The International Music Camp and International Peace Garden are hosting an online concert fundraiser on Mother’s Day to raise money for their COVID-19 Stabilization Fund.

The International Peace Garden reached out to camp director Tim Baumann with the International Camp to promote their cause, coming up with the idea of a Facebook Live concert on May 10. It will start at 2 p.m. and is estimated to run for a little more than an hour.

Over the last couple of weeks, Baumann and Melinda Goodman with the Peace Garden have been getting things together and contacting music camp staff members to participate.

A total of 11 musicians will be playing a variety of tunes, including but not limited to classical, jazz and Broadway style, on piano, brass, woodwinds and percussion with a couple singers. The two singers are to perform with their spouses, one on the piano and one on guitar.

Only one person can perform at a time on Facebook Live, so the concert as a whole is estimated to last a little more than an hour. Donations can be made throughout the concert on Facebook and on the camp’s website at any time: internationalmusiccamp.com/support-imc/donate/. A physical mailing address for checks to be sent to can be found on the website for those who may be uncomfortable with providing payment information online.

“It’s easy and user friendly,” Baumann said of Facebook’s donation function. “It’s nice to have that available.”

With the uncertainty that surrounds the COVID-19 pandemic, Baumann said they were erring on the side of caution and postponed the 65th camping season to 2021. He did not want the campers, staff members or any of their families to get sick. “It’s easier to not run camp for a summer than sending condolence cards.”

With the postponement of camp comes the loss of incoming funds to support the 2021 programs, hence the concert on Sunday. The music camp will be losing a considerable amount of money that would have been used to put on the next season and the online event will be a good headstart for them.

As of May 1, Baumann was thinking of offering some online programming courses over the summer, but he said those weren’t set in stone.

Normally during the summer, over 40 one-week classes are available in several different areas, such as music, theater and dance, and visual and creative arts.

The music camp began at the Peace Garden in 1956. Since then, 140,000 students from 86 countries, all 50 states, and all Canadian provinces and territories have attended to share in their love of music and fine arts.

The camp director did not grow up in North Dakota and mentioned he regrets not knowing about the music camp when he was in school. “I would have moved in over the summer,” he said. “It fits with a well rounded, good foundation in music and art. It’s kind of a gem for North Dakota.”

The fact that the camp is so valued by music students all over the world plays a large part in the decision the camp had to make about postponing the 2020 season. The borders are closed and no one knows exactly what is going to happen next.

“The International Music Camp has been part of the cultural fabric in North Dakota and I’m thankful to be a part of that,” Baumann said.

Online: Facebook Live: @internationalmusiccamp @InternationalPeaceGarden Sunday at 2-4 p.m.