There are 6,500 miles between Provo and the Philippine islands, but this distance isn’t enough to keep BYU students from helping with typhoon relief.
On Friday night, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., students from the commercial music program will combine their talents in a benefit concert to raise funds for the Red Cross. Admission is $1, and all proceeds from the event will go directly to relief efforts in the Philippines.
Organizer Taylor Miranda said the concert will feature 12 solo acts, duets and individual bands — all of which include students from the commercial music program.
“It’s hard to get into this program, so everyone that is admitted is a really talented musician,” Miranda said. “Everyone that’s performing at the show is serious about music. This is what they take classes for, and it’s what they love, so it should be a really great show.”
Taylor said she came up with the idea to organize the concert when she watched a news clip about the Philippines typhoon in class a few weeks ago. She asked her peers to participate in the concert and organized the event with The Wall herself.
“It just got me thinking about how we should use the commercial music program for good,” she said. “There’s not much that we do together as a program, so I thought it would be a good idea if we used our talents together as a program to make a difference for the people in the Philippines.”
One performer, Nate Young, said his band recently wrote a fitting song for the program before he was asked to play in it.
“It’s a touching song about the suffering that happens all over the world,” Young said. “It talks about how people go through challenges and trials and at the end they overcome them by working together. It’s just interesting because we wrote it and then suddenly things happened in the Philippines and then Taylor asked us to perform in the program.”
“The concert is geared toward showcasing our own original music,” said performer Corbin Sterling. “We won’t be performing much of other people’s work, so you’ll see a lot of creativity.”
The Wall will be running specials that night to donate to the Red Cross as well. Donating $3 will get students a free fountain drink, $5 free sweet potato fries and $9 all of that, plus a dessert.
“I would tell students that they should definitely go,” Young said. “Come support the people in the Philippines who have gone through a lot and need help. You’ll get to escape studying for finals for a few hours, hear great music, feel the Christmas spirit and support a good cause.”
