Ana Dooley is an 11-year-old from Kingston who was diagnosed with a very rare cancer. She had a liver transplant in February, and her family is now facing numerous expenses related to Ana’s illness, including monthly postoperative care for Ana’s transplant, the cost of Ana’s many anti-rejection medications and travel to and from the hospital on a near-weekly basis.
“Healing Ana: Sing It for Your Sister” is the second in a series of concerts to benefit the Dooley family. The concert lineup features a powerhouse array of notable female vocalists and musicians from the Hudson Valley, including Amy Helm, Ruth Ungar, Rebecca Martin, Elizabeth Mitchell, Rachel Loshak and the group Grenadilla.
Ana’s own powerful singing voice and love of soulful female singing was the inspiration for the concert, says musician Elizabeth Mitchell, who first conceived of bringing together the array of female vocalists for the benefit. Mitchell says that Ana’s talent was obvious from an early age, when she began voice and piano lessons at the age of 6 with Debbie Lan, local musician and leader of the band Grenadilla. Dooley enjoys singing at school events and has performed at her school’s annual variety show every year since the age of 8, and Ana also sang Avril Lavigne’s “Keep Holding On” at the first concert in the Healing Ana concert series back in November.
The concert will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 28 at the High Meadow School Performing Arts Center in Stone Ridge. Tickets cost $15. The doors will open at 2:30 p.m., with the music starting at 3 p.m. Additional funds will be raised by a bake sale, raffle, tee-shirt sales and other items to purchase at the event. All of the musicians, sound and lighting crew and the many volunteers are donating their time for this event.
Amy Helm is the daughter of music legend Levon Helm and singer/songwriter Libby Titus Fagen. She plays mandolin and drums, and along with her father created the Midnight Rambles in Woodstock: intimate performances that attract fans and musicians from around the world. Ruth Ungar is an earthy country-blues singer and the daughter of fiddle legend Jay Ungar and country singer Lyn Hardy. Ungar is half of the Americana duo Mike and Ruthy, and along with husband Mike Merenda formed the string band the Mammals with Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, grandson of folksinger Pete Seeger. Rebecca Martin is a critically acclaimed jazz singer and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Village Vanguard and the Kennedy Center. She is also a dedicated and effective community activist.
Elizabeth Mitchell is a Grammy Award-nominated Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist. In addition to recording and performing music for children since 1998, she is a founding member of the band Ida, and she plays in a band called the Silver Hollers with husband Daniel Littleton, Amy Helm, Ruthy Ungar and bassist Chris Wood. Rachel Loshak moved to New York from Suffolk, England. She sang onstage with Norah Jones at the Grammy Awards and is featured alongside her on the Best of the Living Room. Grenadilla’s upbeat songs are filled with multilayered voices and rhythms drawn from founder/songwriter Debbie Lan’s Cape Town roots.
“Healing Ana: Sing It for Your Sister” concert, Sunday, April 28, 2:30 p.m., $15, High Meadow School Performing Arts Center, 3643 Route 209, Stone Ridge; https://anadooley.brownpapertickets.com.
Join the family! 
