INVEST IN STORIES THAT CHANGE LIVES
Illuminating Stories from Veterans, First Responders & Their Families; Connecting Communities
WHAT WE DO
We bring to the stage veterans and first responders with extraordinary artists to illuminate their stories of service, resilience, loss and sacrifice.
Through the power of story, music and theatre, our work helps communities better understand the lived experiences of veterans and first responders, and empowers individuals to transform adversity into purpose, connection, and growth.
WHY IT MATTERS
As more veterans and first responders continue to navigate the lasting effects of service, communities need new ways to understand, support, and reconnect with those who serve. In a time of increasing division and isolation, we foster empathy, inspire healing and purpose, and strengthen the bonds that unite communities.
WHY NOW?
As our nation reflects on 25 years since the September 11 attacks, we have a unique opportunity to bring stories of service, sacrifice, resilience and healing to communities across the country to establish a lasting national movement that honors lived experience, fosters understanding, and strengthens community for years to come.
OUR IMPACT
Audience Members Reached
40,000+
Connections to Local Resources
4,000+
Live Performances
200+
EXPERIENCE Participants
“Modern Warrior reminds veterans they are not victims and that they can use their experiences to grow and make significant contributions to society.”
50+
“Through this, I started realizing I could communicate with my family about things I couldn’t communicate with them before.”
BEHIND THE LINES: A 9/11 STORY
Our newest touring production unites FDNY firefighter Bill Spade, who responded to the World Trade Center attacks, and post-9/11 combat veteran Jaymes Poling, revealing a powerful story of service, resilience, and the enduring strength of the human spirit while inspiring meaningful dialogue across generations.
MODERN WARRIOR LIVE
Our flagship touring production follows Army veteran Jaymes Poling from the battlefields of Afghanistan through post-traumatic stress to a life of healing, service, and renewed purpose, demonstrating the transformative power of resilience, human connection, and hope.
EXPERIENCE PROGRAM
Participants transform lived experiences into authentic personal narratives that foster healing, resilience, and growth. Through guided storytelling, they develop the confidence and communication skills to inspire hope, strengthen empathy, and build deeper connections within their communities.
Participants then bring these stories into schools, workplaces, healthcare settings, and community organizations, creating meaningful dialogue, reducing stigma, and helping communities better understand and support one another.
LOCAL ACTIVATIONS
More than 75% of attendees and participants report they are more likely to inquire about mental health resources after experiencing our performances and programs. Our community activations connect audiences with local mental health providers, veteran and first responder organizations, and other trusted community resources - turning empowerment into action and ensuring those inspired to seek support know where to find it.
HIGH SCHOOL PERFORMANCES
A Behind the Lines performance structured for high schools gives students born after 9/11 the opportunity to experience firsthand stories of service, sacrifice, and the human capacity to endure. This performance and post-performance talkback deepens their understanding of the history and lasting impact of 9/11, and sparks meaningful conversations about mental wellbeing, resilience, and civic engagement.
EXPANSION INITIATIVES
CURRICULUM
A curriculum built on the core themes of Behind the Lines will help high school students explore the history and lasting impact of 9/11, discover how music and the arts can inspire social change, develop career-ready skills, strengthen community connections, and build awareness of mental health, resilience, and wellbeing.
DOCUMENTARY
Capturing the stories and transformative conversations inspired by Behind the Lines - including audience reflections on what 9/11 and service mean to them - extending our impact beyond live performances and reaching audiences around the world through film.
STREAM THE STORY
A filmed version of Behind the Lines ensures these powerful stories reach far beyond the theater and break barriers to access across generations.
Supporters
Past Government Recognition
James Mattis
26th US Secretary of Defense“I admire what Dominick Farinacci and Jaymes Poling have created. The more of you engaging on this issue and restoring some balance in terms of characterizing our veterans as more than damaged goods can only be healthy for our vets, our armed forces recruiting, and our country.”
The Honorable Denis Richard McDonough
US Secretary of Veterans Affairs 2021 - 2025“[Modern Warrior] will lift you up and blow you away!”
The Honorable Anthony Principi
Vietnam Veteran & Secretary of Veterans Affairs 2001-2005“Modern Warrior heals the mental scars of war.”
