CONCERT TO END HATE

May 17, 2025

ABOUT the concert

In 2023, the Levine Center to End Hate partnered with acclaimed Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra trumpeter Herb Smith to present the first Concert to End Hate—a unique musical and spoken word event designed to highlight a diverse variety of voices and exquisite music to unite the community. This celebratory, community-wide gathering at Artisan Works’s Bourbon Street Hall showcased music as a vehicle for compassion, understanding, and resilience, inviting attendees to explore perspectives they may find challenging to understand.

Attendees from the 2023 concert left with a renewed sense of purpose, and a belief in the possibility of bridging divides. With deeply personal performances and stories, the concert reminds us that empathy and love are powerful responses to hate.

The 2025 concert will feature music--composed and performed by a variety of musicians-- and storytelling—that builds to a euphoric final piece. Herb Smith, known for his dedication to community-building and outreach, headlines the concert. Roc the Mic Productions, a local nonprofit, stages live, powerful storytelling events that reflect the diverse experiences within our community; RTM will partner to produce the spoken word component of the program.

listening to the other

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR STORY.

Call for stories about human connection: connecting with a stranger, challenging your own misperceptions, transcending hate or bias, or finding comraderie and community in the least likely of places.

You need not be a Writer to submit! All stories should be true and your own experience, and no longer than 6 minutes when read aloud. Let us hear you!

Submit your story to

info@endhateroc.org.

We will be reading submissions through January 2025. Five people will be chosen to read their stories at the Concert To End Hate on May 17th at 8 p.m.

sponsorship

$30,000 – Visionary

(Title Sponsor – one spot only)

Event headline naming
Unlimited complimentary tickets to the Concert to End Hate
Recognition on all platforms and event signage and literature
Up to five company/employee profiles on social media platforms 3-4 weeks prior to show
Opening Remarks/Introducing Herb Smith
Meet & Greet with Herb Smith and the performers
Pre-show video advertisement on screen/ full-page in program
Logo on website and Newsletter

$20,000 – Dignitary

(Underwriter – unlimited spots)

Named as Underwriter of the Concert To End Hate
20 complimentary tickets to the Concert to End Hate
Recognition on all platforms and event signage and literature
Up to three company/employee profiles on social media platforms 3-4 weeks prior to show
Meet & Greet with Herb Smith and the performers
Logo on pre-show screen/ half-page ad in program
Logo on website and Newsletter

$10,000 – Unifier (Sponsor)

Named as Sponsor of the Concert To End Hate
10 complimentary tickets to the Concert to End Hate
Recognition on website and event signage and literature
Company profile on social media platforms 4-5 weeks prior to show
Logo on pre-show screen/ quarter-page ad in program
Logo on website and Newsletter

$5,000 – Bridge-Builder (Presenter)

5 complimentary tickets to the Concert to End Hate
Mention on social media platforms 5-6 weeks prior to show
Logo in program
Recognition on website and Newsletter

$2,500– Partner

3 complimentary tickets to the Concert to End Hate
Listing in program
Recognition on website and Newsletter

$1-$2,499 – Supporter

Listing in program & newsletter

MEET THE PERFORMERS

Voted “Best Instrumentalist” of Rochester 2022 by City Magazine, Herb Smith currently holds the third trumpet position in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the principal trumpet position in the Gateways Festival Orchestra and the Gateways Brass Collective. He has played wth such notable musicians as Jeff Beck, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, the O’Jays, Johnny Mathis, and Doc Severinsen, to name but a few. He has been a frequent guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Rochester Philharmonic.

Herb is a regular guest conductor with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He frequently conducts the Symphoria orchestra based in Syracuse, NY and currently directs the Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra. Herb recently conducted and curated a Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Brass performance of Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” at a Black Lives Matter rally and a concert honoring Harriet Tubman. This performance united the City of Rochester, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and neighborhood churches in honor of Tubman’s bicentennial celebration. As a composer, Herb has been commissioned by brass ensembles, high school choirs, jazz ensembles and trumpet ensembles in addition to writing for his jazz trio and the Gateways Brass Collective.

Strings for Success is a free, inclusive and innovative instrumental strings program. Strings for Success is a partnership between The Center for Youth and the Dr. Charles T. Lunsford School 19 in the Rochester City School District and is open to students in the 3rd-8th grade.

Strings for Success students have performed with professional, college, and community orchestras, at festivals and in various museums and concert halls. Their past field trips have included travel to Albany, Washington DC, New York City, and Boston, where SFS students have performed at historical sites such as the Capital (for a Congressional Briefing on the Arts), the 911 Memorial, and the JFK Presidential Museum and Library.

Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra is a unique, high-level jazz program, consisting of the extended area’s top high school jazz musicians. This ensemble’s primary focus is on developing the student’s technique, improvisational skills and deepening their understanding of jazz. Includes rhythm, saxophone, trumpet or trombone sectionals.

The band plays throughout the year at Eastman and in the Greater Rochester area including the Rochester International Jazz Festival. The students in the band are often intending to major in music at the college level.