2026 Swan Songs Serenade at The Junior League of Austin Community Impact Center

Swan Songs, an Austin-founded nonprofit dedicated to recognizing the power of music at the end of life, will host the 2026 Swan Songs Serenade on Sunday, November 1 at The Junior League of Austin Community Impact Center. With this year’s concert requests projected to reach 600 – an estimated 60% increase since 2024 – the 16th annual gala will once again celebrate a community of supporters and donors who make it possible for Swan Songs to directly compensate musicians to perform favorite styles of music for recipients in their private homes or care facilities, with no cost to the requestors or families. Individual tickets to the 2026 Swan Songs Serenade are available now and can be purchased for $250.

The run of show for the Serenade is as follows:

6 PM – cocktail reception and silent auction

7 PM – seated dinner by Rosemary’s Catering

8 PM – live auction

9 PM – silent auction concludes and performance by Ugandan-born, Austin-local Jon Muq

Swan Songs was born from a series of powerful experiences in the early 1990s, when Austin musician Christine Albert (Swan Songs Founder & CEO) was invited to sing for individuals nearing the end of life. Inspired by these intimate moments, Christine and psychotherapist Gaea Logan began organizing bedside concerts through an early initiative called MusicAid. Support from collaborators like Craig Hella Johnson and the New Texas Festival (now Conspirare) helped to grow their venture. In 2005, Christine, Gaea and a dedicated group of founding board members formally established Swan Songs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, honoring the memory of John Swann, whose love of music helped inspire the organization’s name and mission. 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; with no financial obligation on the part of the recipient, their family, or the healthcare facility.

Swan Songs has worked with dozens of regional hospices and care facilities and compensated over 800 musicians through the years. They work 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. For more information on Swan Songs, visit www.swansongs.org.