Michael Hatfield and Francesca Lee from Bread & Roses Bring Musical Tunes to the Dining Room

Carlo Fiatarone, Director of Missions

March 10, 2023

*Francesca Lee and Michael Hatfield performing in the Dining Room on March 8*

Their feet were tapping to the beat. She looked up from her meal and a smile spread from ear-to-ear. He joined in on the chorus with a bellowing yet soulful voice. She grabbed the hand of a Guest Services employee and spun it around in an arm-spiraling salsa dance move. These were the little things I noticed when I sat down to eat lunch in our Dining Room on Wednesday, March 8.

While not out of the ordinary, these emotions and reactions were on full display all over the Dining Room as musicians, Michael Hatfield and Francesca Lee, from Bread & Roses, lifted the spirits of our guests on Wednesday with a live performance. Michael was on the keys and Francesca was strumming her guitar. Both had microphones and were taking turns singing and leading duets.

Bread & Roses is a non-profit organization that seeks opportunities to bring hope, healing and joy through live music and the performing arts to children, adults and seniors who are disadvantaged, marginalized, or otherwise isolated in diverse institutional settings in the San Francisco Bay Area. This wasn’t the band’s first visit to St. Anthony’s, but they had not been here since before the pandemic started, and they were jazzed to have the opportunity to bring the band back together.