Song Summit Foundation hosts first fundraiser in Park City

Confusion about the name and its mission has led to a new moniker: The Song Summit Foundation.

The renamed foundation also hired its first executive director and planned a fundraising campaign – all within a month of its reorganization. Longtime Park City resident Meredith Lavitt was named head of the group. Lavitt is a longtime employee of the Sundance Institute and also served as president of the Original Thinkers organization in Telluride. She sees this position as an opportunity to continue her work using the arts to promote wellness and self-expression.

“I’m excited. It’s mission-based work that always seems to attract me,” Lavitt said.

The organization’s first fundraiser will be held Tuesday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the National Ability Center. The event, called Healing Harmonies, is in partnership with Nashville-based nonprofit Songwriting for Soldiers, which helps veterans and active-duty soldiers process past trauma through song and music. A panel discussion will be moderated by Ben Anderson, founder of the Park City Song Summit, and he says there will be music, too.

“Some of the most amazing healing happens through music,” Anderson said. “So it’s obviously relevant for veterans and veterans who are trying to reintegrate into society. It’s very hard because they’ve been isolated. They need to rebuild their confidence, and what better way to do that than songwriting circles to tell their stories and release some of that pain and connect with themselves and other veterans to express that pain and those emotions in song.”

Tickets are $100 and free for active and retired military personnel and first responders.

Anderson also mentions that the band he has performed with for four decades – Aiko – is in Park City to celebrate their 40th anniversary and the Fourth of July with two concerts on July 4 and 6. Aiko is a jam band in the tradition of the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers, blending rock, folk, country and bluegrass into long instrumental jams.

“If you think about it, Jerry Garcia played with the Grateful Dead for 30 years and we’ve been with them for 40 years,” Anderson said. “It’s because some of us are on the road to recovery, something that never really worked for Jerry, but we’re just happy to be alive and going.”

Aiko will perform as part of the free, four-day Canyons Forum Fest on July 4th at Canyons Village. A ticketed event is planned for July 6th at the Marquis Park City.