Community Connections: Harmony for Heroes

Harmony for Heroes was founded in 2013 by Kimberly Russ, formerly Resident Pianist of the Seattle Symphony. Her son, a United States Marine, was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012. During his deployment, Russ experienced doubt, worry, depression, anxiety, anger and insomnia, feelings common when a loved one is sent to war. Her faith, on which she relied heavily, led her to consider positive outlets for these extreme emotions. She wondered, “What can I personally do to show veterans and military members how much I appreciate them besides telling them ‘thank you for your service’?” This was the inspiration for her nonprofit, Harmony for Heroes.  

The organization’s main mission is to share classically based music with veterans, current military and their families. Originally, Russ worked with the Puget Sound’s two VA hospitals to volunteer her musical talent for those receiving care, regularly visiting to perform classical music in waiting areas. She found profound fulfilment meeting the many veterans and their family members, listening to their stories, and sharing piano music of the classical masters along with some lighter music and hymn arrangements. She created a Facebook page for Harmony for Heroes, and musicians of the orchestra began to learn about the outreach, sharing her excitement and enthusiasm to give back. Many began to accompany her to play music at VA hospitals. When the Seattle Symphony began the Community Connections program, Russ immediately enrolled Harmony for Heroes and connected with the VA hospital team to coordinate group trips. Through word of mouth and social media, she was able to provide complimentary tickets to veterans and their families around the region to attend Seattle Symphony concerts. Many concert attendees shared feedback about how therapeutic it was to hear such beautiful music in a great concert hall. Russ and her husband, Chris Olka (former Principal Tuba of the Seattle Symphony), moved to Cincinnati in 2016, but Russ’ mission in Seattle continues.  

Community Partner Testimony: “Community Connections has been a terrific partner with Harmony for Heroes, whose mission is to share high quality music with veterans and their families. Since our founding, Community Connections has enabled us to simplify the procedure to acquire complimentary tickets to share with our veteran community, making it extremely efficient and customizable to our needs. Many Puget Sound veterans and their families have been positively impacted by the program and the orchestra’s clear appreciation of the sacrifices made by those serving their country. Thank you.” 

Harmony for Heroes is one of more than 60 partners in the Seattle Symphony’s Community Connections program, which provides complimentary tickets to nonprofit organizations across the Puget Sound region. 

Up Next: As part of our support of teachers and students, the Seattle Symphony is excited to host 500 students from local school districts to attend an Open Rehearsal with violinist Augustin Hadelich and conductor Dalia Stasevska (April 23, Benaroya Hall). Next is a free concert that finds Symphony musicians joining the students of Kids in Concert for a chamber music performance (April 27, North Kitsap Community Auditorium, Poulsbo). Finally, our annual free Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop brings 10 teens together to compose music for Seattle Symphony musicians, this year mixing acoustic and electronic media. Save the date for the culminating concert (June 8, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall).