MUSIC FOR MEALS: Cellist Joshua Halpern is among the players at a concert on January 31 to fight food insecurity. On the program are works by Mozart, Schumann, and composer Bruce Adolphe.
By Anne Levin
Sunghae Anna Lim wasn’t sure what to expect when she organized a “Music for Food” chamber music concert at Nassau Presbyterian Church last September. The event added Princeton to the list of communities across the nation in which professional musicians perform to raise funds to fight food insecurity.
Much to Lim’s delight, the concert raising money for the nonprofit Arm In Arm attracted some 120 people, and made almost $5,000 — enough for her to warrant planning a second event. “Light in Winter: An Evening of Inspirational Music to Fight Hunger in Mercer County” takes place this Saturday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Princeton, 50 Cherry Hill Road.
On the program are works by Mozart, Schumann, and contemporary composer Bruce Adolphe, known to local audiences for hosting family concerts at Richardson Auditorium, under the auspices of Princeton University Concerts.
“Last year was a heavy lift to get off the ground,” said Lim, a violinist on the performance faculty at Princeton University and a member of the Richardson Chamber Players, among other groups. “But I had a lot of help. We made close to $5,000, which I thought was great. I would like to keep moving forward. It’s a different kind of challenge to make it ongoing. People were very enthusiastic about the first concert. This is a different program, which I hope people will find interesting.”
As with the cast of last September’s concert, this one is made up of a group of close collaborators. “We have a different group of friends this time — very good friends,” said Lim. “I think it’s a fun program. It is based around Bruce Adolphe’s piece, and he will emcee and talk about his music.”
That piece, Einstein’s Light for Violin and Piano, was written by Adolphe a decade ago for the 100th anniversary of the theory of relativity. Famed violinist Joshua Bell performed the premiere with pianist Marija Stroke, who will play at the Princeton event.
“It’s based on Einstein’s life in a broad sense, and his interest in music. It takes many quotations from this particular Mozart sonata that Einstein [a violinist] is known to have played, and takes it into the 20th century realm,” said Lim.
The musicians — Lim, violist Hannah Burnett, cellist Joshua Halpern, and pianist Stroke, will start with the Mozart sonata. The program continues with Adolphe’s work, and Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major opus 47.
“Einstein said a lot of things about Mozart,” said Lim. “He saw his music as ‘the inner beauty of the universe,’ he said. When stuck on physical problems, he found peace in Mozart. I think he felt that Mozart had a cosmic connection related to his physics work.”
In addition to his appearances with Princeton University Concerts, Adolphe is the host of the podcast “Piano Puzzler,” which was formerly on National Public Radio. He has been the resident lecturer and director of family concerts for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1992. According to that organization’s website, Adolphe’s works are frequently performed by artists including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Fabio Luisis, Joshua Bell, Daniel Hope, Angel Blue, the Brentano String Quartet, the Washington National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the Human Rights Orchestra of Europe, and over 60 orchestras worldwide.
The musicians donate their time and skills to Music for Food, which operates in some 30 cities across the nation. Since its founding in 2019, more than 400 artists have taken part, according to the website Musicforfood.net, raising over $1 million and creating more than 3 million meals.
The mission today is more important than ever. “Look at what’s happening right now, with ICE,” Lim said. “Music for Food is not about that — it’s about food. But if there is something I can do, that is somehow related, I want to help. So I’m still committed to carrying on with this project and hope to continue doing two concerts a year.”
Admission is free, with donations suggested for Arm In Arm. A livestream will be available. Visit musicforfood.net/Princeton.