Music for a cause

AIREYS Inlet Community Hall will this month host the world premiere of a Japanese-inspired musical composition by award-winning Australian composer Lachlan Skipworth.

The piece, titled Sealight, will be performed by the Surf Coast Chamber Players, a group of like-minded local musicians who enjoy sharing the music they love with the wider community.

The performance will include a special appearance by Monash University-trained musician Brandon Lee who will be playing a Koto, the 13-stringed national instrument of Japan.

Renowned pianist Berta Brozgul will also join the chamber players for a performance of Franz Shubert’s The Trout, known for its cheerful nature and uncommon instrumentation.

The concert will serve as a fundraiser for local refugee advocacy group the Aireys Inlet Rural Australians for Refugees (AIRAR) and marks the chamber players’ third performance in support of AIRAR’s work.

 

 

The concert will take place on Sunday, September 29 with a matinee performance at 2pm and an evening performance, which includes a drink on arrival and canapés, at 6pm.

Event organiser and AIRAR member Kate Long said the funds raised will be used to support the community group’s Aid for Afghans fund, which is currently supporting five families living in Afghanistan who are at significant risk of persecution because of their faith, ethnicity and previous occupations as advocates, teachers or journalist.

“One of the women, we’re supporting her family and there’s almost no men left because they’ve been jailed or shot.

“The women are not allowed to go out. They are not allowed to be outside the house unless there’s a man with them and they’ve got to be covered up. They’re certainly not allowed to work.

“So, these people are desperate.”

Ms Long said it was a complex process to avoid detection by the Taliban, but AIRAR was slowly working to help these families leave Afghanistan.

 

 

She said in cases where the men were still with their families, the Aid for Afghans fund had provided them the means to set up a small business, allowing them to become self-sufficient, or to survive while they navigate the visa application process and eventually leave the country.

Some of the funds raised from the concert will also be used to support The Welcome Place Foodbank, which operates out of the Wesley Uniting Church in Geelong.

AIRAR donates $1,000 worth of food to the foodbank each month, helping to support refugees who are battling visa limbo and unemployment.

Cindy Abbey, the Surf Coast Chamber Players’ flautist, encouraged the community to come along to the concert.

“You don’t get to hear a world premiere of an Australian composition very often…and the fabulous Berta Brozgul, you’d come for that!” she said.

“I’m playing an amazingly beautiful piece with a Japanese Koto, which is a beautiful Japanese instrument.

“There aren’t many cultural players in Australia, and we’ve got the accomplished Brandon Lee coming to play his Koto with us.”

To purchase tickets, head to trybooking.com/CUVNM