Your gift this season can open a door, ignite a passion, and build community through the power of live performance.
Thanks to a generous $25,000 matching challenge from board member Valeria Lowe-Barehmi, every donation made by December 31 will be matched—doubling your impact for students, families, and neighborhoods across Greater Boston. This holiday season, help us share the joy of live performance with thousands more.
Your donation supports vibrant Arts for All! community programs like our free Ailey Revelations Celebration workshops. (March 2025)
Your support helps create enriching experiences for young artists, including students who participate in our Neighborhood Arts Stringfest concerts.
Programs like Take Your Seat open doors to the arts for thousands of young people across Greater Boston, offering free and discounted tickets to inspiring performances.
Your gift will have twice the impact, helping build communities where neighbors see the arts as essential to daily life.
Your donation supports vibrant Arts for All! community programs like our free Ailey Revelations Celebration workshops. (March 2025)
Your support helps create enriching experiences for young artists, including students who participate in our Neighborhood Arts Stringfest concerts.
Programs like Take Your Seat open doors to the arts for thousands of young people across Greater Boston, offering free and discounted tickets to inspiring performances.
Your gift will have twice the impact, helping build communities where neighbors see the arts as essential to daily life.
As a lifelong Bostonian and a former principal at James P. Timilty Middle School in Roxbury, I’ve seen firsthand how the arts can transform lives.
When I was growing up, my family couldn’t afford private lessons—but thanks to the orchestra program at my public school, I experienced the thrill of making music and being part of something bigger. Those experiences opened doors for me, and they instilled a love of the arts that has guided me ever since.
“Thanks to my public school orchestra, I found my place—and my passion.”
Programs like Celebrity Series’ Take Your Seat do the same for thousands of young people across Greater Boston, offering free and discounted tickets to inspiring performances. When they are welcomed into these spaces, they see that the arts truly belong to them.
With our Roxbury Initiative, we are building on this promise. Together with local leaders, churches, schools, and community partners, Celebrity Series is creating a neighborhood where the arts are part of daily life. Just last season:
We tripled our Roxbury audience
Presented 14 free events: concerts, workshops, artist visits
Doubled our partnerships with community-based organizations
100% of attendees felt welcome
94% reported joy and personal growth
“When young people are welcomed into these spaces, they see that the arts truly belong to them.”
Because I believe so strongly in this work, I recently made a personal pledge of $25,000.
This year, I am dedicating my pledge as a matching challenge in honor of Gary Dunning, our longtime Executive Director, who will retire at the end of the 2025/26 season. Every dollar you give by December 31 will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000.
“Your past support made a difference. Now is the perfect time to return—your gift will have twice the impact.”
When you give, you make all of this possible. You ensure that a young person experiencing live music for the first time—just as I once did—feels included and inspired. You create community gatherings where neighbors see the arts as essential to daily life.
I hope you’ll join me in giving the gift of joy this season. Together, we can open doors to the arts for thousands more people across Greater Boston.
With gratitude and hope,
Valeria Lowe-Barehmi
Member, Celebrity Series Board of Advisors
Principal, James P. Timilty Middle School, Roxbury (1999–2013)
P.S. Make your gift before December 31 and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact to bring the joy of live performance to more people across Greater Boston.
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