He fled Katrina, then built a 1,000-voice choir in Ohio
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David Brown during a Harmony Project concert at the Columbus Commons. Photos: Courtesy of Harmony Project
A local community choir that has united thousands of strangers through arts, education and volunteerism likely wouldn't exist if Hurricane Katrina hadn't struck 20 years ago.
Driving the news: Harmony Project founder David Brown was living in New Orleans' French Quarter at the time.
- After being displaced, he eventually laid roots in Columbus, which he knew from attending Capital University.
The big picture: New Orleans lost half its population overnight during Katrina, and since then, many researchers and journalists have tried to pinpoint where the displaced people ended up.
- Axios Local reporters across the U.S. are highlighting some of their stories ahead of the storm's anniversary on Aug. 29.
Zoom in: Brown, a Louisiana native who had most recently directed choirs in New York City, realized a lifelong dream by moving to New Orleans in 2005.
- Just three months later, the levees broke and destroyed that dream.
- He escaped north when flooding began, letting two Minnesota tourists jump into his car along the way. He lost nearly everything.
Flashback: Brown took refuge at his sister's place, and eventually started volunteering at a convention center that housed survivors in Ruston, Louisiana.
- As he processed the trauma, inspiration struck.
- "I saw people who I knew didn't agree on things, from different backgrounds … all there side-by-side. It didn't matter, because they were working together," Brown recalled.
Between the lines: He later moved to Columbus and started the community choir in Columbus in 2009, per a friend's recommendation, because it's a melting pot of all walks of life.
- After experiencing 9/11 while in New York and Katrina's devastation, the Midwest also felt like a safe place to settle — with no hurricanes, he tells Axios.
How it works: The harmony doesn't end when Harmony Project singers walk off the stage.
- Participants come together through service projects, including bringing the arts into area schools and prisons. Most have no professional musical training.
- It was once a grassroots group organized via flyers, but has grown into a nonprofit of over 1,000 singers that recently filled the Schottenstein Center and inspired a CBS special with John Legend.
What's next: Brown and his sons visit New Orleans every year, and he says he'd love to bring a Harmony Project to the city someday.
The bottom line: "I think the more we can listen to each other's stories," he says, "maybe the more those stories can chip away at the veneers we create to protect us."
Go deeper: First-of-its-kind data shows where displaced New Orleanians landed after Katrina
