One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
LA Philharmonic violinist serenades Skid Row
Downtown Skid Row Mental Health Center client, Diana Dow, talks one on one with Robert Gupta about his performance and her enjoyment of classical music.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
The men and women of skid row listen to the Street Symphony performance of a Hayden string quartet.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Carl Williams shares his story of braving the cultural stigma attached to mental illness and the positive gains he's made in his life.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Jin-Shan Dai and Robert Gupta play Hayden for the men and women of Skid Row.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Playing regularly for the Skid Row Mental Health Center, Robert Gupta says "We're like family now!"
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Doglas Taylor, second from left, dances to Beethoven at Downtown’s Skid Row Mental Health Center.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
From left to right, Robert Gupta, Jin-Shan Dai, Jonathan Karoly, and Ben Ullery finish playing classical music on Skid Row.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
“When I come down to work with this audience, I totally choke," says Robert Gupta, "I have no words. I feel like in those places words fail."
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Downtown Skid Row Mental Health Center client, Diana Dow, talks one on one with Robert Gupta about his performance and her enjoyment of classical music.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
The men and women of skid row listen to the Street Symphony performance of a Hayden string quartet.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Carl Williams shares his story of braving the cultural stigma attached to mental illness and the positive gains he's made in his life.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Jin-Shan Dai and Robert Gupta play Hayden for the men and women of Skid Row.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Playing regularly for the Skid Row Mental Health Center, Robert Gupta says "We're like family now!"
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
Doglas Taylor, second from left, dances to Beethoven at Downtown’s Skid Row Mental Health Center.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
From left to right, Robert Gupta, Jin-Shan Dai, Jonathan Karoly, and Ben Ullery finish playing classical music on Skid Row.
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
“When I come down to work with this audience, I totally choke," says Robert Gupta, "I have no words. I feel like in those places words fail."
(
Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC
)
The L.A. Philharmonic’s first violinist performed on Wednesday for homeless men and women at downtown’s Skid Row Mental Health Center.
Robert Gupta is a friend and teacher of Nathaniel Ayers, who inspired newspaper columns and later the book and movie, “The Soloist.” No matter how often he visits, Gupta says the people who live on Skid Row affect him.
“When I come down to work with this audience, I totally choke," he said. "I have no words. I feel like in those places, words fail. And the only thing we can do is make music and suddenly it’s an embrace that comes with no expectation of return.”
Gupta formed the non-profit Street Symphony to better connect artists with this untapped audience. The program included works by Haydn and Beethoven.
Wednesday's concert was the group's fourteenth on Maple Avenue. Gupta said the first time he visited Skid Row was with his former student Ayers, who was then a resident.
"I was totally appalled and shocked," he recalled. "And I thought, you know, what was the point of being a musician if a place like Skid Row existed? [The] only thing I knew how to do was to make music, so I contacted the social workers on Skid Row and said, 'I want to play concerts.'"
Gupta said he chose May because it's Mental Health Awareness Month but, he added, "it’s our responsibility as artists to open our eyes and do this as often as we can."
Sponsored message
The concert gained him at least one fan in the form of Diana Dow.
"I’m homeless, and that is a little stigma," she said. "Even though you have problems you never really want to say that, but this time I said yes, I really do need help."
She said she was first introduced to classical music in her Kentucky grade school, but even now it feels like it "flows through her."
"It takes me away from the situation," she explained. "I’m not out there seeing the chaos that I live around; here, I’m listening to something that soothes my spirit."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