How We Began
Modern Warrior LIVE began with a single song. Legendary producer Tommy LiPuma introduced trumpeter Dominick Farinacci to “Soldier’s Things” by Tom Waits, a stark portrait of a soldier returning home from war. Wanting a deeper understanding of the song’s meaning before recording it, Farinacci sought out a veteran to hear firsthand what that transition felt like. That search led him to Jaymes Poling, a U.S. Army veteran. Their first meeting became an eight-hour conversation, during which Poling shared not only his experience of returning from war, but also his frustration with how veterans are often perceived as damaged and judged by civilians. What emerged was a mutual purpose: Farinacci felt compelled to help bring this story into the world, while Poling saw an opportunity to challenge assumptions and reclaim his narrative. That shared intention led to the creation of the first Modern Warrior LIVE production, uniting first-person storytelling and music onstage.
Integrity and Care in Storytelling
Modern Warrior is grounded in a commitment to integrity, care, and responsibility in how personal stories are shared. Participants are collaborators, not subjects, and are supported throughout the creative process to ensure their experiences are represented with honesty, dignity, and consent. The work is created with care for both those onstage and those in the audience, balancing emotional impact with respect, context, and thoughtful presentation. The show does not go on until each storyteller feels 100% content with each and every word they deliver through our collaboration.
Our Approach
Modern Warrior LIVE is built around first-person storytelling, with individuals sharing their own lived experiences onstage in their own words. The music serves as an internal voice—deepening the narrative and revealing the humanity beneath each story—performed live by an ensemble spanning original compositions and reimagined songs shaped by the context of the storytelling. Theatrically, the work unfolds within a cinematic environment where light, image, and space translate emotion into color, using multimedia, lighting, and staging to create an immersive world that supports both the storytelling and the live music.
About the Creators
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“…a trumpeter of abundant poise,” who “plays beautifully, with expressive control” and “brings true musicality.” – The New York Times
Dominick Farinacci is among the most acclaimed trumpeters and educators of his generation, with a career that transcends conventional recognition in jazz. Born and raised in Cleveland, he was just 17 when Wynton Marsalis selected him for a special PBS performance. While a student in Juilliard’s inaugural jazz-studies class, he launched an international career as a recording artist and bandleader, releasing eight albums in Japan before gaining global acclaim.
At Marsalis’ request, Farinacci led Jazz at Lincoln Center’s outpost in Doha, Qatar (2012–2016). His 2016 album Short Stories, produced with Tommy LiPuma, and the Cleveland Arts Prize he received in 2022 highlight his continuing influence. Yet for Farinacci, achievement serves artistry: in 2011, he composed “A Prayer for You” in response to his mother’s cancer diagnosis, later performing it in a TED Talk at the Kennedy Center and recording it with his group TRIAD.
Farinacci’s commitment to music and humanity also informs Modern Warrior LIVE, a multidisciplinary touring project with U.S. Army veteran Jaymes Poling that blends first-person storytelling, film, and Farinacci’s musical direction to illuminate the veteran experience. General Jim Mattis called it a “necessary and worthy mission.”
As director of the Tri-C JazzFest Academy in Cleveland, Farinacci guides young artists with empathy and honesty, teaching both jazz history and the realities of the music business—always with the goal of helping musicians find fulfillment, resilience, and well-being through their art.
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Jaymes Poling brings to Modern Warrior the fully immersed perspective of a three-tour combat veteran with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan. Confronting war memories, the loss of friends, and the isolation many veterans face after service, Jaymes discovered through narrative arts, music, and dynamic public speaking that growth can follow adversity.
Enlisting at 17, Jaymes served eight years as an infantryman, machine gunner, and squad leader with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, spending three years in combat in Afghanistan. He has engaged military communities more than 120 times through Modern Warrior—performing in schools, universities, performing arts centers, prisons, and in a one-hour cinematic production—and has spoken with hundreds of active-duty soldiers overseas about mental health through the Troops First Foundation.
Raised in Warren, Ohio, and a finance graduate of John Carroll University, Jaymes now leads Modern Warrior’s nonprofit operations and partners with organizations to help veterans move from isolation toward healing—whether one-on-one or in a concert hall of thousands.