The Lullaby Project was created more than a decade ago by the Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The program pairs singer-songwriters with parents who are incarcerated or experiencing homelessness, and together they create a lullaby. In Oregon, those songs are arranged for the Oregon Symphony and then publicly performed. This year’s performance is next Tuesday, May 12 at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland.

Ada McGraw was one of the first women to participate in this program after it expanded to the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility last year. While serving her sentence, McGraw was paired with singer-songwriter Bre Gregg. The lullaby they wrote was for her son Legend and included a poem from Legend’s father.

Jessica Katz is the director of The Family Preservation Project and facilitated their meeting. We talk with Katz, Gregg and McGraw to hear about this creative process and learn more about the larger impact of The Lullaby Project.

“Think Out Loud®” broadcasts live at noon every day and rebroadcasts at 8 p.m.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/05/think-out-loud-lullaby-project-portland/