Musicians of the Australian National Academy of Music will present benefit concert Safe and Sound on July 21 at 7.30pm in aid of the Asylum Seeker Resource Center and the UN Syrian Emergency Response Fund.
Following the heartbreaking and ongoing media coverage of the Syrian humanitarian crisis, now in its sixth year, musicians Tiffany Cheng and Kyla Matsuura-Miller felt compelled to take action in order to help those suffering under such dire circumstances.
“After seeing the coverage at the beginning of the year on the Syrian crisis, Tiffany and I felt heartbroken and helpless as to how we could help people living in such desperate situations,” Kyla said. “And from this, the idea of our benefit concert was born. After sharing the concert idea with our peers it was obvious that this was a cause that everyone cared deeply about.”
The concert repertoire was chosen so as to include as many musicians as possible.
Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 1 for 12 musicians will be conducted by Laura Barton, followed by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s Fratres for wind octet and percussion.
Soloists Fletcher Cox (trumpet) and Emmanuel Cassimatis (cor anglais) will perform Aaron Copland’s introspective work Quiet City. “I am so excited to perform Quiet City with [Emmanuel] in this concert,” Fletcher said.
“This piece is absolutely gorgeous and I fell in love with it the second I heard it, and I’m so glad to share it with everyone. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to perform in this concert, because it means that I can do my part and help contribute to a really good cause.”
To conclude the concert, musicians will present conductor Rudolf Barshai’s chamber orchestra arrangement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, written in dedication to victims of fascism and war.
The three ticket prices – $15, $30, $50 – are designed to allow the audience to “pay what [they] can give” to the concert’s charity partners. Tiffany and Kyla are hopeful that the united efforts of the ANAM cohort can make a difference and help alleviate the suffering faced by all those affected by the worst humanitarian crisis of our time.
Young Australian artist Minna Leunig has designed a beautiful poster to help promote the concert. She works primarily with ink and fine liner and her works are often made distinctive by their ‘creaturely’ nature, highlighting the artist’s interest in portraying humanity closely intertwined with the animal world.
Safe and Sound: A Concert in benefit of the Syrian Humanitarian Crisis
21 July, 7.30pm
South Melbourne Town Hall
Featuring:
ANAM Musicians
ANAM Alumni
Guest Musicians
Bookings: anam.com.au
Content courtesy of ANAM. Photos by Pia Johnson.
