"Music can change the world": Charity concert and international buffet in the programme of the Intercultural Weeks
As part of the Intercultural Weeks programme in Chemnitz, a charity concert for integration is being held at Villa Esche on Sunday, 6 October at 7 pm (admission from 6:30 pm). Mayor Philipp Rochold and Etelka Kobuß, the city's commissioner for foreigners, will open the evening, which has been organised jointly with the Chemnitz Municipal Music School. Eight musicians and singers from different parts of the world, who have come to Chemnitz and found a new home here, were invited to perform.
Foreigners' representative Etelka Kobuß: "We are looking forward to a special concert evening in the wonderful ambience of Villa Esche. Eight artists from all over the world will enchant us with their performances on various instruments and with their singing under the motto 'Music can change the world'. After the concert, guests are invited to linger over an international buffet - prepared by Chemnitz residents with foreign roots. At the same time, the evening is a good opportunity for all those involved to campaign for further financial support for integration projects for people with a migration background here in Chemnitz. To this end, we want to set up an integration fund together - the Working Group on Immigrants and Foreigners, the Foreigners' Advisory Council and myself as the city's Commissioner for Foreigners. "
Tickets for the evening, priced at 35 euros each, are available from the box office at Villa Esche. The proceeds from the evening will go to the integration fund.
Soloists at the benefit concert: Soprano Nancy Gibson, originally from Toronto, Canada, has lived in Chemnitz since 1992, was a member of the Chemnitz Opera ensemble for many years, has been director of the Chemnitz Municipal Music School since 2009 and is co-organiser of the concert. The South Korean soprano Guibi Yang has been a member of the Chemnitz theatre's opera ensemble since 2010, and the US American Edward Randall is a sought-after concert and oratorio singer as a tenor and is also well known to many Chemnitz opera fans. Tatjana Funk (piano) has travelled from the Ukraine and is also one of the soloists at the benefit concert with her husband and fellow musician Markus Funk (flute). The violinist Konstantin Zachariev comes from Bulgaria and is a member of the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra and the Yankele Band, which is committed to klezmer music. The violinist Ovidiu Simbutin came to Chemnitz from Romania, has been a member of the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra since 1997 and can be heard regularly in the "Chemnitz Baroque Orchestra". The pianist Jeffrey Goldberg comes from the USA and has been engaged as solo repetiteur at the Chemnitz Opera since the 2009/2010 season; Goldberg is very popular with concert audiences for his virtuoso improvisations on the piano.
The charity event will be moderated by Prof. Dr Teresa Pinheiro, Institute for European Studies, Chair of Cultural and Social Change at the Faculty of Philosophy at Chemnitz University of Technology.
The event, organised by the City of Chemnitz Commissioner for Foreigners, is taking place in cooperation with the Chemnitz Municipal Music School, the Lila Villa Women's Centre, the akCente e. V. association and host Villa Esche/GGGmbH.
Contact: Contact: Etelka Kobuß, Foreigners' Representative of the City of Chemnitz, phone: 0371/488-5047, e-mail: auslaenderbeauftragte(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
All information about the programme is available online at www.chemnitz.de