On Wednesday evening, The Front Porch hosted a virtual concert featuring Chloe Ester and Co. It was one of many it has put on as part of its ‘Save the Music’ series.

“There is a sort of bliss that happens in our brains when we’re experiencing music that sounds good to us, and a way that we can feel a sense of release and relief from the stress of normal life,” said Emily Morrison, the executive director of The Front Porch.

The concerts Morrison helps arrange are for the people watching at home, but also for the musicians performing.

“For most of these musicians, this is their only gig throughout the pandemic,” she said. “Their only paid gig after years and years of that being their livelihood.

Much of the costs are covered through one anonymous donation, but other donations are helping other nonprofits in need.

“Non-profits take the hit very significantly mostly because we largely rely on the generosity of the community to sustain us.”

Through these concerts, Morrison says it’s just time to put away worries and enjoy something for which many of us are longing: live music.

“I’d love for them to feel connected to that artist in the moment and appreciating all the work that has gone into educating them to be the person who’s able to do what they do,” she said.

The Front Porch will keep the ‘Save the Music’ series going virtually at least into the spring.

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