January 30, 2017 Caroline Collins “Celebrations from the Heart” is a collaboration of three ideas. When I began to think of how to celebrate my 16th birthday, I had a vision of being able to do something meaningful for our community. I really wanted to “do something that mattered” and my thoughts kept coming back to Camp LUCK. Instead of having a party or receiving presents for my birthday, I wanted to raise money to help send “heart” kids to this medically supervised residential camp. I first became involved with Camp LUCK through my sister. Cassidy was born with a critical congenital heart defect and has had multiple hospitalizations and six heart procedures. Camp LUCK (Lucky Unlimited Cardiac Kids) is a support program that helps kids and families living with congenital heart defects on many levels. I have had the chance to go to their Family Camp many times and I have seen the impact this camp has on its participants; heart kids, brothers, sisters, moms, dads—entire families. I have also seen how big of an impact Camp LUCK’s Kid’s Camp has on the campers, both through the stories I hear from my sister and brother and the conversations I have with other “heart” siblings at Camp LUCK events. To learn more about Camp LUCK, please check out their mission statement at campluck.com. Back to the collaboration… I knew that the best thing I have to offer is my love of music, so I presented my idea to offer a benefit performance to Peter Corneliussen. He graciously agreed to be my accompanist and we began to talk through some of the pieces. He had been doing some research for a musical he is writing about Joan of Arc and his research somehow connected to the d’Este family. When Dr. Peter realized that my family lineage traces back to this same family, which includes Isabella d’Este (the First Lady of the Renaissance), he was inspired. He found a composition written by Guillaume Dufay to honor my ancestor, Nicollo d’Este and “C’est Bien Raison de Devoir Essaucier” quickly became one of the feature pieces for this event. Soon after our early conversations, Dr. Peter saw an article in the newspaper about a sculpture of Joan of Arc which would soon be on exhibit at the Hickory Museum of Art. Once again, he was inspired. He contacted Lise Swensson to find out more about the sculpture and that is when the collaboration truly began. The three of us met and “Celebrations from the Heart” was born. Mrs. Swennson had invited me to perform at the HMA last spring when she had attended the Bach’s Lunch & Listen at Newton-Conover Auditorium and now was the perfect time and reason for that performance. We would perform pieces from Peter’s “Joan of Arc” musical alongside the “Joan of Arc” statue, celebrating female artists and women who have cultivated the arts. We would do this in February, during congenital heart disease awareness week and collect donations for Camp LUCK to help support children and their families. The performance of 16 pieces would be offered free of charge with open admission to our community and hopefully raise enough money to send a child to camp. I am overwhelmed and amazed by how this has developed. Photographs Courtesy of Carol Anne Hartman Photography