Joe Fuller: Entertainment

Valentine’s Day concert for Gaza Music
School students

St Paul’s Church hosts a unique concert this Sunday, when young musicians from Brighton will perform to raise funds for a fascinating project. Brighton and Palestinian Artists Together has invited children from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music to play in Brighton Fringe, in a concert at St Michael and All Angels Church on the 4th June 2016. Four of the young musicians are students at the Gaza Music School and three of them are students at ESNCM branches in the West Bank.
This Sunday however will see young musicians aged from 11 to 19 perform a wildly eclectic range of music to raise funds for the June concert. Bach’s Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C Minor is first on the bill, and we’ll then have the starker, stranger violin solo sonata (by Bartók) followed by a Chopin Nocturne. A new piece from local composer Guy Richardson called ‘Houryia’ (Freedom) will be premiered and there will also be some Mendelssohn, Jean-Baptiste Barrière and a Beethoven piano trio. The programme therefore straddles at least five centuries by my count, so there really is something for everyone to enjoy.

Three of the performers are through to the String category finals of this year’s BBC Young Musician Competition: Louisa Staples (violin), Joe Pritchard (cello) and Sheku Kanneh-Mason (piano). The smorgasbord of talent will also include musicians from Brighton Youth Orchestra String Ensemble, Royal Academy of Music, Yehudi Menuhin School and Purcell School of Music.
I’ve attended several youth performances before and the standard is always astonishing. This performance will be all-the-more impressive since Brighton violinist 16 year old Ayla Sahin and her friends are not only performing, but have arranged this concert too.
The three boys pictured above are also 16 years old, and play ganoon, oud and guitar whereas 12 year old Najlaa has an extraordinary singing voice. These are the children who the organisers hope to bring to the Fringe. That’s for the June concert mind you, not the one this Sunday, keep up!
All the money raised this Sunday will go directly to paying for the flights and visa costs for the young Palestinian musicians. The concert is superb value and promises to be a fun, exciting evening.
Valentine’s Day Concert, St Paul’s Church, 14 February, 6pm
Tickets on the door £10 or £7 concessions. Children under 16 free.
For information or advance reservations, text or telephone Tracey Felsham on 07909 244198.