Concerts for the pope’s Jubilee
On Sunday November 16, the Basilica of St. John Lateran hosted the first of a series of forty concerts, given within the context of the pontifical jubilee of John Paul II. Entitled Totus tuus, these events will take place up until June 27 2004, in the most beautiful churches of Rome. The majority of these concerts will be held on Sundays. They will be given mainly by Italian choirs and instrumental ensembles. Classical concerts, but also other forms of music, as well as talks on Michelangelo, Caravaggio
.have been announced. The organizers are seeking, as a matter of priority, to appeal to young people, in order to bring them closer to the Christian roots of European culture.
On January 17 2004, at the Vatican, the American conductor Gilbert Livine will direct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in a concert dedicated to the theme of reconciliation between Jews, Christians and Muslims. Under the patronage of the Commission of the Holy See for relations with Judaism and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, this concerts objective will be to promote peaceful cohabitation between all the sons of Abraham. The program will include a new work by John Harbison, entitled Abraham, and Gustav Mahlers Second Symphony.
Gilbert Livine has already directed a concert at the Vatican, in the presence of John Paul II, on April 7 1994. That event was dedicated to the memory of the Shoah.
