Swan Songs invites you to become a part of our Cygnature Circle. Members are invited to two private events per year, featuring music by beloved Austin artists and the chance to visit and get to know the Swan Songs board, staff, and a community of like-minded supporters. Your gift of $1000 per year for an individual/couple or $1500 for a business helps create sustainability and stability for Swan Songs and our mission to fulfill musical last wishes while also supporting Austin area musicians.
Fun Fact! Cygnus is a prominent constellation in the northern sky. Also known as the Swan constellation, Cygnus means “the swan” in Latin.
ABOUT SWAN SONGS:
Swan Songs was officially established in 2005 as an Austin, Texas-based 501(c)(3) organization, although the concept was born in the early ‘90s when Austin musician Christine Albert (Swan Songs Founder & CEO) was asked to sing for a dying fan. The idea to bring music directly to someone facing the end of life resonated with Austin psychotherapist Gaea Logan (Swan Songs co-founder), and the two women began informally organizing the bedside concerts. The organization is committed to utilizing professional musicians whose expertise and experience are central to the success of the program. They recognize the importance of compensating these artists, therefore a nonprofit was created to raise the necessary funds to offer an honorarium, with no financial obligation on the part of the recipient, their family or the healthcare facility. The name Swan Songs was chosen, inspired in part by John Swann – the terminally ill man Christine first sang for in 1992.
Swan Songs has worked with dozens of regional hospices and care facilities and compensated over 500 musicians through the years. As the program evolved, it became apparent that there was a more compelling desire to request a certain style of music than a specific artist, although some regional artists have been requested by name (Guy Forsyth, Eliza Gilkyson, Ruthie Foster, Jimmy LaFave, Bob Schneider, Ray Benson, Carolyn Wonderland, Marcia Ball, The Flatlanders and more).
Swan Songs works diligently to match the style of music requested with the appropriate musician(s). The variety of requests over the years reflects how deep an individual’s connection with music can be – based on a lifetime of memories, culture, heritage and geography. Whatever connects the recipient to those memories, their family, their joy – that is what Swan Songs brings.
