- Title: Met Orchestra violinist to play for voters in New York on election day
- Date: 31st October 2024
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 31, 2024) (REUTERS) VONSATTEL WALKING THROUGH CENTRAL PARK (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) METROPOLITAN OPERA ORCHESTRA VIOLINIST, SARAH VONSATTEL, SAYING: "It's something very unifying about voting. Music is universal. We all listen to music, many children sing before they speak. It's an important part of the human experience. So it's some
- Embargoed: 14th November 2024 22:15
- Keywords: 2024 election Donald Trump Kamala Harris Met Orchestra Metropolitan Opera New York City Play for the Vote Sarah Vonsattel United States
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, SOMERVILLE & WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS & UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, SOMERVILLE & WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS & UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA003616831102024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: For Metropolitan Opera Orchestra violinist Sarah Vonsattel, election day will also be a performance day. But instead of her her usual gig at the Met, she’ll be playing at a polling station in New York City.
Vonsattel is one of the thousands of volunteers who are part of Play for the Vote, a non-profit which places local musicians at polling stations across the country.
"I think right now it's really easy to focus on our differences this time of year,” Vonsattel told Reuters on Thursday (October 31). “And this is something that we can be united by."
Vonsattel and her election ensemble will be playing at David Rubenstein Atrium at the Lincoln Center on the morning of November 5th but will only stay for an hour because they have an opera to rehearse for the same day.
Play for the Vote was started in 2020 by Boston-based cellist Mike Block to improve people's voting experience and to help musicians engage positively amid divisive rhetoric and political tensions.
According to Block, Play for the Vote aims to have performers near polling stations across all 50 states, from New York to Los Angeles and from Wyoming to Florida, making election "a community event and not just a solitary errand".
Boston-based Block believes that a surprise musical performance on election day can create a "soft magical moment" for voters, give them positive memories of the day and even encourage them to come back and vote at the next election.
Sarah Vonsattel also said as a musician she felt privileged to do something special on an important day.
"I know a lot of different people who do it, even kids, student groups are doing it around the country, so that can be a really inspiring, fun thing," she said.
Play for the Vote hopes to have musicians at thousands of polling locations, particularly in places that may be in need of uplifting vibes, for example North Carolina which is still recovering after Hurricane Helene which hit the state in late September.
(Camera: Justin Nathanson; Production: Maria Vasilyeva, Alicia Powell) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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