The Blue Gem Shining Amongst the Stars
7pm, Sunday 18th December 2005

By Wayne Richmond
Posted Thursday, December 1, 2005

The music-lover's Christmas concert, where Middle East meets Inner West, traditional meets contemporary, & all creeds unit to celebrate peace ...

An enchanting evening of music and song,
Musicians whose traditional sounds are still strong,
Where heavenly goodwill, harmonious peace
Will envelop us all in its warm and fuzzy fleece . . .

So come all ye tasteful, ye joyful or ye doleful, and participate in an incomparable concert of memorable music and heavenly harmonies at our

Featuring: Nadia Piave, Matthew Ridley, Les Saxby, Tim Blomfield, Andrew Byrne, Alex Cronin, Masood Dawood-Abadi, Farahmehr, Mohammed Eshraq, Firooza, Nimos Eilyamo, Emilio Lomonaco, Cristoforo Garigliano, Vento Del Sud and more . . .

The exceptional acoustics of this old stone church create an atmosphere reminiscent of the medieval, renaissance and baroque origins of many of the popular and much-loved carols we sing every year. This annual event is the perfect opportunity to celebrate and unite the myriad international communities that make up our contemporary, multicultural society, where the familiar tunes of a Good King Wenceslas, when performed with oud and harp, may stir and unite all cultures, from Iran and Italy, China and Czech Republic, Africa and Afghanistan….Humankind in celebration of distant traditions and melodies, in the common pursuit of peace, compassion and unity among all people who inhabit this blue gem that shines amongst the stars . . .

So come along and revel in the magical sounds of the oud and recorder, lute and bass violin, circular drum, marranzano, medieval harp, tar and Persian fiddle, didgeridoo . . . and some angelic voices!

St Saviour's Church
171 Young Street
Redfern

Entry by donation - whatever you might pay for a movie, to hire a couple of DVDs, or wine and cheese for a night in!

Proceeds will be donated to the Musos Keeping It Real in the 'burbs Fund to promote multicultural musical and social relations within Sydney communities. Funds will be used to organize music and ethnic cooking workshops for disadvantaged groups. Music + Food = Bliss!

If you go to one Christmas concert this year make it this one!