A Light in a Dark Place:
Music, Storytelling, and the Power of Kindness
Concert presented by The Hutchins Consort in partnership with We Are The Tree of Life ©
featuring world-class performers on the rare and beautiful Hutchins violins.
November 17, 2023, 7:00 pm
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
890 Balour Dr., Encinitas, CA 92024
The community gathering we all need right now…
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ ? Fred Rogers
With all the bad news surrounding us today, sometimes we need a little reminder of those helpers. This concert features stories of the power of kindness and also the music that came out of those moments.
THE PROGRAM:
One of the composers we are featuring on this program is Olivier Messiaen, who was interned for nine months in the German prisoner of war camp Stalag VIII-A, where he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) for the four instruments available in the prison—piano, violin, cello and clarinet.
THE INSPIRATION:
I was inspired to create arrangements for the Hutchins Consort from Messiaen’s quartet after several conversations with Jackie Gmach from We are the Tree of Life, a local nonprofit created in the wake of the 2018 shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue.
Jackie’s organization seeks to preserve and promote music created by prisoners in World War II concentration camps, with the underlying message that artistic expression can be used to survive and convey beauty in even the most challenging circumstances.
A timeless and relevant message, even today.
So a partnership between Hutchins Consort and We are the Tree of Life blossomed into this program of music, storytelling, and the power of kindness.
Additionally, I realized two movements from Messiaen’s Quartet, Lounge a l’Immortalité de Jésus and Lounge a l’Éternité de Jésus would work wonderfully as features for the Hutchins’ mezzo, treble and tenor violinists, and truly capture the spirit of this concert’s theme.
Please join us for an unforgettable evening of music and inspiration.
