Sherwood Park musician raises donations for food banks by playing requests online
Classically trained pianist has launched Keys for COVID to help during pandemic
A Sherwood Park woman is using the power of music to raise donations for Alberta food banks during the COVID -19 pandemic.
Anna Zhang, a classically trained pianist, said she wanted to find a way to help others while following government advice to stay home. So she turned to what she knows best — music.
“When you think about helping ... you think about volunteering and actually going out to these different organizations and doing something. But since I was staying home, and we’re all required to stay home, I didn’t feel like that was something I could do,” Zhang said.
“I’m fortunate enough to have a musical background and to also have a piano at home that I was spending a lot of time just playing around on, having fun with. And I came up with the idea one day that maybe I could potentially use my music to raise donations.”
That’s how Zhang came up with Keys for COVID. By going to her website, keysforcovid.com, individuals can make a donation of any amount and submit a song request. The donation goes to a fund for a number of food banks in Alberta as well as one in Toronto, where Zhang attends law school.
Zhang then creates a one- to two-minute cover of the requested song with her piano and posts the videos to the website as well as an Instagram account, @keysforcovid.
“It’s been a wild adventure. For the most part, I think a lot of people have been requesting kind of top-40 hits type of thing, songs that you hear on the radio by popular artists,” Zhang said. “But I’ve also gotten requests from musicals; I’ve gotten two classical piece requests.”
Zhang even received a request to cover the song Low by Flo Rida featuring T-pain.
“I really just like a variety of all different types of music. I use it as a really good way to expand my musical repertoire and expand and challenge myself to play a different style of music, as well,” she said.
Zhang has also collaborated with other local musicians for the fundraising effort and would love to do more.
“The goal is not to have a perfectly polished music cover, but just to kind of bring musicians and listeners and artists together and have fun,” Zhang said.
For previous song covers, Zhang has collaborated with a friend who tap dances, singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers, as well as her sister, who plays the violin.
“I’ve had a lot of fun trying to integrate different instruments that I can’t play, but other people can,” she said.
So far, more than $1,000 has been raised for food banks through Keys for COVID.
“I would love to be able to donate over $1,000 to every single food bank,” Zhang said. “But of course, I’m hoping to ... raise as much as I can.”
I’ve had a lot of fun trying to integrate different instruments that I can’t play, but other people can.