WPRI: Relief Fund Provides Assistance to Struggling Live Music Industry

CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) — Cory Pesaturo has been on the world stage, played for prominent politicians, and was the youngest musician to ever perform at a state dinner.

But the Cumberland resident hasn’t had an audience in over a year.

The closure of venues, concert halls and theaters across New England last March left more than 2,000 freelance musicians in the Northeast without any opportunities to earn a living.

“Everything is on my gigs and my concerts,” Pesaturo said.

Courtesy: Cory Pesaturo

At one point, Pesaturo even played his accordion at the White House for then-President Bill Clinton.

“[Clinton] heard me and then brought me into the room and we hit it off,” he recalled. “He had me back to the White House four times.”

Many musicians, like Pesaturo, didn’t qualify for unemployment benefits, leaving them to fend for themselves during a global pandemic.

That’s why the New England Musicians Relief Fund was created.

Nearly $450,000 has been donated to the fund and given to struggling musicians over the past year, according to Dennis Alves from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who’s also a member of the fund’s board of directors.

“These people, like everyone else, have families, they have houses that they have to heat and food they have to provide and it’s been a struggle,” Alves said.

Alves said state’s loosening restrictions won’t provide immediate relief for many in the industry.

“What we don’t know is, are people going to come back to the concert halls, to the theaters, to the clubs?” Alves said.

“Musicians will not be back to normal for far longer than anybody else,” Pesaturo added.

The fund hopes to raise $500,000 by the end of this week, which is the one-year anniversary of the mass shutdown of entertainment venues.

Anyone who wants to donate to the fund can do so by clicking here.