Introducing SMC Arizona!

Suite Melody Care Establishes Third Chapter in the United States with SMC Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona – Suite Melody Care is thrilled to announce the launch of the Arizona Chapter, based in Tucson. This will be SMC’s first Chapter in Western US and sixth Chapter in North America.

Suite Melody Care, in its ninth year, was established in 2012 and is now a national, not-for-profit. Pre-COVID, SMC was sharing over 100 themed, interactive, youth volunteer performances with hospitals, long-term care facilities, and retirement residences. When the COVID pandemic hit, SMC quickly adapted by producing the SMC COVID Virtual Performance video series delivered on YouTube, involving more than a hundred young musicians and dancers from around the world, and helping isolated seniors feel a connection to the community.

American Violist Katie Baird will be the Chapter Lead for the Arizona Chapter. Katie shares, “I am very honored and excited to be a part of the Suite Melody Care team, and I cannot wait to give back to my community through music. Especially after living through the pandemic, the gift of live music can bring lots of joy and healing to both the audience and the performers.”

Founder & Chair Leslie Ashworth expresses, “I was so thrilled when Katie said yes to the invitation of starting SMC Arizona. She is such a driven, optimistic, organized, and intelligent person and will be such a fantastic new member of the SMC family.”

For those musicians, dancers, and singers living in Arizona, you are encouraged to showcase your performances and give back to the community by contacting Katie and applying online: www.suitemelodycare.com.

Arizona Chapter Lead, Katie Baird

Katie Baird is a violist and arts advocate based in Tucson, Arizona. Katie was recently named the Presser Scholar and the Undergraduate Creative Achievement Award winner at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree under the tutelage of Dr. Molly Gebrian. Passionate about equity in the arts, she has collaborated with professors and librarians across the nation to launch the Underrepresented Composers Database. Housed on the American Viola Society website, this database contains 1,600+ works for viola written by BIPOC and women composers, 800+ of which Katie contributed through volunteer research.

Suite Melody Care

Suite Melody Care shares over 100 live, themed, interactive, youth performances annually, reaching thousands of audience members in retirement residences, hospitals, and long-term care facilities with Chapters in Southern Ontario, Iowa, Houston, Vancouver, Newfoundland, and Arizona. During COVID, SMC is producing SMC Virtual Performances being shared with hospital patients and the elderly throughout Canada and the U.S.