Music with a cause
by Jonathan Lowe
Music | 10/17/06
Posted online at 2:49 AM EST on 10/17/06
If you've ever witnessed a musical performance on campus, there's a good chance you've heard Madison Lyleroehr '09. The 19-year-old Knoxville, Tenn. native has been singing since the age of two, and in her short time at Brandeis has performed with a slew of campus performance groups. But her list of community-service activities is twice as long as her artistic endeavors. In addition to her work at home, Lyleroehr has worked with the Waltham Group and the Student Peace Alliance. When the opportunity arose for Lyleroehr to combine her passion for singing with her dedication to charity, the powerful soprano didn't waste much time: The proceeds of her 2006 album of Christmas carols, Heavenly Peace, will directly benefit Michael J. Fox's Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Anne Jackson, the Knoxville harpist with whom Lyleroehr recorded the disc, approached the singer after seeing her perform at her high school's senior recital.
"Her voice sounded so sweet with the harp," Jackson told Knoxville's WBIR News. "It's very difficult to sing with a harp and she did it magnificently."
Jackson soon asked Lyleroehr to join her in recording an album of classic Christmas carols, and the aspiring singer happily accepted.
"[Jackson] asked me to make [the album] with her, and I love to sing, so I didn't need that much to make me say 'yes,'" Lyleroehr said.
The album, Heavenly Peace, marks Lyleroehr's second trip to the recording studio. In 2003, she released Dreams Last, which featured mostly pop and rock songs and raised thousands of dollars for a Knoxville homeless shelter.
"We wanted to give the proceeds to the Fox Foundation because they have done a lot of great things for research on Parkinson's Disease, which is a disease that is close to my heart because my mom has PD, and my grandma died from complications of PD in May," Lyleroehr said. "So giving the proceeds to them is a way to honor and remember her."
While she doesn't know how much the Heavenly Peace project has raised to date, Lyleroehr says an event held to celebrate the album's release raised over a thousand dollars for the Fox Foundation, and she and her family hope the Christmas season will help them bring in even more money for the charity.
Anne Jackson, the Knoxville harpist with whom Lyleroehr recorded the disc, approached the singer after seeing her perform at her high school's senior recital.
"Her voice sounded so sweet with the harp," Jackson told Knoxville's WBIR News. "It's very difficult to sing with a harp and she did it magnificently."
Jackson soon asked Lyleroehr to join her in recording an album of classic Christmas carols, and the aspiring singer happily accepted.
"[Jackson] asked me to make [the album] with her, and I love to sing, so I didn't need that much to make me say 'yes,'" Lyleroehr said.
The album, Heavenly Peace, marks Lyleroehr's second trip to the recording studio. In 2003, she released Dreams Last, which featured mostly pop and rock songs and raised thousands of dollars for a Knoxville homeless shelter.
"We wanted to give the proceeds to the Fox Foundation because they have done a lot of great things for research on Parkinson's Disease, which is a disease that is close to my heart because my mom has PD, and my grandma died from complications of PD in May," Lyleroehr said. "So giving the proceeds to them is a way to honor and remember her."
While she doesn't know how much the Heavenly Peace project has raised to date, Lyleroehr says an event held to celebrate the album's release raised over a thousand dollars for the Fox Foundation, and she and her family hope the Christmas season will help them bring in even more money for the charity.
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