Tapestry Farms invites the community this week to gather under the autumn sky for the second-annual Harvest Moon Celebration, an evening of music and traditional Arabic sweets in support of refugees rebuilding their lives in the Quad Cities.
The event will be Thursday, October 8, at 7 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 121 W. 12th Street, Davenport.
The first Harvest Moon fundraiser was at the same time last year, and the idea stemmed from New York-based soprano and Davenport native Claire Kuttler. In April 2025, the nonprofit’s executive director Ann McGlynn got an email from Kuttler with a generous idea: “What if she offered the gift of her voice in concert to benefit Tapestry Farms?”
Kuttler’s family has been involved with the families of Tapestry Farms in meaningful ways, and they attend the church McGlynn used to work at — St. Paul Lutheran in Davenport.
Tapestry Farms is a nonprofit urban farm system that invests in refugees in the QC. For the first fall fundraiser, Tapestry Farms raised $20,000 last year, and just over $100,000 in this past May’s fifth-annual Spring Fling, at the Waterfront Convention Center, Bettendorf.
Founded in 2017, Tapestry Farms provides a robust welcome to refugees, connecting them with nutritious and culturally appropriate food, individual support, employment, and other vital resources. Currently, they serve 40-45 families, with an average of five per family.
They provide what is known as a “long welcome,” support that ensures new families continue to thrive as they begin their new lives and enrich the entire QC community.
This Thursday night’s hour-long performance will feature Kuttler and St. Ambrose’s Nathan Windt with collaborative pianist Chris Nelson. Other special musical guests will join them throughout the evening. A variety of musical genres will be on the program, including “I Wish It So” by Marc Blitzstein, “Our Children” from Ragtime, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Make Our Garden Grow,” and a special ensemble finale.
After the performance, the attendees and musicians will gather for desserts and tea served in the Great Hall and (weather permitting) outdoors in Trinity’s courtyard, with baklava and Dubai chocolate prepared by Tapestry Farms colleagues Fatima Hussein and Betul Qamizou, and table flower arrangements from Hortense Zayaro.
“Last year we focused on the moon and this year we are wishing on the stars,” Claire Kuttler said in a recent news release. “I’m so glad to be back for another concert, with music that will focus on the theme of hopes and dreams. Those we hold for in our hearts, the ones we carry for children, both our own and our community’s, and all those dreams coming to beautiful, blooming fruition.
"This is music that speaks to what the Tapestry Farms mission and community embodies. I will be joined by other wonderful musicians and we can’t wait to share this music that will ignite your imagination and bring comfort to your soul.”
“I just cannot say enough good things about Claire,” McGlynn said Monday, praising last year’s event. “She put together this concert with Chris Nelson. And her sister sang, and it was just really, really incredible. So I asked her if she'd be willing to do it again, and then she said yes very graciously.
“And she said, I think I'm going to bring along some other friends, some additional friends, including Nathan Windt, who is absolutely incredible; Dortha DeWit, who plays violin for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. So it's going to be a pretty special evening.”
“We are so happy to welcome our community to Harvest Moon for this second year of absolutely sublime musicianship,” McGlynn said. “It is important to come together, share in a meaningful experience, and remind ourselves of our shared humanity.
“We hope this concert will lift spirits and inspire a sense of hope. We are so very grateful to the incredible musicians who will share pieces that reflect the beauty, resilience, and power of music to bring us together,” she said.
“The refugee resettlement program, which is a program of the U.S. government, is not completely paused, but is operating at much lower numbers right now,” McGlynn said. “So there are not a lot of new families who are being resettled right now nationwide. But with the Tyson plant closure, several of our families were affected and then other immigrant and refugee families. And so we have seen an increase in requests for help with finding jobs, making sure rent is paid. And food support.”
“Over the years, we have worked really hard to diversify funding. And this event is one important piece of that effort,” she noted. “We want to make sure that our work is done in a sustainable way. And so, having people come together to say that they believe in our work and they support what we're doing is not only important in terms of us feeling supported in what we do. It also provides important financial support for our work.”
Tapestry Farms operates on what McGlynn calls a “circle of care.”
“Wonderfully, there are hundreds of people who are involved in that circle of care, whether it be coming to Harvest Moon or Spring Fling or being a part of our English classes or making sure that clients have a ride to a medical appointment or donating household items or toiletries or being part of our food distribution,” she said. “Hundreds of people play a role in our work and every single one of their contributions is important.”
“We are so grateful for all of the musicians who will come and be a part of this concert on Thursday,” McGlynn added. “It is really meaningful to know that people are willing to lend their extraordinary talent to help make sure that the people we serve are taken care of.”
All proceeds from the Oct. 8 event will benefit Tapestry Farms in their work connecting refugees and neighbors in a shared hope of joyful, healthy lives—where every person has access to the resources they need to live well. Through farming, advocacy, and partnership, the organization creates opportunities for stability, belonging, and success.
Artist bios
Praised for her “glistening torrents of sound” (Opera News), Claire Kuttler enjoys a varied career on the operatic, recital and concert stage.
Recent season engagements include Krysia in Jake Heggie’s “Two Remain: Out of Darkness” with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Mimì in Puccini's “La Bohème” with Anchorage Opera, Countess Almaviva in Mozart's “Le nozze di Figaro” with Bel Cantanti Opera, guest soloist for the Opera Quad Cities Gala Concert, her soloist debut at Carnegie Hall in Brahms' “Ein Deutsches Requiem” with Distinguished Concert Artists of New York.
For the past seven years, Kuttler has also been engaged with the world renowned Metropolitan Opera Chorus, and has performed in over 20 productions with the company.
Chris Nelson is known for his impressive technical skill and exquisite improvisational skills from the bench of the St. Paul Lutheran pipe organ in Davenport. His responsibilities encompass all things music: Overseeing choral and instrumental music, accompanying choirs, playing the organ, and working collaboratively to plan worship.
Schooled in church music at Bethany College and Luther Seminary, Nelson has served churches in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Minnesota, and Indiana. A member of the American Guild of Organists, Chris presents regional workshops and encourages young organists. He is the college organist and instructor of organ at Augustana College in Rock Island, and plays for a variety of beloved musical traditions and organizations in the Quad Cities.
As Director of Choral Activities at St. Ambrose University, Dr. Nathan Windt brings professional choral and solo singing experience with leading professional choirs in the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble.
An accomplished conductor of opera, Windt has conducted a variety of operatic styles and epochs. His operatic roles include Figaro in “Le nozze di Figaro,” Dr. Falke in “Die Fledermaus,” Prince Yamadori in “Madame Butterfly,” the title role in “Gianni Schicchi,” Grandpa in “The Tender Land,” and Sciarrone in “Tosca.” He is also a frequent recitalist, with a particular interest in German and English art song, including a recent collaboration with Dr. Marian Lee in a multimedia presentation of Schubert’s Winterreise in recital.
Tapestry Farms was honored in January 2025 to receive the Quad Cities Community Foundation’s transformational grant, of $300,000 over three years.
That grant will ensure that Tapestry Farms’ visionary mission can sustainably grow as they take on the intertwined challenges of food insecurity and supporting refugee families who make the QC region a thriving, beautiful community.
Tickets for Harvest Moon begin at $50. For more information about the Harvest Moon Celebration or to purchase tickets, visit www.tapestryfarms.org/blog/harvest-moon-an-evening-of-music-and-gratitude.
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