Sunday, October 20 Westmoreland UCC welcomed an audience of more than 175 people to experience rousing Palestinian music from Ramzi Aburedwan and his Ensemble Dal’ouna, joined by members of the Atlantic Reed Consort and Westmoreland Festival Chorus, to raise funds for the PAUSE Project, enabling Gaza musicians and their families residency in France for cultural preservation work.
This represented a collaboration between Ramzi’s Al Kamandjati - which teaches music to Palestinian children - and Westmoreland’s Middle East Committee, and was presented by Westmoreland’s Concert Series Music @ Westmoreland.
The program was a beautiful mix of traditional Palestinian music, original music from Ramzi and his colleagues, and a few more familiar works reimagined in this idiom. The Da Pacem by Arvo Pärt and the jazz standard Autumn Leaves were comforts to those who knew them, while more traditional tunes like the Song for Freedom had many of the Palestinian audience members in tears.
The central focus, however, was that we came together to raise awareness and funds for the PAUSE project, which will directly benefit 9 Gaza musicians and their families, who will be able to live and work in France for the next year. The French State ministries which support this program cover 60% of the cost, and the rest is up to civil society, so we hope to make significant progress towards making this a reality. Please donate as you’re able.
Many people put a great deal of time and effort into ensuring the production of this concert was covered by sponsors and donors, so that all the money collected could benefit the cause. Even the post-concert meal was offered by the local middle-eastern restaurant Olive on Main - see this impromptu performance that happened during the meal!
Be sure to check Westmoreland’s YouTube for more video content from the concert as it gets produced, and share this article with those who would find it a delight to read and support. Thanks!
UPDATE 10/26 - We’ve recently learned that we raised more than $16,000 for the PAUSE project on the day of the concert! Thank you everyone for your wonderful generosity. There is still time to donate to the project if you know of others who would appreciate the concert and the project - watch the full concert below.