MEDIA CONTACT:
Dorothy Yewer, Benefit Chair
doryewer@yahoo.com
914-656-2027
TRANSFORMING THE LIVES OF NEW YORK’S CHILDREN THROUGH MUSIC: 5TH ANNUAL BENEFIT CONCERT UNITING NEW YORKERS OF DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS FAITHS TO HELP DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC
Westchester County, NY (September 27, 2011) The 5th annual concert bringing together different religious and musical groups to benefit at-risk children from the Edward Williams School in Mount Vernon will be held on Saturday, November 19th at 7:00pm at St. James the Less Church in Scarsdale in collaboration with Westchester Reform Temple.
This unique concert is a joint effort of the Episcopal and Jewish communities in Scarsdale. Their four previous concerts have raised over $200,000 and have sent 150 disadvantaged children to the Wagon Road camp in Chappaqua for seven weeks each summer.
The Children’s Choir of the Edward Williams School along with children from Scarsdale will join forces (40 children) to sing a song of inspiration with orchestra to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of this Benefit. Canadian opera star Jonathan Estabrooks will be the guest artist performing favorite arias from classic operas.
Orchestra musicians from the greater New York City area donate their time and talent for this special performance of classical music. The concert will include Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, several opera arias, a glorious work for choir and orchestra of Brahms and his legendary Symphony No. 1. For most of the children, this event is the first time they will experience classical music. On the day of the concert, the children attend the dress rehearsal and get to meet the professional musicians and ask them questions about music and their lives as performers.
“It is an overwhelming emotional experience for many of the participants,” said Maestro Justin Bischof, Music Director of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra of New York City and founder of the benefit. “I don’t know who gets more out of the concert – the children who get to attend camp, the musicians who donate their services, the members of the religious communities who sponsor the concert, or the audience. Music is truly a universal language and brings together people from all walks of life for an inspirational night of sharing.”
The beneficiaries all attend the “Amazing Afternoons Program” in Mount Vernon during the school year. The program gives 125 at-risk elementary school aged children a safe place to learn and grow after school during the critical 3-6pm time frame when their parents or guardians are usually at work. During the summer there is a void in these children’s lives and many desperately need a safe, productive environment that their families cannot provide for them.
To purchase tickets please call 914.723.6100 ext 203.
$5,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $75. Tickets are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.