Co-Founders of 'Sing for Hope' to Teach Masterclasses for Singers

Fay Fox

Camille Zamora and Monica Yunus, co-founders of Sing for Hope

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – RefleXions Music Series, a project funded by the University of Arkansas Chancellor’s Grant for the Humanities and Performing Arts Initiative, and sponsored by the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Music and KUAF 91.3, announces "Sing for Hope" co-founders Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora’s fall virtual residency.

Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora will be leading masterclasses for singers (student and professionals), other musicians, choir directors, audience members, art advocates and music teachers, featuring University of Arkansas voice students and others interested in participating. The masterclasses will be delivered via Zoom from 3:30-5:00 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, and again on Thursday, Nov. 5, at the same time.

These classes are free and open to the public but registration in advance is required. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Yunus and Zamora will be featured in the RefleXions Podcast in November and will lead an open panel conversation with art leaders in the community about social impact through the arts on Dec. 3. Links to these events will be shared later in the fall.

Internationally acclaimed sopranos Yunus and Zamora started “Sing for Hope” while studying at the Julliard School of Music in response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, understanding then that music had the power to heal their community and to provide solace in the midst of chaos. Now, “Sing for Hope” is an “artists’ peace corps” that reaches millions of people annually in their home-base of New York City and worldwide. Guided by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and in partnership with hundreds of community-based organizations and city agencies, "Sing for Hope" activates the creative arts as drivers of healing, learning, and social cohesion.

“RefleXions guest artists Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora will be connecting with us as the arts and artists are suffering because of the pandemic," said Lia Uribe, director of RefleXions Music Series and professor in the music department. "But these artists recognized this as an opportunity for re-invention to aid in the healing of our communities. They created 'Sing for Hope,' thus diverting from a traditional career in classical music, fully aware that the transformative power of the arts was needed in the aftermath of 9/11.The pandemic and social unrest in our communities present the opportunities to explore the same healing transformation through conversation, master classes and panels, and together reconsider the future, its challenges, and our calls for action."

The RefleXions Music Series was conceived as a celebration of music, musicians, advocates and audiences, as a series of events that foster creative justice and diversity through opportunities to reflect, learn, grow, change and teach. The RefleXions team is a collective of U of A individuals from different backgrounds that bring unique perspectives and commitment to the highest standards of scholarship, research and aesthetic diversity: Erika Almenara, Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Rogelio Garcia-Contreras, Walton College of Business; Antoinette Grajeda and Leigh Wood, KUAF; Ronda Mains, Catalina Ortega, Eric Troiano and Lia Uribe, Department of Music; along with students Connor Gott, Olga Khokhryakova, Liz Luzcando and Bailey Ross.

Follow RefleXions Music Series stories and events at Reflexionsmusic.org.