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04/10/2017 08:42 AMInspired by last year’s memorable, moving moments singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” at the John Lennon Peace Wall in Prague, Branford High School (BHS) Choral brings their message of peace home with the “Peace Project: Music for Peace and Brotherhood” Sunday, April 30, 2 p.m. at Yale University’s Woolsey Hall, New Haven.
The spectacular concert will feature 160 choir members, four alumni soloists, and a live orchestra. The afternoon’s message of peace will be spread with several musical genres, from nothing less than the soaring heights of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to Lennon’s “Imagine” and other modern songs of peace, to the multiple movements of “Peacemakers” (a choral score built from words of peace from iconic, world-changing figures). Members of local clergy will introduce the words of “Peacemakers” within movements of the song, and the words will also be shared by a volunteer performing in American Sign Language.
All concert proceeds will benefit three local charities: SARAH Inc., Branford Early Childhood Collaborative and Branford Community Garden.
BHS Choral Director Cathyann Roding will once again gather a stage filled with talent to perform a major spring concert project meant to inspire and support the community, and create another milestone moment for her students. Many Branford residents are still talking about BHS Choral’s 2014 world premiere live performance of composer Jonathan Elias’ “The Prayer Cycle,” at Woolsey Hall, which Elias attended.
“These are huge projects,” said Roding. “The reason I do it is because I think it’s important that my students have these ultimate experiences to encompass all we do. When we reach for something this big, we really have an understanding of what their capabilities are, of the impact of music can have on themselves, and their families, and the world. That ripple effect is so important.”
The concert is a gift to the community both in its impact on the audience and in “paying it forward” to assist local charities by donating concert proceeds, she said. The three charities were selected by her students.
Assisting Roding in producing the Peace Project are four BHS senior choir members: Peace Project Coordinators Alexa Bodner and Cole Chase-Beach and BHS Choir presidents Emily Sachs and Alanna Grimm. The students are helping to promote the concert, finalize organizational details and manage the charitable giving component.
“We wanted to donate to local New Haven-area and Branford charities as a way to give back to Branford,” said Grimm. “We think all of the charities we chose are really awesome organizations. They have great causes and really stand for a lot of the same things we’re trying to get across.”
All four student leaders were also in Prague as part of BHS Choir’s 2016 tour of the Czech Republic and Austria. Grimm says the seeds of the Peace Project performance were planted that spring day in Prague when the choir performed street-side in front of the John Lennon Peace Wall.
“Going to Prague was one of the most amazing things our choir was able to experience,” said Grimm. “Once we got to that wall and we sang ‘Imagine’ in front of it; all of us got chills and lot of people were crying. It was just the feeling of peace, and that we knew we wanted to sing and spread our music for good things. So coming back from the trip, I think that experience was one that stood out the most; and we knew we wanted base our Woolsey Hall concert off that.”
Bodner said the choir also learned about the origins of the wall, covered with spontaneous art dedicated to Lennon’s message of peace.
“It’s there in honor of John Lennon and his efforts to promote peace,” said Bodner. “When he died, it came about, and the Czech government kept painting it over. And people just kept coming and painting it with graffiti of hope and love and peace, and it became this great memorial.”
The choir’s a cappella performance at the John Lennon Wall was set up in advance by Roding, but no one knew what to expect from the spontaneous crowd which gathered to hear the students from Branford sing “Imagine” and the Beatles’ “Let it Be” and “Hey Jude.”
“We ended up singing ‘Imagine’ twice, and we saw people in the street crying, too,” said Grimm.
A different arrangement of “Imagine” will be performed at Woolsey Hall on April 30, said Chase-Beach. Chase-Beach also noted it’s important for the public to know that they can easily attend the Peace Project concert, from buying tickets in advance by phone to boarding free, round-trip shuttles from the BHS parking lot to the doors of Woolsey Hall and back. He said sponsorships are also still available to help finance the show and support the amount of proceeds raised after expenses.
“We’ve been concentrating on fundraising, and working with the charities,” said Cole-Beach. “Right now, we’re working on sponsorships. We’re also working with the clergy members who will be reading the words of world leaders like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi in ‘Peacemakers’ before we sing.”
“We’re trying to encompass people of different religions and faiths, and also promoting these messages of peace,” added Bodner. “So we thought [adding clergy] was a really cool element; and we’re also having all of the Peacemakers movements signed in American Sign Language. It helps us to be very inclusive, and further the project more.”
Bodner added that the BHS choral students would be gratified to see Woolsey Hall filled with Branford residents who come out to support the event and experience a performance she and her peers have been working hard to perfect.
“We’re really blessed to be able to do this awesome performance in Woolsey Hall. I think we have a pretty big following for our musical and also these concerts we do that are just kind of amazing and for good causes,” said Bodner. “I think it’s going to be a really great afternoon of just peace and harmony and music.”
Branford High School Choral presents the “Peace Project: Music for Peace and Brotherhood” Sunday, April 30, 2 p.m. at Woolsey Hall, New Haven. Free shuttle transportation available. To purchase tickets, $15, call (203) 315-7972. For more concert information, visit the BHS Choir Lobby website here