WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – When West Hartford resident Margaret Beers learned that someone in her family was stricken with an incurable disease, all she wanted to do was to help. The question was, “How?” She researched, talked to friends, and is finally uniting her passion for singing with her drive to make a difference.

“When I learned that CIPD and multiple sclerosis are potentially debilitating diseases for which there is currently no cure, I was overwhelmed with a desire to try and help make a difference,” shared Beers, who also runs a small business. “It happened to work out that another woman in the Town and County Club, Lisa Gerrol, knows the cause very well.”

In fact, Gerrol, also of West Hartford, has been the acting president and CEO of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Connecticut Chapter, for 20 years.

The Connecticut Chapter serves the more than 6,000 Connecticut residents living with multiple sclerosis, a potentially debilitating disease affecting the central nervous system. The cause is unknown and there is currently no cure. Symptoms can include, among other things, numbness in the limbs, difficulties with vision and speech, stiffness, loss of mobility and, in some more severe cases, total paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot be predicted. Similarly, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare disorder of the peripheral nervous system very similar to multiple sclerosis. It usually is characterized by gradually increasing weakness of the legs and, to a lesser extent, the arms.

A singer for most of her life, Beers is a classically trained lyric soprano. She began her singing career in a children’s choir in Washington, D.C. before studying voice with Jean Bryant at Tudor Hall School in Banbury, England. Beers has also sung in the Trinity Pipes, a twelve-person a capella group.

Margaret has been a soprano in Saint John's Episcopal Church choir for over two decades, and has performed at venues throughout New England.   She has performed concerts in Connecticut and on Cape Cod.  Beers also is a Cantor in Catholic churches in the area.  She now studies voice with Myrna Reynolds of West Hartford and Doris Popper of New York city. 

“Once I had the idea of organizing some type of concert to benefit the Connecticut Chapter, things started to fall into place and the MargaretbeerS Concert For A Cure was born,” she said. “Ideas started flying and once I started to write things down, the entire event had taken shape.”

Beers will host the MargaretbeerS Concert For A Cure on Sunday, October 5, at 4 p.m. at the Atria Hamilton Heights Senior Living Complex, located in West Hartford. Admission is $20 per person, with all proceeds benefiting the Connecticut Chapter. Please purchase tickets in advance and checks should be made payable to the National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter . Tickets will, however, be available at the door the day of the concert.  If one cannot attend this concert, donations of any size will be happily accepted.  Please mail your check to:

Joel Grove, Office Manager, at Walbridge Design Build, 30 Walbridge Road in West Hartford, CT, 06119. Email Grove with any questions at Joel@WalbridgeDesignBuild.com or call 860.216.3006.

Beers and her accompanist, Floyd Higgins, will perform pieces from Italian Art Songs to opera arias to Broadway show tunes. The concert will also feature guest appearances by baritone Tony Nasto.

A reception is to follow with light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments.

Sponsors for the event include Walbridge Design Build LLC and Atria Hamilton Heights.

For more information on multiple sclerosis, its effects and the many ways to help make a difference through Do It Yourself Fundraising, visit www.ctfightsMS.org.