Some of the world’s most recognized concerts have used music to mobilize change, bringing audiences together to support a greater cause beyond just the music they love.

For her senior capstone project, music industry student Sofia Salinas decided to apply her experience in concert organization to a deeply personal philanthropic cause: ALS awareness and research. With support of the ALS Association, Salinas designed a virtual ALS benefit concert that will be livestreamed nationally Dec. 7.

In July of 2024, Salinas’ father was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal neurodegenerative disease. Salinas has grappled with the daily struggles people with ALS experience, such as often not being able to leave their homes due to immobility or paralysis, which guided her motivation in building her capstone project.

“My dad is the reason I play guitar and the reason I love music the way I do. He inspired this. I asked [him], ‘What’s something that you enjoy, that gets your mind off of what you’re going through?’ And he [said], ‘Live music.’ So that is why I’m doing this concert. It’s for him and those affected by the disease,” Salinas said. “Honestly, it’s been the most fulfilling project I’ve ever done.”

Taking into consideration how ALS patients have limited opportunities to experience live music events, Salinas designed the virtual concert so that the music can be brought to those with ALS in a form that they can access.

The concert features four main musical acts — Motel Cinema, Gabe Douglas, Mikey Stone and Frankie Torres — and will feature Jesse Baltes as the MC.

“The ALS community is one [for which] it’s really hard to travel,” said Torres, one of the musicians who will perform in the virtual concert. “So being able to have it online, where people can learn about it the day of and still attend it is amazing, because I know that there’s still going to be people learning about it up until the show starts, and I’m glad that they’ll be able to be part of it.”

According to Salinas, the virtual realm is something that hasn’t been explored by the association until Salinas connected with them, so this concert brings a unique approach to the association’s benefit concerts.

“It’s really to raise funds for the association and bring new energy, as well as explore the virtual space, which is something they haven’t done in the past,” Salinas said. “A lot of their fundraisers have been very much like walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, old school stuff. So this is the first time they’re seeing someone do something virtually.”

Liz Stanley, director of the Creative Pursuits program for the ALS Association, said that making the concert virtual has also allowed the event to be national, which differs from most ALS events, which are done locally.

“It’s very rare for us to have a national event. So this is really huge. Normally, we do more local events like walks or galas, and this being offered nationwide is really unique,” said Stanley.

Salinas reached out to Creative Pursuits in hopes of getting the support to ensure the concert had a wide reach. Like herself, many of those she has connected with in this process became involved with philanthropy for the ALS community because they have a personal connection to it.

“One of my artists actually has ALS. His name is Mikey Stone, and he is 26 years old and an artist, writer and producer. He’s used his major TikTok platform and Instagram followers to just bring awareness and also be super honest about what he’s going through,” said Salinas. “He’s going to continue to make music and sing and perform and write as much as he can.”

Salinas herself said that producing a musical experience for those in the ALS community is her main priority above bringing in money.

“The main priority and idea is to bring fun to these patients,” Salinas said. “But also this concert is also catered to people who are a loved one of someone with ALS, researchers, ALS Association staff, friends and family and caregivers and nurses, and people that have seen ALS and seen what it’s done.”

Stanley said that Salinas’ motivation and creativity in finding a way to make music accessible to those who have ALS has made a big impression on her.

“She’s really brought this new energy to the ALS fundraising world. I really remain in awe of her ability to attract big names and pull many different people together for the cause,” Stanley said. ”Her work really serves as a strong example of creative fundraising, hopefully empowering other people of all ages to get involved.”

Salinas said she now hopes to organize more benefit concerts in the future.

“This has been really just fulfilling work. And I think some of the best concerts in the world have been for charity,” Salinas said. “We can put on huge events. We can make things cool and give back to the world and do something good and raise awareness, because I think music is one of the easiest and coolest ways to do that.”