Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS merged with BC/EFA in October of 1997. Founded in 1993 using BC/EFA as its model, Classical Action draws on the talents, resources, and generosity of the performing arts community nationwide, with an emphasis on classical music, to raise funds for AIDS services. Classical Action maintains its own identity and conducts its own fundraising endeavors, while BC/EFA assumes most administrative responsibilities, allowing Classical Action to devote maximum energies to events and merchandising projects.

One of Classical Action’s most successful fundraising endeavors is the production of private house concerts nationwide. Supporters of Classical Action are given the opportunity to host concerts in their homes featuring some of the most prominent performing artists of the day, all of whom generously agree to donate their time and talent in support of Classical Action and the people with HIV and AIDS it serves.

Among the world-renowned artists who have been featured in house concerts across the country are pianists Fred Hersch, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and André Watts; violinists Joshua Bell, Leila Josefowicz and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg; cellists Lynn Harrell and Truls Mork; the Emerson, Tokyo and Juilliard string quartetes; and stars of the opera world including mezzo-sopranos Cecilia Bartoli and Dolora Zajick, sopranos Renee Fleming and Dawn Upshaw, and baritones Thomas Hampson and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. These intimate private concerts have been held in cities ranging from New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Chicago, to Boston, Santa Fe, Minneapolis and Houston.

Since its founding in 1993, Classical Action has raised more than $7 million and has provided a unified voice for all those dedicated to the performing arts who are committed to help combat HIV/AIDS and the devastating effects of this epidemic.