Every voice deserves to be heard, but it means listening. It means breaking down the barriers between audience and artist, between this side of the street and that side of the street. We all have so much to share, so much to learn from one another, but we first have to listen.
—Alice Kirwan Murray, Street Symphony Teaching Artist
Through Song and Symphony —
Our Story
Founded in 2011 by violinist Vijay Gupta, Street Symphony is a community of Los Angeles-based musicians creating performances, workshops, and new songs with our neighbors recovering from addiction, homelessness and incarceration.
Our roots are in Skid Row, a fifty square block area of downtown LA. Skid Row is the largest concentration of unhoused people in America. It is also the nation’s largest reentry and recovery zone.
Since our inception, we have presented thousands of world-class musical engagements, ranging from performances and collaborative workshops, resource fairs and festivals — all embracing the power of music to heal, liberate, and transcend.
Street Symphony’s programs take place at The Midnight Mission and Downtown Women’s Center, and are open to volunteers. Other programs are held in LA County jails, state hospitals and prisons, and reentry centers.
“In Skid Row, music is more than a form of entertainment. It’s a lifeline.”
—Reena Esmail, Street Symphony Composer in Residence, 2016-2019
Street Symphony’s programs take place in Skid Row, the largest reentry and recovery zone in America. We have created thousands of programs in shelters, clinics, reentry programs, county jails, state hospitals and prisons across Southern California.
Each Street Symphony event is more than a concert, it’s a conversation. Music provides us all with a precious moment of connection — a chance for all of us to see and be seen. To hear, and be heard.
For our audiences, we hope our music provides a moment of dignity, of connection, of hope — and the beginning of a new life.
And for Street Symphony artists, our events are a reminder of why we ever became musicians in the first place.
To connect. To listen.
“One act of love, I know for sure, is to listen.”
—Brian Palmer, member of Urban Voices Project and Street Symphony Fellow
Street Symphony is located at The Midnight Mission, a 12-step recovery shelter and emergency service provider, and the longest running human service organization in Los Angeles. To date, Street Symphony ensembles have presented over 100 “Music With A Mission” performances at The Midnight Mission, as well as workshops, festivals, and 9 annual performances of “Messiah Project”, a community celebration of Handel’s Messiah featuring music created by Skid Row residents.
Since our inception, Street Symphony artists — ranging from musicians in top LA orchestras and choruses, Skid Row community members, West African Drummers and Jaraneros — have presented thousands of world-class musical engagements. We share performances and collaborative workshops, resource fairs and festivals, embracing the power of music to heal, liberate, and transcend.
Every Street Symphony event is free, and, when possible, open to all people.
To volunteer at the next Street Symphony event at The Midnight Mission, please CONTACT US.