Over the course of the last three years, Purcell pupil, Asha Parkinson has been striving to raise awareness and funds to support the victims of the atrocities that have been taking place in the Middle East. She fundraised to help Syrian children and others, put on charity concerts locally and made collections but felt that this was not nearly enough. As a result, Asha embarked upon a peace project, which would bring together the different cultures present in many of the conflicts, to sing under a banner of mutual understanding and tolerance.
Asha composed a brand new choral and instrumental work combining western and eastern influences, with a moving text peppered with quotes from the Qu’aran, the Torah and other sacred works. The piece will be performed by the Purcell Chamber Choir and children from Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith primary schools, along with an ensemble of gifted young instrumentalists and Middle Eastern oud and nay players.
The children participating have also been involved in fun team-building workshops that have combined musical activities, storytelling and input from specialists in anti-extremism and from charities such as World Jewish Relief, Christian Aid and Syria Relief.
On Thursday 19th January at 7:00pm, Asha will see her vision come to life in an inspiring concert at St James, 197 Piccadilly, London.
To support Asha’s wonderful project please order tickets through the Voices Beyond Division website or directly from Eventbrite .Tickets are £10, £6 concessions (or restricted view), £4 children under 12.
