Sing Me a Story

The Sing Me a Story Foundation began in a children's hospital in Nashville, when a songwriter sat down with kids and asked them, simply, to tell him a story. From those rooms grew an organization that now pairs children in need — kids connected to hospitals, hospices, and youth organizations around the world — with musicians who turn those stories into songs. The mission is not to write about a diagnosis. It is to give a child the one thing they already have, regardless of circumstance: their imagination, sent back to them as music.

A few years ago, Sing Me a Story opened that work to bands, orchestras, and choirs. A story is written. A composer sets it. An ensemble learns the piece, then performs it live for the child and the people who love them.

This piece is being written from a poem by Vaso's family. Vaso lives with KCNQ2 encephalopathy. He is nine. He does not speak, and he cannot walk; what he does, with a clarity that has remade the people around him, is love. The poem — The Light That Found Us — is their own telling of that road: the fear, the hospitals, and the light they finally recognized they had been holding all along.

I am writing a lyrical work, about four minutes long, approximately grade 3 difficulty, in collaboration with New Trier High School and Matthew Temple, who will premiere it on March 11, 2027. After that first performance, consortium ensembles will be able to perform the piece in their own halls.

Choose Tier 1 ($100), Tier 2 ($250), or Tier 3 ($400) depending on what your organization can afford. Each tier receives the same credit and PDF performance materials, which will be available in February of 2027. Consortium members will be notified by email once the score and parts are available for download. We will also reach back out to confirm how your credit should appear in the score. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you for helping make music out of Vaso's story.