Charity Tillemann-Dick, an American-born soprano and top-selling classical recording artist, knows pulmonary hypertension (PH) all too well.
She received a diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in 2004. Shortly thereafter, she lent her voice to the PH fight, volunteering as a Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) spokesperson to raise awareness of the disease. She also advocated for increased federal research funding, expanded stem cell research, and preventative and alternative medicine.
In September 2009, Charity received a double lung transplant. After complications from rejection, she received a second double lung transplant in January 2012.
Charity’s new memoir, The Encore, published by Atria Books / Simon & Schuster in October 2017, is receiving international media attention.
In 2014, Charity released her debut album, American Grace, which reached #1 on the Traditional Classical charts on Billboard. Charity was accompanied by Joela Jones and Richard Weiss, principal pianist and cellist for the Cleveland Orchestra.
Charity joined PHA for a Facebook Live event Nov. 30, at 6 PM (ET) as part of the national Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month The Right Heartcampaign.