Young people make music for Magnificat

‘Jugend musiziert’ (young people make music) – a benefit concert for the Magnificat Institute, the school of music of the Custody of the Holy Land, took place on Sunday, 23 January at 6 p.m. in the August Everding Saal of the Musikschule Grünwald. A brief report on the evening by organiser Markus Lentz:

“Dear Friends,

I would like to give you a brief report on yesterday evening’s concert by our ‘Jugend musiziert’ participants for the Magnificat school of music in Jerusalem.

Two display boards at the entrance to the August Everding Saal provided information on the Magnificat school of music in the form of pictures and texts. Also on show were:

• The folder created free of charge by graphic designer Elmar Zillgen and print company Opti-Print.
• The personal letter from Father Armando Pierucci, which he wrote to us for the evening of the concert.
• The concert programme of 41 children and young people who performed solo or in groups for between three and five minutes each from their competition programme.
• The donation box.

Around 120 people attended, most of them family members of the young musicians and friends. We were able to welcome Father Raynald Wagner from the St. Anna Franciscan monastery in Munich as a special guest.

Fifteen minutes before the start of the concert, a slideshow of photos of the Magnificat was shown in the hall on the large projection screen. The concert itself then began with a video, which can be seen on the internet. After my welcome, in which I emphasised the importance of gestures, a violin trio opened the concert with the Israeli song ‘Mazel Tov’. Following this, Father Raynald briefly presented the role and importance of the Franciscans in the Holy Land and read the very personal letter from Father Armando. The rest of the concert programme then followed. The young musicians played with the utmost intensity and excitement and clearly enjoyed their performances in front of a very attentive audience. Unfortunately, the Thewes siblings were unable to perform as one had sprained a finger tobogganing. Father Raynald sat in the front row in his Franciscan habit. While a fitting image from the Magnificat was always displayed on the large project screen as a backdrop to the performance on stage, the young musicians on stage could always see Father Raynald in the front row. Thus this concert was also a visible embrace between the two schools of music. The guests made use of the opportunity offered by the interval to talk to Father Raynald in person and also heard about his life and his experiences as an intermediary for the Holy Land. A total of some 700 euro was donated.

Father Raynald was extremely pleased and impressed by this gesture and the outstanding performances by the young people and will publish an article about the concert in the Franciscan magazine. A colleague took photos of all those who participated and the concert was recorded. We plan to send these with the concert programme to the Magnificat.”

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News on the Magnificat Project:

Pro Magnificat Concert in Germany (January 2011)

A Musical Christmas (December 2010)

Non nobis: The Midnight Christmas Mass in the Nativity Church (December 2010)