About Silver Linings

Founded in 1997, Silver Linings first worked to raise money for cystic fibrosis (CF) research, partnering with Cystic Fibrosis Research, Inc., where Michael was on the Research Advisory Committee, reading scientific grant applications and funding research projects. Ultimately, this research and that of the CFF and others led to new, life-changing drugs for people with CF.

Soon, Silver Linings expanded to support a number of projects as well as other non-profits, schools, hospitals, and other organizations in the interest of helping people and our environment. Some of our projects are listed below.

In addition to our community projects, our fund-raising projects include producing a number of concerts including Carlos Santana, Buster Williams, Kenny Barron, Robert Silverman, and other rock, jazz, and classical musicians. All of these concerts were recorded and 100% of proceeds from sales went to support our efforts.



Advisory Board



Kenji Lopez-Alt



J. Kenji López-Alt is an American chef and food writer. His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, became a critical and commercial success, charting on the New York Times Bestseller list and winning the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for the best General Cooking cookbook. The cookbook expanded on López-Alt’s “The Food Lab” column on the Serious Eats blog. López-Alt is known for using the scientific method in his cooking to improve popular American recipes and to explain the science of cooking. López-Alt started Wursthall in 2017, a beer hall style restaurant in San Mateo, California, and he maintains a popular YouTube channel in which he demonstrates various recipes and cooking techniques.





Michael Silver



Michael Silver has a diverse background, having worked as a professional chef, baker, chocolatier, and food safety instructor as well as in many other fields, including math, music, art, molecular biology, computer science, technology, science, telecommunications, motorsports, teaching, language, scuba diving, and emergency medicine (with EMT and DMT certifications). He is a licensed electrician and broadcaster. For his work with NASA he was made an honorary Air Force Captain. His volunteer work includes teaching for the American Red Cross, emergency medicine for the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, training animals for the SPCA, teaching high-performance driving and track safety, and doing molecular biology research at Stanford University. He has served on Boards for both Cystic Fibrosis Research, Inc. and the Motorsport Safety Foundation. Michael’s professional career includes work for Apple, NASA, Google, and other companies. His own company, Audio High, Inc., has been in business for over 25 years. For a full bio, click here.





David Estroff



Dr. David Estroff is an expert in medicine and nutrition. He graduated from the Hahnemann University School of Medicine in 1976. Recently retired, he worked in Tacoma, WA and three other locations and specialized in Internal Medicine. Dr. Estroff is affiliated with Madigan Army Medical Center. His experience also includes work at Madigan Army Medical Center and at United States Army Health Center Grafenwoehr in Germany. Prior to that, he served as a physician at MultiCare Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. He has also been involved in research and residency programs.





Past Projects

We were extremely pleased to be able to help LPCH and its patients by donating and building a state-of-the-art theater and music room for children who know too well what the inside of hospital room looks like. In this room, doctors are not allowed, and children enjoy things like new movies from Pixar before they hits the theaters, music, and other special events.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is a hospital devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services, Packard Children’s offers patients locally, regionally, and nationally the full range of health-care programs and services—from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury.

With over 700 physicians and over 5000 staff support and volunteers, Packard Children’s Hospital is a world-class, non-profit hospital devoted entirely to the care of babies, children, adolescents and expectant mothers.

Because they are an academic medical center on the Stanford University campus, they benefit from a faculty and staff that is recognized as much for their achievements as for their commitment to care. Many of the doctors also serve as professors at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Internationally recognized for the care they provide, they also have an extensive network of community and outreach services in dozens of locations around the San Francisco Bay area, and the greater Pacific Northwest. As they continue to expand, Packard Children’s Hospital is making it easier for children and mothers to access the care they need.


CFRI was incorporated in 1975 by a small group of CF family members whose children were not expected to survive their teen years. These founding members were committed to keeping overhead low so as to raise funds for research. Originally, the founding members were all volunteers, until the first executive director was hired in the early 1980s.

Buster Willams Trio in Concert
As a fundraising event for CFRI, we produced and recorded a concert with jazz greats Buster Williams, Kenny Barron, and Lenny White. The concert was sold out and was a beautiful bringing together of three of the most talented jazz artists alive today. This CD, along with others we have produced, is available for sale at www.audiohigh.com, and all proceeds from sales are donated to CFRI.

Initially focused on research, CFRI responded to the CF community’s needs and expanded its programs to include educational and support programs. CFRI grew into a million-dollar agency in 2012 and continues in its efforts to fund research and to provide education, advocacy, and psychosocial programs and services to those with CF, as well as their families and caregivers.


Architects of a New Dawn (Carlos Santana)

In 2009, Silver Linings produced a concert featuring Carlos Santana. The concert was standing room only, and it was a huge success.

We also brought Carlos Santana and his entire team to Mountain View to speak to hundreds of local investors and other individuals about the Architects of a New Dawn project and how individuals may help the effort. Google hosted the first part of this event at their facility with close to 1000 people in attendance, and then a smaller followup event was held at Audio High’s facility with about 100 people.

Centered around the idea that every person’s every thought and action can be a personal choice to make a positive difference in the world, Architects of a New Dawn was created to engage people of all walks of life to work together to generate positive change in the global community where love can replace fear and where peace can replace conflict.


