“Just Three blocks from Lincoln Center…The concerts have an air of authenticity and directness that sometimes does not exist in concert halls.”
- The New York Times -

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Music Kitchen - Food for the Soul

Our mission is to bring top emerging and established professional musicians together in order to share the inspirational, therapeutic, and uplifting power of music with the disenfranchised homeless shelter clients in New York City, Los Angeles and cities internationally. We believe a shelter exists to provide not only physical but emotional and spiritual support to those who, for whatever reason, have lost the foundation of their homes and communities. We believe that music reaches the core of our being and can play a vital role in nourishing hope, love, and strength, particularly when performed at an extremely high artistic level and in a friendly, relaxed setting.

“Blissful, a wonderful ending to a long day.
God Bless. ”

- Angel; Shelter Client

"Music feeds our soul, and I'd wish that there would be many more places like Music Kitchen where musicians can offer their art to people in need of comfort and encouragement and, in return, get a unique feeling of what it means to share the sensation of music.  The intense interaction of giving and receiving has been a very special experience for me and has moved me deeply."

-Albrecht Mayer, Principal Oboist of the
Berlin Philharmonic-

Music Kitchen Accomplishments and Quick Facts, First 20 years

  • 20 years, 140 concerts, over 200 artists engaged and approximately 30,000 shelter clients reached

  • Commissioned Forgotten Voices Song Cycle with support from Carnegie Hall, in celebration of the 15th anniversary, featuring shelter client prose feedback comments from the first 15 years set to music by 15 award-winning composers

  • Presented 15 individual monthly shelter premieres of the Forgotten Voices songs from January 2019- March 2020

  • Expansion to Los Angeles to feature and collaborate with Glenn Dicterow, Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ former teacher and former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, and his wife, violist Karen Dreyfus from 2014

  • Collaboration with Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency, speech and performance at their 20th anniversary celebration event 2014

  • Collaboration with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

    Short Film - Face to Face: Forgotten Voices Heard
    WINNER     “Crown of Truth” Best Short Documentary - Cinema Royale Paris

    WINNER Best Cause-Driven Film & Best Documentary- Cannes World Film Festival

    WINNER Best Black Lives Matter Film, Stockholm Short Film Festival

    WINNER Best Short Film, L.A. Documentary Film Festival

    WINNER Best Short Documentary, Berlin Indie Film Festival

Forgotten Voices

Scenes from Music Kitchen - Our Journey

Shelter Partners

  • New York City Department of Homeless Services

  • Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency

  • Antonio Olivieri Center (NY)

  • Turning Point Youth Shelter (NY)

  • Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen

  • Urban Pathways Agency

  • Salvation Army Soup Kitchen

  • Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Shelter Program

  • Holy Trinity Lutheran Church HUG Program

  • Park Avenue Armory Lenox Hill Women’s Shelter

  • Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children (LA)

  • Downtown Women's Center (LA)

  • The Midnight Mission (LA)