On Saturday 17th November, Nigel and Tatjana Goldberg held an outstanding evening concert to raise money for the Happy Home orphanage (India) in the Free Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb.
The Happy Home orphanage is a charity run to help and support disabled and handicapped children whom are left homeless for many a reason, all of whom come from a huge variety of backgrounds. The shelter provides food, water, medicine, clothing and most notably, a regular education in both academic subjects and in the Christian faith.
The couple often visit the orphanage, bringing donations raised from annual concerts and bake sales at the Youth Music Centre (YMC), Hampstead Garden Suburb, which is run by Nigel and meets weekly on Saturday mornings with a range of abilities and ages, from young children just beginning their musical journey, to older more accomplished students of ages 16 to 18.
The concert was composed of three performances, all by students of YMC, with one featuring both Nigel and Tatjana themselves, playing all of the acclaimed Bach Double Violin Concerto. They were accompanied by members of the Youth Music Centre Chamber Orchestra, who also performed later on in the evening. The performance was breathtaking, and left the audience with a sense of majesty and beauty. It was clear that Nigel and Tatjana love playing and making music together, and the rendition of the Bach Double was a glimpse into that process.
Ilai Avni then performed the lesser known Violin Concerto in A Minor by Glazunov, which was a stunning 30 minute recital, capturing the entire audience with the unique dissonance and his ethereal tonal quality. Although only accompanied by piano in this concerto written for violin and orchestra, his interpretation brought Glazunov’s composition to life, and introduced many to this much more obscure composer. Ms Ping Liu stated, "He is amazing for being such a young age, the piece really sounded professional!"
Finally, the YMC Chamber Orchestra brought the evening to a close, with an impressive performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture (arranged for string orchestra) followed by Mendelssohn’s String Symphony in D Minor. The elegance of the overture echoed around the church, creating a truly majestic and breathtaking performance by young musicians all under the age of 19. The concert was hugely successful with a large amount of money raised for Happy Home, and was a pleasure for all involved.
Thank you very much to both Nigel, Tatjana and all the performers for a marvellous evening of classical music!
