In 2021, Joy T Barnum had just finished breast cancer surgery when her grandmother started her own cancer battle.

“She had not been feeling well, but did not want to worry me,” Ms Barnum said.

The cancer charity Pals stepped in to help.

“She did not want to be in the hospital,” Ms Barnum remembered. “Pals got her a bed. They got her everything she needed including oxygen and a breathing tube. Pals nurses would sleep at her house.”

Ms Barnum’s grandmother died on May 20, 2022. Ms Barnum has not forgotten the kindness of the organisation on Point Finger Road, Paget.

“They made the whole experience more human,” the opera singer said. “How does anyone do it without them?”

On February 24, she will be holding A Winter Picnic on the grounds of Verdmont Museum in Smith’s to raise $3,000 for Pals.

“The audience can expect to hear new renditions of classics all the way from the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Whitney Houston,” Ms Barnum said. “There will also be some jazzy compositions as seen on the Bermuda Festival stage.”

The event is inspired by a concert she did in September.

“That all came about because of a dress,” she said.

Getting ready to perform with the Four Phantoms at the Bermuda Festival in 2020, she asked Bermudian designer Amethyst Richardson to come up with an outfit for her.

“I wanted to make a lasting impression,” Ms Barnum said.

She sent Mr Richardson several examples of slinky dresses but he vetoed every one of them.

“He said slinky was out,” she said. “Fluffy was in.”

As an example, he pointed to superstar singer Rihanna’s appearances in dresses with yards of tulle. Ms Barnum gave him carte blanche.

“Amethyst sourced the dress from a designer friend of his,” Ms Barnum said. “He sent her my measurements and then fitted me for it.”

When she saw the dress, she was taken aback. It was so big and pink, she dubbed it “The Pink Cupcake”.

Four years on, the dress is still gaining her attention. Not only did it wow the crowd at the Fairmont Southampton Princess during her Four Phantoms performance, but it also attracted the notice of David Tutera, wedding dress designer and host of My Fair Wedding on Hulu.

“We put pictures of me in the dress on social media,” Ms Barnum said. “David saw them.”

They first met when Mr Tutera came to Bermuda to host the David Tutera Experience at the Unfinished Church in St George in 2019.

“I had no clue who he was before I met him,” Ms Barnum admitted. “Now I see him everywhere.”

After the social-media posting, he called her and said “that dress is everything!”. He had also seen her YouTube music video Gold, celebrating Flora Duffy’s Olympic gold medal win.

Mr Tutera was scheduled to do an event with wedding professionals in the Cayman Islands and asked Ms Barnum to perform in it. They spent two months curating a show over Zoom. The pandemic postponed things until last year.

“He flew me to his home in California where he had the unveiling of dresses he designed,” Ms Barnum said. “At that point he had no idea what I was like when I performed. A lot of people think they know when they see me sing, but it is not the same thing. He e-mailed me back and said I exceeded his expectations.”

Mr Tutera paid for most of her nine-member team to fly to Cayman and also housed them. That took up all of the budget, so Ms Barnum agreed to forgo being paid for her performance.

“I thought it was a real opportunity,” she said.

She was allowed to mention her association with Mr Tutera on all social-media platforms. Her TikTok followers shot up once she dropped his name.

“He was very good for my brand,” she said.

He wanted her to take to the stage at the David Tutera Experience at the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman in September.

Ms Barnum and her group arrived on the island on September 17 and performed two days later.

“There was no trauma or drama, and some members of my nine-member team doubled as hair stylists and make-up artists,” Ms Barnum said. “The theme was Pretty in Pink. It was all based on my dress.”

The audience mostly consisted of wedding planners looking for new ideas. After the show, many of them took Ms Barnum’s contact details.

It was her first time headlining overseas, but not her first time performing. She opened for Bermudian vocal artist Heather Nova in 2010.

“We did 19 shows in Europe and I cried every time I got a standing ovation,” Ms Barnum said. “The Caymans gig was my first time performing overseas as a headliner.”

After returning to Bermuda, Ms Barnum thought it was too bad that people in Bermuda did not get to see the concert.

Now, she is hoping that at least 200 people attend A Winter Picnic. She is urging everyone to bring their fuzziest warm coat and a blanket. MilanMilan, the Italian lifestyle store, will be providing food.

To sing at the venue, she worked a deal with the Bermuda National Trust.

“I sang for free at an event they held last year,” she said. “In exchange, they allowed me to use Verdmont.”

The line-up for the evening features her regular team of singers, and also young Bermudian violinist Zavia Doyling and teenagers Moya and Iona van Niekerk. She met the Van Niekerk sisters at an open-mike night at the Daylesford Theatre in Hamilton this month.

She hopes to do another concert to raise money for Pals in the autumn.

• Tickets are $100 on www.ptix.bm. The show starts at 6.30pm