Internationally acclaimed pianist Margaret Fingerhut is one month into her Far From the Home I Love piano series fundraiser tour. Five of the 26 planned concerts Margaret has performed so far – Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Wimbledon, Warwick and Wolverhampton – have collectively raised over £9000 for City of Sanctuary local groups. The concerts have drawn in first-timers as well as experienced concert goes, with audiences moved deeply by the message conveyed so powerfully through the pieces and the stories behind them:

“I felt it a real emotional roller-coaster, hearing the waves and sadness in the Pott piece and being taken back to my Moscow granny in the Rachmaninov” (audience member)

Margaret Fingerhut has now raised £30,000 out of her £88,000 target (a £1000 for each key on a standard piano). Her special devised programme ‘Far from the Home I Love’ includes pieces by many of the world’s greatest composers including Chopin, Grieg, Handel, Haydn, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, whom had to move from their homeland, either because of war or fear of persecution, or migrating for their work. In Margaret’s word, “their stories truly resonate with the current troubling attitudes towards refugees and those in exile”.

“It is truly great to be able to stir people in that way, and the research that must have gone in to pick such evocative pieces and find just the right things to say to engage the audience was genius.” (audience member).

The tour continues next month with Margaret visiting Leicester Cathedral on March 13, Derby Cathedral on March 15, Norwich on March 17, Maidenhead on March 24 and Harrogate on March 28.

As the coordinator of the sold-out Wolverhampton performance put it:

“Your programme, chosen carefully to illustrate the theme “Far from the home I love”, was both illuminating and very moving and will have resonated with many in the audience. It was a powerful combination of beautiful music and awareness-raising of the plight of those seeking sanctuary in our land.”

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. You can also make a donation via her fundraising page.