Silver Linings has been a donor to the Monterey Bay Aquarium since its founding in 1984, helping to fund a number of educational and environmental research projects over the years.

From the beginning, conservation is at the heart of all the Aquarium does—from innovative live exhibits to cutting-edge research, education programs and award-winning publications.

The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans. This is done through public education, outreach programs, research, and other programs.

The Monterey Bay ranks among the world’s most diverse and spectacular marine regions. The bay is at the heart of the largest protected marine area in the United States; by water volume, the largest in the world. The aquarium’s permanent exhibits and galleries highlight the colorful and complex array of marine life found on California’s central coast, from coastal wetlands to the open ocean and deep sea.


Pianist Robert Silverman & First Ever MQA recordings

In 2006 we brought pianist Robert Silverman to the Bay Area and sponsored performances of the complete Mozart piano sonatas to help raise funds for our programs. In 2009 we did a more ambitious program with Mr. Silverman to produce and record an eight-concert series of the entire cycle of 32 Beethoven piano sonatas. The concerts were held at Le Petit Trianon‘s main theater in San Jose.

We partnered with Meridian Audio and are proud that these were the first-ever MQA recordings of a new content ever produced in MQA. MQA is now the industry standard of streaming in high resolution.The recordings are available in mp3, CD-quality, high-res audio, and MQA (high-res).

Silverman is one of the few pianists to tackle both the entire Beethoven piano sonata cycle and the complete Mozart piano sonatas. He has performed in prestigious halls across the globe, has performed with many of the world’s greatest conductors, and has produced many award-winning recordings. His complete discography includes 25 CDs and a dozen LPs.

I fell in love with his playing when writing a review of his 2003 Chan Centre CD, which includes the devastatingly difficult Liszt B minor piano sonata. His recording of Liszt’s piano music received a Grand Prix du Disque from the Liszt Society of Budapest.


Since its founding in 1881 by visionary leader Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has been the nation’s premier emergency response organization. As part of a worldwide movement that offers neutral humanitarian care to the victims of war, the American Red Cross distinguishes itself by also aiding victims of devastating natural disasters. Over the years, the organization has expanded its services, always with the aim of preventing and relieving suffering.

Today, in addition to domestic disaster relief, the American Red Cross offers compassionate services in five other areas: community services that help the needy; support and comfort for military members and their families; the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products; educational programs that promote health and safety; and international relief and development programs.

The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors—across the street, across the country, and across the world—in emergencies. Each year, in communities large and small, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new—the more than half a million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through nearly 700 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world.

Some four million people give blood—the gift of life—through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. And the Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of 186 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world’s most vulnerable people.

An average of 92 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.


The mission of the Tech Museum is to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in science and technology experiences that educate, inform, provoke thought and inspire action. The Tech Museum does this through content and programs featuring “The Spirit of Silicon Valley” inspiring people, inventions and mind-set that continues to make this region the leading source of science and technology innovation.

The museum has hundreds of exhibits and has over 500,000 visitors every year. They have an annual operating budget of $10.2 million with 90 employees and over 400 volunteers.

The idea for The Tech Museum was little more than a dream back in 1978 when the Junior League of Palo Alto – and later the San Jose Junior League – struck upon a grand plan to create a dynamic learning center devoted to science and technology. Twelve years later, “The Garage” swung open its doors at downtown San Jose’s former convention center on San Carlos Street and quickly became a valuable educational resource for children and young adults. Just eight years later, The Tech Museum moved into a bigger, dazzling 132,000-square-foot mango-and-azure-colored domed building, unlike any other in the Silicon Valley or the world. The Tech has become a landmark for visitors seeking a glimpse of the most inventive place on Earth and a showcase of the latest blockbuster exhibits, high-tech gizmos and wondrous gadgets that continue to define Silicon Valley.


The Elf Foundation

The Elf Foundation was a non-profit charity that brought the enchantment of uplifting music and film to sick children around the country. By creating “rooms of magic” (private entertainment theaters) for children’s hospitals, the Elf Foundation gave thousands of special kids something to look forward to and to enrich their lives.


Caring for Kids

Organized as a 501(c)(3) in 1977, members of the NFL Alumni are guided philosophically by the fundamental ideals expressed in their motto: “Caring for Kids.”

The basic objective of the NFL Alumni is to render useful public service by raising funds for worthy causes that, for the most part, are youth-oriented. The primary source of revenue is an annual series of celebrity golf tournaments in which expenses are substantially underwritten by participating corporate sponsors. Proceeds are directed to causes selected by host chapters, as well as to national outreaches.

The National Football League Alumni, Inc. is a non-profit service organization of former professional football players who work voluntarily on behalf of youth and charity. It was formed as an outgrowth of philanthropic and civic-minded impulses of men who performed at the highest level of the nation’s most popular spectator sport and used that experience as a springboard to success in later life.


High School Music Programs

School music programs have had their funding cut again and again and as result, today’s youth do not grow up with the same strong background in the arts that American kids once did. And unfortunately, a large number of these young people do not otherwise have the opportunity to learn an instrument and grow up with a well-rounded education that includes humanities as well as sciences and other core classes.

Starting in 2009, when we gave a large grant to Mountain View High School and transformed their band room into a high-tech teaching classroom, we have donated equipment and time to several programs to help High School music programs.