Emmylou Harris

As a nonprofit organization, the Free Clinic depends on financial support from the community to serve patients without passing on costs to them. The Benefit Concert is one of the organization’s primary fundraisers, and sponsorships, from $600 to $25,000 and above, play a significant role in helping the organization reach its financial goals.

Each sponsorship level offers significant perks, including tickets to the private Sponsors’ Cocktail Party prior to the concert, premier seating at the concert and formal recognition that will be seen by a large audience.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Free Clinic sponsorship tickets

A 14-time Grammy winner and Billboard Century Award recipient, Emmylou Harris’ contribution as a singer and songwriter spans 40 years. She has recorded more than 25 albums and has lent her talents to countless fellow artists’ recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2018.

Harris is known as much for her eloquently straightforward songwriting as for her incomparably expressive singing.  Admired through her career for her talent as an artist and song connoisseur, Harris shook up country radio in the 1970s, and established herself as the premiere songwriter of a generation selling more than 15 million records and garnering 14 Grammy Awards, three CMA Awards, and four Americana Awards.

Harris is one of the most admired and influential women in music. She has recorded with such diverse artists as Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Lanois, Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Ryan Adams, Beck, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett and Rodney Crowell. Few artists have achieved such honesty or have revealed such maturity in their writing. Forty years into her career, Harris continues to share the hard-earned wisdom that—hopefully if not inevitably—comes with getting older, though she’s never stopped looking ahead.

A longtime social activist, Harris has lent her voice to many causes.  Most passionately to animal welfare.  In 2004 she established Bonaparte's Retreat with the goal of rescuing shelter dogs and adopting them into forever homes. To this day, Bonaparte's Retreat continues to save dogs most in need at Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control and at municipal shelters in surrounding counties.

About the Free Clinic:

Proceeds from this Benefit Concert enable the Charlottesville Free Clinic to provide high-quality, compassionate care through more than 7,600 patient visits from low-income uninsured individuals who would otherwise lack access to healthcare. The Free Clinic offers essential medical care, dental services, and free medications to community members without affordable access to healthcare, serving as an open door to healthcare for neighbors in need.

“Every day at the Charlottesville Free Clinic, we witness the profound impact that accessible healthcare has on our community, transforming lives by removing the impossible choice between paying bills or seeking medical care,” says Willa Barnhardt, the Free Clinic’s Executive Director. “Our network of dedicated volunteers and staff provides a crucial lifeline for thousands of working families across Charlottesville and Albemarle County who would otherwise go without medications, doctor visits, and dental care—ensuring that everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances, can live healthier, more dignified lives. We are incredibly grateful for our partners at Red Light Management and Ting Pavilion who support the Free Clinic with the annual Benefit Concert. We are also thankful for Emmylou Harris for supporting our mission.”