WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | WINTER 2018 63
A Real
UNICEF isn’t a remote concept to Shaker Heights pianist Ralitsa
Georgieva-Smith. To her, a native of Bulgaria, it’s something real,
tangible, and vital.
Hence her desire to support it the way she knows best: with
music. Haunted by the presence of UNICEF in her hometown and
moved by her own experience as a parent, she and her husband,
Jason, are tapping their links to the Cleveland Orchestra and other
prominent institutions to mount “Music for Our Children,” a benefit
for UNICEF, their fifth such concert in as many years.
“I’ve always felt that children need more help than others,”
Ralitsa says. “They’re vulnerable. I knew I could bring people together
and make an impact.”
UNICEF, certainly, has made an impact on Georgieva-Smith.
Near her childhood home in Bulgaria was what she described as an
orphanage. Every time she passed it, she made eye contact with the
children inside.
She also made physical contact. Periodically, her parents would
invite one of the children to her home to enjoy a warm meal and a
little sorely needed family time.
“Something about that made a real connection,” says Ralitsa. “It
was right there in my face. I never stopped thinking about it.”
Those memories intensified years later when she became a
parent. While tending her two daughters (now in first and eighth
grades), the teacher of collaborative piano at the Cleveland Institute
of Music realized that children need a whole lot more than just food
and clothing. They need care, attention, love. Exactly the things that
UNICEF, more so than most charities, attempts to offer.
“Little children need someone to hug them and tuck them into
bed. This is what hurts me.” Ralitsa says.
She’s far from alone in that sentiment. In the five years the Smiths
have been organizing concerts for UNICEF, they’ve only encountered
eagerness to help. Jason, a trombone teacher at Cleveland State
University, says all he and his wife do is extend invitations to artists
from the Cleveland Orchestra, CIM, and the new Cleveland Ballet, and
the artists handle the rest. So far they’ve raised some $6,000.
They expect to do well this year. In addition to members of
the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Ballet, the concert on
January 21 features pianist Sergei Babayan, the renowned artist-inresidence
at CIM.
As of this writing, the program was almost certain to include
Cleveland Orchestra members William Brian Thornton, Tanya
Ell, and Robert Woolfrey, as well as new choreography by Gladisa
Guadalupe, artistic director of Cleveland Ballet, and Babayan’s own
transcription for two pianos of Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo and Juliet.”
Attendance at “Music for Our Children” has soared from 50
to 150. Even more are expected to appear this year, now that the
concert is being held at the Cleveland Institute of Music, a popular,
accessible location.
Between rising attendance at concerts and broad interest
in helping UNICEF, Ralitsa says she and Jason are looking to
expand “Music for Our Children” from an annual concert into a
non-profit organization.
“Almost every single person I’ve approached has been more than
enthusiastic,” she says. “The response has been amazing. There’s this
huge potential to become something more.”
For ticket information and concert details go
to musicforourchildren.eventbrite.com, or email
musicforourchildren216@gmail.com. SL
Connection
By Zachary Lewis
Photography by Angelo Merendino
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE
/musicforourchildren.eventbrite.com
link