“Let there be peace, and let it begin with me,” Brianna Finnell sings from her La Quinta sequester. She posted her two-and-a-half-minute video performance and earned a $500 to Keep Art Alive — a grant from the California Desert Arts Council (CDAC) offering relief to working visual and performing artists whose livelihood has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Born and raised in the Coachella Valley, Finnell is a classical vocalist who graduated from College of the Desert before earning a bachelor’s degree in music from University of California, Irvine, where she’ll graduate with a MFA in vocal performance in June. She gained local notoriety in 2015 as the grand prize winner of McCallum Theatre Open Call, and has given many performances in the desert over the years, including her sixth annual concert at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage to help raise funds for the Memory Care Center.
CDAC and affiliate La Quinta Arts Foundation have established a $50,000 Keep Art Alive fund to award grants to Coachella Valley artists and arts organizations who create thoughtful, inspiring, and relevant works responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am determined to continue to bring music to the Coachella valley and the world,” she told the California Desert Arts Council. And, in a sobering post to her Facebook friends, she said, “I feel like I took music for granted before this experience. I didn’t know that my last performance was the last one for a long time. Always perform like it’s the last time you will.”
Watch Brianna Finnell’s performance of “Let There Be Peace.”
Follow Brianna Finnell on Instagram @briannafinnellmusic
