Our Press Releases
Oratory Concert to Support SURF
London – 27th November 2007
The London Oratory School is to donate proceeds from a special concert to mark World AIDS Day on 1st December to Survivors Fund (SURF).
The Charity Concert for World AIDS Day will be staged at Cadogan Hall, Sloane Square, London, and will feature the school’s internationally acclaimed choir, the Schola, performing alongside a host of London’s leading soloists and the London Oratory Sinfonia.
The programme includes Durufle: Requiem and the world premiere of a newly commissioned work, A Song of Hope, by British composer, Colin Mawby, which draws on texts highlighting the plight of orphans. It will also feature a highly poignant and evocative setting of the Requiem by renowned West End musical director and composer Gareth Valentine, a work which the Schola recorded back in 2000.
The London Oratory School is a long-time supporter of SURF, with Oratory students each year helping the charity at its office based just up the road from the school in West Brompton, London. A number of students have just returned from Rwanda, where they were given the opportunity to visit SURF’s projects and to meet the survivors that their work supports. Proceeds from the event will also go to SOS Children’s Villages which, like SURF, supports children orphaned through HIV and AIDS.
Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Founder and Director of SURF, commented on the event:
“SURF is privileged to be selected as one of the beneficiaries of the Oratory’s event. We have a long association with the school. Teachers and students have played an active role in the work of SURF since our establishment ten years ago, which has helped immeasurably in our mission to support survivors of the genocide both in Rwanda and the UK.”
“Proceeds raised will go towards both helping orphans and women survivors infected with HIV and AIDS, to enable them to access vital antiretroviral treatment and to rebuild their lives. We are grateful to the Oratory and its students to date, and look forward to continuing to build the partnership further to help even more survivors following the event, which is a particularly apt way to mark World AIDS Day.”
Tickets for the concert are now on sale and are available from the box office at Cadogan Hall, Sloane Square. Tickets are priced at £29, £26, £21, and £15 with 20% concessions for children and 'Friends of the Schola.' Booking is online at www.cadoganhall.com or on (020) 7730 4500.
- END -
Download PDF version:
Oratory Concert to Support SURF