First, I have to say, my husband would want you to know that he knew Lisa before I did. They ran together with the Park Forest Running and Pancake Club when Lisa was in high school.
So I am "Johnny-come-late-to-the-party" but I fell in love with Lisa when I heard her music. As you know, she plays the harp. She sounds like an angel and she looks like an angel when playing.
Her playing is being heard around the world and Lisa is receiving the acclaim she deserves. But, I also love Lisa for what she does out of the goodness of her heart.
The program book mentions that Lisa often comes to the southern suburbs to raise money for the Suburban Youth Symphony Orchestra and she has done so for Tall Grass. For the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, she conducts seminars in colleges and elementary schools.
She performs concerts in order to raise the money. Lovely concerts, made even more lovely by her explanations of the music and her enthusiasm about answering questions about the harp. Lisa also raises money for the arts in other parts of the country.
Even more touching to me was learning that Lisa shleps her harp to play to patients in a hospital and hospital-hospice. Imagine, an artist of Lisa's caliber playing to an audience of one. Lisa has created a non profit called
"Music in the Woods" through which she now engages other musicians to perform in hospitals and schools.
And she is working to create art & music fairs through her non profit.
Lisa is an impressive musician. But, she is also an impressive human being.
I am so pleased to be able to honor Lisa Tannebaum.