Seattle Symphony Weaves Live Performance Around Homelessness

Homelessness is one of the oldest curses that the mankind has to face. A lot of common people from time to time has made it possible for the homeless to live with dignity through their course of action.

According to The Seattle Times, a performance of Ives' "New England Holidays" (aka "Holidays" symphony) will be staged with the issue of homelessness at its heart. It is an initiative undertaken by the Seattle Symphony that aims to make bonding with the community. During the performance, there will be an assembling of the four tone poems reckoning the central American holiday of each season, according to Ives. They are Washington's birthday (winter), Decoration Day (spring), the Fourth of July (summer) and Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day (autumn). The audiences will experience visual responses along with the music made by the clients of four non-profit organizations that work for the homeless.

Claudio Castro Luna, the resident poet of Seattle, will start off each of the movements with a poem written in discussion with those who have created the artwork. America's beloved pianist Emanuel Ex will end the evening with Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. The Ives project is actually a response to the declaration made by Seattle's State of Emergency on Homelessness that was issued on November 2, 2015. It is a part of the Simple Gifts initiative under the Community Connection program undertaken by the Seattle Symphony president and CEO Simon Woods since his arrival in May 2011.

According to New Geekers, the symphony music director Ludovic Morlot realized the fact that homelessness is to be carried to the front by this initiative. So he after discussing with 18 companies who handle homelessness to form artworks regarding homeless people. Paintings and artworks done by the homeless people will be on display accompanied by music and poems by the symphony members, that was the main idea behind this initiative and the success rate is really splendid.

Susan Temple, a physically disabled 62-year-old transgender woman living in Compass Transitional housing, feels like getting back her soul and it is helping her to come back into the mainstream just like other normal human beings.

Homelessness needs to be controlled in order to bring back equality in the society. The initiative taken by Seattle Symphony is a big leap in the process. The concert will be taking place at the Benaroya Corridor, Seattle on February 2nd, Thursday at 7:30 pm and on February 4th, Saturday at 8 pm respectively. 

TagsSeattle Symphony, 2017 concerts, Homeless, Orchestra, Charles Ives, New England Holidays