Alumna Mayim Bialik to join the Maccabeats in “˜Above the Noise’ benefit concert
courtesy of DENISE HERRICK BORCHERT
Mayim Bialik will be working with the annual “Above the Noise” benefit concert, which will support the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.
By Braden Baseley
April 26, 2012 12:35 a.m.
For Mayim Bialik, the true beauty of YouTube isn’t just the entertainment value viewers can extract, but its ability to connect users serendipitously.
A year and a half ago, the UCLA alumna and current co-star of the television show “The Big Bang Theory” happened upon a video posted by the Maccabeats, an all-male Jewish a cappella group based out of Yeshiva University.
The video, a Hanukkah-themed cover of the song “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz titled “Candlelight,” was viewed by millions across the Web, including Bialik. After sharing the video on her Facebook page, Bialik heard from the group itself.
“I got an email from (the Maccabeats) director thanking me for being obsessed with them publicly,” Bialik said. “It sort of became a neat friendship (after that).”
On Sunday evening, Bialik and the Maccabeats will unite at the second annual “Above the Noise” benefit concert, co-sponsored by the Jewish Leadership Council at UCLA and the Office of Residential Life. The event will support the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.
Bialik will speak of her time as a student at UCLA before introducing the Maccabeats, which will perform a medley of its hits.
Admission to the event is free, although attendees are encouraged to offer up a swab of saliva to be entered into the foundation’s bone marrow registry. The registry matches potential donors to those who need a transplant.
Bialik said that she and the Maccabeats have worked together in the past to bring the foundation’s mission into fruition.
“We did a campaign last Hanukkah for (the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation) and we raised $80,000. To date, we’ve found nine matches for people who needed a bone marrow transplant, (all of which) were connected through our registry,” Bialik said.
According to Desiree Soleymani, a fourth-year psychology student and president of the Jewish Leadership Council, Bialik decided to take part in the event after the student group reached out to the Maccabeats about performing at it.
Upon hearing of their history of working together in the past, it seemed natural for the student organization to incorporate the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation into the benefit concert, Soleymani said.
“It was a perfect opportunity. (Bialik and the Maccabeats) had already connected over this cause, so (the organization) figured, why not learn about it for our own group and bring it to UCLA?” Soleymani said.
The purpose of the event is to bring the Jewish community on campus together behind a positive social agenda ““ one that is not exclusive to the Jewish community, said Benjamin Steiner, a fourth-year history student and a member of the Jewish Leadership Council.
“We want the event to involve all of UCLA. It’s not just for Jews,” Steiner said. “The event is for people who want to have a good time while promoting a good cause.”
