Davenport Concert May 18 to Offer Hope, Raise Awareness of Mental Illness and Wellness
An extra special concert at First Presbyterian Church, Davenport, will be held Sunday, May 18 at 4 p.m.
“Sing, My Child” is a concert on the theme of mental wellness featuring four choirs — the Sanctuary Choir, Chamber Chorale, Vesper Bells, and Quad Cities Youth Choir – at the church, 1702 Iowa St., Davenport. The event is free, but a free-will offering will be collected to benefit NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley’s work in the Quad Cities.
The concert includes music of hope and healing, and works specifically on the theme of mental wellness, according to music director Matt Bishop.
Repertoire for the concert features sacred and secular music representing a wide variety of styles, including contemporary choral music, music from the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen (which deals with the topic of suicide) and arrangements of songs by Toto and The Beatles. Classical music on the concert includes works by composers such as Robert Schumann and Sergei Rachmaninoff, who were known to have suffered from mental illnesses.
An extra special concert at First Presbyterian Church, Davenport, will be held Sunday, May 18 at 4 p.m.
The largest piece on the program is “Please Stay” by leading American composer Jake Runestad, who wrote the piece in 2016 for and about people who have suffered from suicidal ideation. Other contemporary composers featured on this concert include Rosephanye Powell, Ned Rorem, Sarah Quartel, Laura Mvula, and Cathy Moklebust.
First Presbyterian has partnered with a number of local nonprofits for various concerts in the past few years, but this is their first partnership with NAMI-GMV.
“I actually put this concert together during COVID lockdown, when it seemed to me that conversations around mental wellness began coming to the foreground in a larger way than prior to 2020,” Bishop said recently by e-mail. “I plan concerts like this very far in advance, so as the idea grew in my head over the last couple of years, a partnership with NAMI became obvious.
“They do such incredible and needed work in our community and are passionate about furthering access to and education about care,” he said of the local affiliate for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“Working on this repertoire with all of my choirs this year has opened up the door for a lot of beautiful conversations and opportunities to care for each other as we grapple with the emotional depth in this music,” Bishop said. “It is such an important and personal topic to all of us — we all know someone who has dealt with depression or some other form of mental illness.”
The Quad Cities Youth Choir.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. One in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year, and one in six youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder annually. Yet less than half of them receive treatment.
Nationally, more than 49,000 people died by suicide in 2023, and about 1.5 million Americans attempted suicide that year. NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley provides free, nationally developed education and support programs to people in our region who live with mental health conditions, and just as importantly, their families and friends.
All of NAMI’s programs are delivered by people who are nationally trained and also have lived experience with mental illness – either themselves or a loved one. NAMI education programs and support programs are safe, confidential and supportive spaces where families can find hope and healing. NAMI programs help people realize they are not alone.
At First Pres on Sunday, there will also be support at the concert from Free Mom Hugs, The Gray Matters Collective, Eldridge Counseling, and the pastoral staff of First Presbyterian Church.
Tickets are not required, and doors open at 3:30 p.m.
** If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally or having a hard time, you can be the difference in getting the help they need. You can call or text the 988 lifeline 24/7 and speak with a counselor for free help and resources.
The church’s Chamber Chorale.
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