The Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary is organizing a charity concert on 31 March at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music to support the victims of the Syrian earthquake. The profit from ticket sales and local donations will be distributed by the Károli Gáspár Reformed University and the Aleppo Reformed Congregation in Syria to the brothers and sisters in need in Aleppo, Syria. The people of Aleppo and the Reformed brothers and sisters had been at the centre of the bombardments and fighting for years in the most violent combat zone of the Syrian civil war when on 10 February a massive earthquake struck Aleppo and its inhabitants, causing irreparable loss of life and terrible destruction.
The charity concert to be held on 31 March will include the performance of the music for four-part mixed choir and organ, "With Blessings", composed for the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary by Zsolt Gárdonyi, composer, organist and honorary citizen of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. The choral work is a musical setting of verses from the Károli Bible that are of special significance to the composer. The central axis of the work is the emblem of the Reformed Church, and the biblical quotations are framed by the Reformed greeting, "Blessing, Peace!”
In addition to the works of Zsolt Gárdonyi, the concert will also feature works by his father, Zoltán Gárdonyi (1906-1986). Zoltán Gárdonyi's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" was composed a few months before the composer's death, thus concluding his rich oeuvre. Zsolt Gárdonyi's choral work with organ accompaniment, Hálaadó ének (Song of Thanksgiving), is a setting of four stanzas of the old Hungarian hymn of praise, "Nagy hálát adjunk" (Let us give great thanks). The Legend of Jászó, composed in 1942, is one of Zoltán Gárdonyi's early organ works, so this programme offers a glimpse into eight decades of Reformed church music. The Song of Praise, written for mixed choir and organ, is based on the verses of Psalm 45, a well-known composition by Zoltán Gárdonyi that has since found its way into the international choral repertoire in German and English.
With the participation of the Central Reformed Choir, the Psalterium Hungaricum Choir and the Károli Choir. Zsolt Gárdonyi, Balázs Méhes, János Pálúr, Gábor Szotyori Nagy will play the organ. Conductors: Boglárka Berkesi, Sándor Berkesi, Dániel Erdélyi.
The concert will be held in the concert hall of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and will feature Béla Bartók's "Divertimento" with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra conducted by János Rolla, Kossuth Prize-winning violinist.
Zoltán Balog, Reformed Bishop of Dunamellék, Pastoral President of the Synod of the Reformed Church of Hungary and László Trócsányi, Rector of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary will give a speech at the event, which is organised to help the victims of the earthquake in Syria, the Aleppo Reformed Congregation. Andrea Vigh, Rector of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, will welcome the guests.
The charity concert is free of charge, and donations can be made at the venue, via the bank terminal and at the collection points. To register, please visit: http://www.kre.hu/emlekev/zeneakademia/
A limited number of supporter tickets for the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music Charity Concert are also available at https://www.jegy.hu/program/jotekonysagi-hangverseny-a-karoli-gaspar-reformatus-egyetem-alapitasanak-30-evforduloja-tiszteleter-145835.
Source: zeneakademia.hu
