This year, international concert pianist and recording artist Margaret Fingerhut is embarking on a very special piano recital series, working with City of Sanctuary to raise money to support local City of Sanctuary groups.
Margaret Fingerhut is regarded as one of the UK’s most distinguished pianists, and her career has taken her all over the world. Her many recordings have received worldwide critical acclaim, and her recent CD of encores Endless Song was Featured Album of the Week on Classic FM. Her special devised programme Far from the Home I Love will visit over 25 towns and cities across the UK over the coming year, organised in partnership with local City of Sanctuary groups. The tour begins Friday 1st February on the Isle of Wight and ends in London in November. She has waived all fees in the hope of raising funds for City of Sanctuary groups across the UK.
In Margaret’s words, “My grandparents settled here from the Ukraine, Poland and Ireland, so I have always been passionate about helping the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, never more so than today, given the climate of increasing hatred, intolerance and hostility. I wanted to find some unique way of raising awareness as well as funds for refugees, so I was very excited to come up with this idea. It struck me that many of the world’s greatest composers had to move from their homeland, either because of war or fear of persecution, or they simply migrated for their work. My concert, Far from the Home I Love, tells the stories in words and music about some of these composers. Their stories truly resonate with the current troubling attitudes towards refugees and those in exile.
“The programme I have devised is by no means just sad! The music I have chosen is also uplifting, happy, even humorous, as well as dramatic, heroic and virtuoso. I’m going to be playing popular pieces by Chopin, Grieg, Handel, Haydn, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, and I’m especially thrilled to have commissioned a beautiful new piece by Moutaz Arian, the Kurdish Syrian composer who wrote the stirring Refugee National Anthem for the 2016 Olympics.”
All details of the tour and information on how to book tickets can be found here.
Do come along to one of the concerts and help Margaret reach her target of raising £88,000 by the end of the year – that’s £1000 for each of the 88 keys of the piano! You can also make a donation via her fundraising page.
