This year’s Benefit for Change, taking place on Thursday, November 15, is shaping up to be a special event. With two weeks to go until we meet at the Tenement Museum, we are thrilled to collaborate with musicians Jocelyn Zhu and Mariella Haubs. 
Jocelyn was born in Jackson, Mississippi to immigrant parents from China and Taiwan and Mariella grew up in the South of Germany before immigrating to the United States in her teenage years. The two graduated from Juilliard and wanted to use their education to make a positive difference in the world. Although vastly different, their backgrounds share a common thread: communities that have histories of racial discrimination. They also share a common hope for the future.
Together, Jocelyn and Mariella founded Concerts for Compassion. Concerts for Compassion brings meaningful musical experiences to displaced people in refugee camps around the world; conducts educational workshops for children in camps and in local schools; and performs benefit concerts for organizations supporting global communities.
When performing in traditional performance venues, Concerts for Compassion features works by composers who were either refugees themselves or faced adversity in their lives.
Recently, Concerts for Compassion work has included a performance at the New York Peace First Summit, a benefit concert for Support International in support of communities in Lebanon, Iraq, and Uganda, and performances and brief educational workshops in three refugee camps across Germany. For their work, the pair has also been featured on ABC News.
Given Mariella and Jocelyn’s committed support of refugee causes across the world, we are honored to have them at this year’s benefit as our musical performers.
Tickets are still available – don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to listen to classically trained musicians while supporting vulnerable people around the world!