About Us
What We Do
Vision Statement
Swan Songs ® envisions a world where the end of life is honored through music.
Mission Statement
Swan Songs fulfills musical last wishes™ by organizing private concerts for individuals with a terminal illness or nearing the end of life. At no cost to the family, a favorite style of music or regional musician is brought directly to the home or care facility. Committed to supporting live music in the community, Swan Songs compensates its musicians for each performance.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement:
Swan Songs is committed to a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment to ensure we meet our mission of providing personalized concerts for individuals with a terminal illness or nearing the end of life. We acknowledge and respect the differences in language, ethnicity, spirituality, and personal identification of the communities we serve.
Musical Last Wishes Concerts
Swan Songs creates a sense of connection for individuals near the end of life by gifting them private concerts and supports live music in a community by compensating artists for the concerts. These intimate "musical last wishes" concerts are held in healthcare facilities or private homes, and are often attended by family, loved ones, and caregivers. Swan Songs maximizes the impact of the concerts by engaging musicians who match each recipient's favorite style of music, songs, or instruments. From opera to Mariachi, bluegrass to the blues, each concert is unique and deeply meaningful for everyone present.
While musical last wishes concerts are the primary program, Swan Songs also offers two additional opportunities to include music in the end-of-life experience.
Gift of Song ™
The “Gift of Song” is a song written by a professional songwriter based on someone’s life, customized to reflect their personal story and unique contribution to the world. For those who are facing the end of their time here, hearing their life journey in a song can bring dignity, comfort, and closure. Those who are left behind will have something more than a memory; listening to a song inspired by the colorful details of someone’s life keeps them close to the heart for generations to come.
The Gift of Song program in Austin is a partnership with Texas songwriter and founder of Portrait Songs, George Ensle.
Swan Songs Writing Sessions ™
The “Swan Songs Writing Sessions” program in Austin pairs a loved one who is terminally ill or nearing the end of life with professional songwriter and artist, Darden Smith. Together, they collaborate to capture the individual’s story and uniqueness in song.
Family or friends can also be involved, rendering the songwriting experience as both a celebration and tribute, one preserved in lyrics and melody that can be sung and shared with others for years to come.
Swan Songs founder & CEO Christine Albert and co-founder Gaea Logan
How it all started
In 1992, Austin, Texas musician Christine Albert was asked to sing at a small gathering of the friends and family of John Swann, a formerly vibrant 40-year-old man who was facing an early death from a brain aneurysm. Months later she sang in the hospital room of a cancer patient who loved to hear her sing French songs. He died a week later.
The honor of being invited to sing at these powerful moments in people’s lives was humbling and inspiring. At the same time a good friend of Christine’s and a gifted psychotherapist, Gaea Logan, was supporting a friend through his final transition and she recognized the compelling need to make music more available to patients nearing the end of life.
And so, the idea was born to create an organization to act as a liaison between the healthcare and music communities. Through MusicAid, as the initiative was known then, the two women organized a number of concerts over the next several years. They also received support from and collaborated with Craig Hella Johnson and New Texas Festival, which later became the acclaimed Conspirare.
In 2005, Ms. Albert felt called to create more structure around the mission and Christine, Gaea, Craig Deats, Dr. Tim Dziuk, and Susan Kolliopoulos - the founding board members - formed a 501(c)(3) organization, adopting the name Swan Songs to capture the spirit of the mission and in memory of John Swann, whose love of music inspired this work.
Thank you to the many individuals who have helped bring this vision to life.
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Dr. Joe Annis – Chair
Gilbert Turrieta - Vice Chair
Harry Zimmerman – Treasurer
Liz Land – Secretary
Rabbi Marie Betcher
Craig Calvert
Judy Cantilo
Rev. Dr. Carla Cheatham
Simone Talma Flowers
Randy House
Heidi Kook-Willis
Marsha Milam
Johnna Wellesley
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Craig Deats
Craig Hester
David Hughes
Terry Lickona
Cindy Lind
Jeff Nash
Judy Osborn
Joe Stallone
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Christine Albert – Founder & CEO
Dorothy Reno – Director of Programs
Karen McElhatten – Volunteer & Outreach Manager
Lisa Newman - Development & Communications Coordinator
Nancy Mohn Barnard - Concert Coordinator
Our progress
Today Swan Songs receives an average of one request per day and the mission has naturally and gracefully evolved. Most requests are for a genre or style of music as opposed to a specific favorite local artist. The requestor trusts the Swan Songs staff to match the request with the right professional musicians. With four full-time staff members and over 30 volunteer Concert Liaisons to help facilitate, concerts can be turned around within hours, often bringing music to recipients just before they pass.
In late 2019 the Swan Songs staff and Board of Directors began exploring the possibility of replicating the mission – in response to the often-asked question “how can we start Swan Songs in our community?” After several years of meetings, discussions, decisions, and hard work, the “affiliate model” was developed. At this time, Swan Songs Portland, OR has been established and is building their organization’s infrastructure, rallying community support and training with Swan Songs in Austin to begin fulfilling musical last wishes later in 2024.