West Coast Symphony Chamber Ensemble Presents a Benefit Concert for
the Antigonea Music School in Albania
Members of the West Coast Symphony under the baton of Maestro Bujar Llapaj will present a benefit concert in support of the Antigonea Music School in Albania. The concert is at 8PM on Friday, November 29 at the Grace Vancouver Church, 1696 West 7th Avenue (at Pine St.). Guest soloists include Catherine Laub, soprano, and Jonathan Hao, violin. The program features Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Simoni’s “Mirka” Suite for String Orchestra, as well as works by Bach, Respighi, Schubert, Saint-Saens and Shehu.
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| Catherine Laub |
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| Jonathan Hao |
The Music School, located in Maestro Llapaj’s native village of Antigonea, was founded by the West Coast Symphony in the summer of 2012 during the orchestra’s concert tour of Albania and Macedonia. They brought with them a large container filled with donated musical instruments and, while there, held lessons for the first group of students.
The school has been operating successfully over the past year with more than 10 students in regular attendance. Professional musicians from the nearby city of Gjirokaster travel to the village once a week to teach. This benefit concert will provide much-needed funds to ensure the on-going operation of the music school.
Maestro Llapaj continues to be a well-known and respected leader in Albania's music community and is still strongly committed to supporting the cause of cultural advancement in his native country. His idea of establishing a music school was based on his own childhood experiences. The members of the West Coast Symphony helped him realize that dream. Llapaj explained that, although most schools offer music classes—where students learn about music and might participate in choral programs—unlike North America, band programs are not part of the school curriculum. Students do not have an opportunity to learn to play an instrument or experience performing as an ensemble.
Llapaj added that, though it has been 20 years since communist rule ended in Albania, the country is still struggling to catch up with the 21st century. Offering these kinds of programs can help to provide important cultural opportunities to which many students still do not have access. Llapaj’s ambitious vision is that the Antigonea Music School can serve as a model for other communities to establish their own music schools and, ultimately, these kinds of music programs will become an integral part of the country’s public school curriculum.
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| Students outside the school with their teachers |