LSU musicians to hold benefit concert for Ukrainian children

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - As the world watches the terror unfolding in Ukraine, people are finding new ways to help support victims of the war. That includes a concert fundraiser planned by the LSU School of Music with help from the Collaborative Piano Institute.

The concert, planned for Sunday, May 8, will benefit children affected by the war. Entrance to the concert is free, but donations are encouraged.

According to organizers, all donations will go directly to UNICEF Ukraine. LSU School of Music faculty member and co-director of the Collaborative Piano Institute Elena Lacheva describes the event as a way to defy tragedy by coming together.

As the world watches the terror unfolding in Ukraine, people are finding new ways to help... — As the world watches the terror unfolding in Ukraine, people are finding new ways to help support victims of the war. That includes a concert fundraiser planned by the Collaborative Piano Institute and the LSU School of Music.(The LSU School of Music)

”Music is feelings in sound: giggling, crying, loving, wailing, hoping, charging, nursing, mourning. Music is catharsis, a release, a space where stories are told, and hearts connect. Music makes us empathetic,” said Lacheva. “Making music is once again, year after year, an everyday act of rebellion against the swirling fire plumes of physical, verbal, or legislative attack. To choose art when one can choose violence, to choose creation when hopelessness lurks by the sidelines, to choose to shape sound in beauty as the winds of nature or metal wings slice the air is radical.”

The concert will feature renowned pianists Michael Gurt and Willis Delony with his jazz trio; the LSU Brass Quintet with fabulous baritone Dennis Jesse; and LSU faculty Katherine Kemler (flute), Yung-Chiao Wei (bass), Sandra Moon (soprano), Robert Grayson (tenor), Lin He (violin), and Ana María Otamendi (piano), as well as a volunteer orchestra and choir.

”Making music has never felt more contradictory to us, musicians: as feeble as trying to stir a sailboat in a tsunami, yet as powerful as singing through the air raids when there is nothing left to do; as eternal as people coming together. Coming together on the square in solidarity, coming together in kin and friendship after years of brutal pandemic, coming together with food, laughter, and music to toast life and the future, whatever it may bring,” said Lacheva.

The concert will be held May 8 at 3 p.m. in the Recital Hall at 102 School of Music Building on LSU’s Campus. The concert will also be live-streamed on the LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts website. The Collaborative Piano Institute is a non-profit created to spotlight the needs of the next generation of collaborative pianists, singers, and instrumentalists.