Concordia is the brainchild of Gillian Humphreys, international singer and broadcaster. The charity was established fifteen years ago out of her real concern to build bridges through music and the arts and to provide much needed concert platforms for emerging young artists.
Our aims are:
Concordia International Ensemble – to initiate and develop exchange visits and educational links between the UK and other countries
Emerging Artists – to encourage, support and provide platforms for new, emerging artists
Young Audiences – to develop music and art educational programmes with school children in Tower Hamlets and to present specially written productions for children at Wilton’s Music Hall.
Newcomers to the world of music can now compete for Concordia Foundation Artists Award; prizes include recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall. On average over 100 musicians each year benefit from Concordia’s assistance on their way to successful careers.
Concordia presents concerts and puts on special performances in the UK and overseas to give talented young artists the opportunity to perform in front of large audiences, which is often hard to achieve at the start of their careers.
Obstacles are set aside, barriers are crossed and friendships are forged, as Gillian travels the world performing and lecturing in pursuit of Concordia’s missions. Every country provides a unique opportunity to promote the vision of the Foundation by presenting concerts for local academies, schools and charities.
Raising money for others is part of Concordia’s mission, its many projects have included the Concordia Ward in a Macmillan Cancer Relief Hospice in Wales; Save The Children Fund in Argentina; the Salaj District Hospital, Romania; the Christian Praise Children’s Home, Philippines; and the Spastic Centre, New South Wales, Australia.
Diverse and imaginative programmes have offered unique opportunities for artists and audiences alike. Shakespeare and Love – a celebration of the words and music of Shakespeare; Patti, Patti, Patti – an acclaimed portrayal of Adelina Patti; Diva of the Amazon – a musical dramatisation featuring the Teatro Amazonas, the legendary opera house in Manaus, Brazil; Winter in Majorca – an evening exploring the interlude Chopin and Georges Sand spent at the hilltop monastery of Valldemossa and Love from Ivor – the story of Welsh composer Ivor Novello presented in London and New York.
In the UK and abroad we have presented an extensive range of work, such as: Cavalleria Rusticana at the Ho Chi Minh Opera House; Pagliacci and The Verdi Requiem at the Hanoi Opera House in Vietnam; musical workshops at orphanages in Romania and the Philippines; The Dream of Musicals, a co-presentation with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra in Thailand; and most recently, in Cuba, where we presented concerts and workshops in schools in Havana. Other venues have included the Barbican, Southbank Centre, National Portrait Gallery, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Paul’s Covent Garden and St James’s, Piccadilly.
Another vital aspect of our work is the Concordia Young Audiences Children’s Educational Programme. This initiative provides much needed music and art workshops and concerts for young people. Developed in association with Wilton’s Music Hall, six productions have been presented, often giving many young people their first positive experience of live music, reaching out from the heart of London to the world.
Concordia Foundation is a registered charity number 1045967.