Faiths set to Sing As One
St Kilda Shule will stage a multifaith concert to promote peace and unity through singing and music.
UNITING people of multiple religions and cultures, St Kilda Shule will stage Sing As One, a multifaith concert coinciding with a Sing As One event at Government House the same day.
The shule event on Sunday, November 24 will see the Jewish community singing with members of the Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian faiths, and Indigenous traditions.
To spread a message of harmony, the shule has reached out on Facebook to faith communities for the one-off social music initiative.
St Kilda Shule CEO Rabbi Ronnie Figdor said the event was inspired by Israeli social music initiative Koolulam, which he and his wife Eve have been following.
Koolulam brings Israelis of various backgrounds together to sing at its events, but a smaller initiative by a synagogue in Ra’anana made the Figdors realise a synagogue could organise a social music event.
“I’m excited at the possibility to use social media to support a message of peace, freedom and unity, very different from some of the ways that social media is used,” Rabbi Figdor told The AJN.
The Sing As One production team includes director Pip Mushin, associate producer Brett Kaye (the shule’s chazan), musical director Adam Starr and production manager Danny Olesh. Attendees will learn one of three vocal parts in less than an hour and will then perform the song live for production.
The shule event will dovetail with the Government House event that afternoon, to which representatives of religious organisations have been specially invited by Governor Linda Dessau. Several hundred attendees, many who have never met, will sing one song in unison, accompanied by St Kilda Shule’s Sing As One musical team.
Rabbi Yaakov Glasman, St Kilda Shule’s senior rabbi, said the Government House event was inspired by the concept developed at St Kilda Shule. The synagogue has the capacity to accommodate a large number of attendees, he noted.
“I’m beyond thrilled … It’s been done in Israel, South Africa and the US. And now it’s happening in Melbourne,” he told The AJN.
Dessau said the Government House event “brings together people from all faiths to promote peace and unity through singing and music. Victoria is greatly enriched by our diversity, and we have much to feel proud about when we reflect on how we live harmoniously together.
“But harmony and social inclusion will always be a work in progress. We cannot be complacent about it. We hope that this interfaith singing event will be a beautiful depiction of what we can achieve co-operatively together.”
Sing As One at St Kilda Shule will take place on Sunday, November 24 at 8pm. To book, visit trybooking.com/566601.
comments