Daniel Sperry’s campaign adds a violinist — and more — for parkgoers
By Jim Flint for Ashland.news
Cellist Daniel Sperry’s pitch to fund al fresco musical performances has struck a chord.
The nonprofit organization he founded, Beautiful Music in the Park, had raised nearly $12,000 as of June 30 toward its initial goal of $15,000 to support classical musicians performing in Ashland’s Lithia Park.
Sperry expects to exceed that goal with proceeds from a benefit concert from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20, at Irvine & Roberts Vineyards, 1614 Emigrant Creek Road, Ashland.
The evening of music will feature The Flare Quintet, a newly formed piano quintet, performing original music composed by Sperry, as well as pieces by the rock band Coldplay and by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who wrote “Hallelujah.”
There also will be storytelling and recitations of poetry by Rumi, Hafez, Mary Oliver and Billy Collins. The winery will offer a menu of small plates and wine for purchase.
Concert tickets are $50 each, with 100% going to the nonprofit. They can be purchased at parkmusicbeauty.org. About 100 tickets will be available.
The launch of Sperry’s fundraising campaign and what inspired it were first reported in a story published March 24 by Ashland.news.
“It’s been an amazing response,” Sperry said. “People are excited and really enjoying the new musician we have already launched in Lithia Park.”
Two additional musicians are now playing as part of the program.
Chris Bingham, a pianist in the quintet, will play Thursday or Sundays (sometimes both) from noon to 2 p.m. beginning this month.
Violinist Kathleen Strahm now performs from noon to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at a spot near where the first arched footbridge leads into Lithia Park from Winburn Way. You can find Sperry on his cello there from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays through Sundays. He posts schedules at danielaustinsperry.com.
“Kathleen is an independent contractor for our NPO,” Sperry said. “The arrangement guarantees her $150 for each two-hour performance. Since she started, her tips have grown, and the supplement we have to provide to reach the guarantee has decreased.”
Tips have the effect of stretching the nonprofit’s available funds to support musicians currently performing in the park, as well as others down the line.
Strahm and Sperry connected when he introduced himself to her while she was busking at the Ashland Growers & Crafters Market.
“He needed a violinist for ‘Amy’s Song,’ a commission he was making a recording of,” Strahm said.
Strahm believes the park setting breaks down boundaries between classical music and people who may have felt intimidated by the idea of a concert hall experience.
“People often see classically trained musicians as unapproachable, due to the ‘high art’ nature of classical music,” she said. “In the park, people are free to listen while reading, lying in the sun, or even having lunch. They can listen unhindered by the ‘rules’ often associated with classical instruments.”
Strahm also enjoys the ease of forming relationships with listeners much more directly than in a concert hall.
“I get immediate feedback when someone smiles, starts tapping a foot, or even begins to dance,” she said. “Just as the music touches them, I feel like those responses feed my own soul.”
The new piano quintet will perform in the same Lithia Park location monthly, subject to funding. The ensemble conducted an open rehearsal in the park June 30 to prepare for the winery concert and plans another one at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 18 — and at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 11. Quintet musicians are cellists Sperry and Michal Palzewicz, violinists Strahm and Abigail Wilensky, and pianist Chris Bingham.
Sperry plans to have the quintet perform at least one hour-long concert in the park in August, September and October. Times will be announced on the website’s home page.
“We’d like to expand to two one-hour concerts per month — or more — if we have the funding,” he said.
“One performance requires a guarantee of about $500. It is a more challenging offering to fund, but we think it will add tremendous delight for folks passing through the park.”
The nonprofit, a 501(c)(3) organization, also will fund performances by former Rogue Valley resident Kimberly Starkey, pianist and composer, who will take her music to parks in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Iowa, in early July.
This is Sperry’s 12th season playing in Lithia Park. He also does house concerts and composes musical “portraits” on commission.
Over time, he realized how much emotional healing, solace and delight people were getting from his playing in the park. That prompted him to establish the nonprofit in the fall of 2022.
His dream is to expand the concept around the country.
“We’re attempting to show that with a little help, the right musicians can develop sustaining support for their artistry and make a viable living,” Sperry said. “To do that, we feel we need a couple of successful examples.”
He invested some of his own money in the project, crowdfunded for a time through social media, and received a grant of $2,500 from the local Haines Foundation to help get started.
Sperry projects paying musicians $150 per two-hour performance, three times a week (Friday through Sunday), for a period of eight weeks. Including taxes, the total cost per musician would be $4,950.
For more information, to purchase tickets, or to support the nonprofit, go to parkmusicbeauty.org.
Reach writer Jim Flint at jimflint.ashland@yahoo.com.
July 8: Updated information added.
