22.03.2016
Singers From All Over Dublin and Glendalough Give Pitch Perfect Performance for Hospital Solar Project
A multitude of voices from around the dioceses joined the Christ Church Cathedral Choir yesterday evening (Monday March 21) for a virtuoso performance of The Crucifixion by John Stainer. The stunning concert was held in aid of the solar panel project at Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
The moving story of the Passion and Crucifixion was performed as part of the cathedral music department’s Come and Sing outreach programme and members of parish choirs and singers from all over Dublin and Glendalough were invited to sing with the choir in the wonderful surroundings of Christ Church Cathedral.
The choir of about 70 voices was conducted by Ian Keatley with David Bremner playing the organ and soloists Jacek Wislocki and Michael Lee. The singers had been sent the music in advance and the combined choirs practiced together earlier in the evening before the performance.
The idea for the concert came from the cathedral’s Residential Priest Vicar, the Revd Garth Bunting. He was supported in the endeavour by Precentor, Canon Neil McEndoo and Director of Music, Ian Keatley. Yesterday evening he told the audience that the concert was a wonderful way to start Holy Week. He added that his thoughts were also with the people of Gaza and Al Ahli Hospital which provides the finest medical care possible under adverse circumstances.
Archbishop Michael Jackson thanked Garth and Ian for organising the concert which helped bring together the parishes of Dublin and Glendalough with the mother church of the dioceses.
He thanked the people of the dioceses once again for their wonderful fundraising effort in Advent 2014. As a result of the money raised, €30,000 has been spent to improve the on–call staff facilities at the hospital.
The bigger part of the project, which was requested by the two remarkable women who run the hospital, Suhaila Tarazi and Samira Farah, is the installation of solar panels, he explained. Initially it had been planned to complete this extremely expensive project in three phases but the restrictions on importing materials into Gaza are very tight and everything needed must be brought in at the same time.
“So sporadic is the electricity supply and so expensive are the generators that solar panels are the only sensible option. We still have a significant amount of money to find and I trust in God that we will find it and your help is very much appreciated,” the Archbishop commented.
Al Ahli Hospital is located in Gaza and is run by the Diocese of Jerusalem with which the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough have a partnership link. The cost of the project is in the region of €185,000 and close to €150,000 has been raised so far.
Photo caption: Director of Music Ian Keatley conducts the choir and audience at the Come and Sing concert in Christ Church Cathedral.
More photos at https://www.facebook.com/DublinandGlendalough/posts/983780848324626