For the last out of town engagement before his death, 82-year old Robert Shaw (1916-1999) traveled at his own expense in November 1998 to the small town of North Newton, Kansas. There he joined his longtime friend, 75-year old Elvera Voth (1923- ), in a community sing-along to raise funds and awareness for a prison-based choir begun by Voth. Using interviews, correspondence, financial documents, and other primary source materials, this historical investigation chronicles both that event and the thirty-year friendship of Shaw and Voth. Through a shared passion for social justice and musical excellence, the duo of Voth and Shaw seemingly defied traditional aesthetic frameworks of music for music's sake, and chose, at the Newton event, to embody their strong beliefs that choral singing could be a vehicle to transform lives and prompt social change. The Benefit Sing-Along in Newton raised funds sufficient to launch a new non-profit organization, Arts in Prison, Inc. It also inspired efforts among those in attendance to launch other prison-based choral and arts endeavors with avowed purposes to assist and empower the disenfranchised.