#TripleGivingTuesday Ambassador Spotlight
OMF Ambassador Jacqueline Ko Releases First Single to Benefit ME/CFS Research
Photo credit: Kathryn Nickford Photography (Instagram: @knickford.photography),
Graphic design: Stephanie Ko (Instagram: @sinistral.scribe).
Jacqueline, who has ME/CFS, is generously donating 100% of the music proceeds to OMF until the end of 2020! And when you buy the new release anytime between now and December 1, 2020, all purchase proceeds will be tripled as part of our Triple Giving Tuesday campaign — that means your purchase has triple the impact on critical ME/CFS research efforts around the globe!
Aiming to raise awareness for the ME/CFS community through music, Jacqueline’s new release is the classic French opera aria “Elle a fui, la tourterelle” (“She has fled, the turtle dove”) — a beautiful, haunting song performed by a character who has been forbidden to sing due to ill health, but who keeps on singing anyway.
Recording the song from COVID lockdown, Jacqueline is joined by acclaimed collaborative pianist Maria Hwa Yeong Jung, with support from the BC Arts Council and the Yosef Wosk Family Foundation.
Reviewers can’t get enough of Jacqueline’s award-winning voice:
“Ko knows exactly what to do with an absolutely gorgeous voice” -Review Vancouver
“Touching and fraught with emotion…Her aria “Elle a fui, la tourterelle” had wonderful moments of pathos, and her floated high notes were bright and brilliant” -Schmopera
For Jacqueline, the fight to raise awareness of ME/CFS and funds for research is personal: Both she and her sister Stephanie suffer from ME/CFS. Through her struggle with ME/CFS, Jacqueline has become determined to merge her love of music with advocacy.
Aside from serving as an OMF Ambassador, Jacqueline is also the co-founder of Opera Mariposa, Canada’s only entirely disability-led and disability-run opera company. Over the past decade, Opera Mariposa’s annual Benefit + Awareness events have raised over $90,000 for ME/CFS treatment, research, education, and patient support.
Her newest single release is yet another amazing example of how Jacqueline selflessly utilizes her musical talent to raise the voices of all those who suffer from ME/CFS and related chronic complex diseases.
Give the gift of hope to all those affected by ME/CFS: Donate any day of the week from now through International Giving Tuesday, December 1, 2020, and your gift will be tripled by generous donors:
It’s with your support that we’re leading critical research and delivering hope for millions.