Musicians in Waterloo Region have joined together to raise funds for earthquake victims in Nepal.
Under Grebel/UW professor Mark Vuorinen's baton, the Grand Philharmonic Choir, together with many community partners, including Grebel students, is organizing a free concert Sunday May 24th, 4 p.m. at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 49 Queen St. N., Kitchener.
At the concert, audience members will be invited to donate to Mennonite Central Committee's Nepal earthquake relief fund. The federal government will match any donations made at the concert.
At the concert, Mennonite Central Committee will make a presentation about its work in Nepal, which has focused on bringing food, water treatment and other essential supplies to thousands of people in remote areas.
The music will include Gabriel Faure's "Requiem" and J.S. Bach's
Cantata 39: "Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot." (Break your bread for the hungry.)
All musicians involved, including an orchestra made of members from the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and soloists Daniel Lichti, Bethany Horst and Jennifer Enns Modolo, are donating their services.
"I am thrilled that the arts community is reaching out so generously,"
said Rick Cober Bauman, executive director of Mennonite Central
Committee Ontario. "They really typify the spirit that MCC has often seen in this community. A deep human need appears, and within a few days we receive calls from musicians who want to take the lead on creating an event that will benefit sisters and brothers across the globe who have lost everything. It is both humbling and inspiring to be surrounded by such a generous arts community."
Mark Vuorinen, artistic director for the choir who took the lead on
organizing the musical side, said more than 80 singers from several
local choirs will participate in the concert. "The idea for the concert came from singers in the Grand Philharmonic Choir, who wanted to do something to help the people of Nepal."
Vuorinen said the music being performed reflects both the disaster and the response to it. The Faure Requiem "collects our thoughts for a nation that has lost so much and for whom the grief of loss is very real. "And Bach's music in particular is well suited to a concert like this. "In this cantata from 1726, Bach reminded his listeners that we have a duty to share what we have with those less fortunate."
Free concert with freewill offering to Mennonite Central Committee
Sunday May 24, 4 p.m.
St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 49 Queen St. N., Kitchener
Faure: Requiem
Bach: Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot (Cantata 39)
Bethany Horst, soprano
Jennifer Enns-Modolo, mezzo-soprano
Daniel Lichti, bass-baritone
Peter Nikiforuk, organ
Members of Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Members of Grand Philharmonic and several area choirs
Mark Vuorinen, conductor
