Printer Friendly
The Free Library
14,588,558 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Golden thread of music: (music organization Concordia and Gillian Humphreys).


Concordia--a Latin word meaning `of one heart or mind'--is a perfect name for a foundation that aims at `building bridges through music and the arts'.

Concordia was founded in 1994 by the international soprano soprano [Ital.,=above], female voice of highest pitch. The three basic types of solo soprano are coloratura, lyric, and dramatic. The coloratura has a great range and impressive vocal agility; the lyric soprano has a light, pretty voice; and the dramatic soprano has  Gillian Humphreys, with Yehudi Menuhin Noun 1. Yehudi Menuhin - British violinist (born in the United States) who began his career as a child prodigy in the 1920s (1916-1999)
Menuhin, Sir Yehudi Menuhin
 as its patron. It was born out of the desire `to give young artists their own international voice and to allow them to speak out through their music and art'.

How does Concordia go about this? It arranges exchange visits between British artists A partial list of artists active in Britain, arranged chronologically (but alphabetically within any year). Born before 1700
  • Francis Barlow (1626?–1704)
  • Samuel Cooper (c.
 and those in other countries, presents concerts and gives special events. All this is coordinated from Gillian Humphreys' home in central London The term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no such conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London".  where rehearsals and auditions take place as well as concerts and performances.

Concordia brings together musicians and performers from all over the world. High achievers from Romania, the USA, Russia, Britain, Israel, Spain, Malaysia and many other countries work together in a unique atmosphere of collaboration. Most of them are students at British conservatoires, or finalists from international players' competitions.

As artistic director, producer and forward-planner Gillian Humphreys is constantly involved in all aspects of the foundation's running. Her husband Peter, treasurer and a trustee, deals with administrative work. `I just couldn't do it without my husband's support.'

One of Concordia's aims is to encourage and promote young musicians and performers. `Young talented people can't perform in front of large audiences until they have more experience and public acclaim.' That's why she thinks that recognized artists should try to help emerging ones more often.

Concordia's latest project involved taking a group of young professional singers from the UK to Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, city (1997 pop. 5,250,000), on the right bank of the Saigon River, a tributary of the Dong Nai, Vietnam.  in Vietnam, where together with local musicians they performed at the reopening Reopening

Treasury offerings of additional amounts of outstanding issues, rather than an entirely new issue. A reopened issue will always have the same maturity date, CUSIP number, and interest rate as the original issue.
 of the recently restored opera house. It was the first fullscale opera there since the Vietnamese War and took over nine months to plan.

`It was a huge project,' says Gillian Humphreys, `I had no budget ... I went with faith that we would get some help.'

As with most charities and non-profit organizations A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit purposes. , sponsorship is a major issue. But Gillian Humphreys and her team are full of creative ideas and approaches. They travel extensively, giving performances and workshops on Cunard's world cruises. She also holds Concordia Friends' Evenings in her magnificent music room with grand piano.

The Concordia Foundation is also involved in humanitarian projects. They have funded various educational programmes such as art and music classes for children in the Philippines. As well as helping children in schools and orphanages, the foundation has helped to renovate equipment for a children's hospital A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties.  in Romania and raised money for the Save the Children Fund in Argentina. `The great contrast between our Gala Concerts, performances and master classes and our visits to the orphanages is enormous, but part of the wonderful tapestry tapestry, hand-woven fabric of plain weave made without shuttle or drawboy, the design of weft threads being threaded into the warp with fingers or a bobbin.  that music and the arts can weave,' says Gillian Humphreys.

Concordia's diary for this year is full of concerts and events, including a Gala Concert in Vietnam with the Saigon Concert Orchestra in March and the Concordia English Singers and Speakers Prize and Concert at the Purcell Room The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. , London, on 29 June.

`We have experienced that our work reaches out and really touches the hearts and minds of all generations and much positive change can be achieved,' says Gillian Humphreys. `It's like a golden thread leading from one country to another, from one heart to another.'
COPYRIGHT 2001 For A Change
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Author:Stepanova, Anastasia
Publication:For A Change
Date:Apr 1, 2001
Words:555
Previous Article:Rescue to families: (Elaine Banks and "Family Groups").
Next Article:Dissident for our times: Russian essayist and philosopher Grigory Pomerants found his voice in a Soviet prison camp.
Topics:



Related Articles
Choral Days.(Brief Article)
GARCIA, GRISMAN HAVE THEIR DAY IN 'DAWG'.(L.A. Life)(Review)
BRIEFLY UNRANKED PLAYER SURPRISES AGASSI.(Sports)
SOUND CHECK.(L.A. Life)(Review)
DAILY UPDATE.(News)
Janie Green remembered as Foundation Fellow. (MTNA Foundation News).(Brief Article)
POP / SNEAK PEEK : FOR THE FUNK-ROCK BAND HOBEX, IT'S `PAYBACK' TIME.(L.A.LIFE)
Phuong Nguyen & Miho Sanou: accordion & piano con brio: a London-based former Vietnamese boatperson and his Japanese wife tell Kenneth Noble of their...
LANCASTER ON TARGET FOR THE GOLDEN CROWN ARNOLD AND ESPIRITT LEAD EAGLES UNDER NEW COACH.(News)
Carmen Shaw Oshkosh, Wisconsin.(EAST CENTRAL)(Brief article)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles