By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Aug. 3, 2017: World-renown opera singer Andrea Bocelli has given 60 children from some of the poorest areas of Haiti a chance to sing for the Pope and for the world.
Bocelli, whose foundation works in partnership with the Foundation St. Luc in educational and economical development projects in the most remote and poor communities of Haiti, has taken the children who are part of the choir, “Voices of Haiti,” on a European tour.
On Wednesday, August 2nd, Bocelli and the students aged ages 9-15 sang for Pope Francis after his weekly general audience. Voices of Haiti and Bocelli sang three songs including ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Ave Maria.’
The choir has joined the singer on a two-week-long European tour that will include performances in Lajatico, Italy, Bocelli’s birthplace.
In Lajatico, today, August 3rd, they will perform with Bocelli in front of 15,000 people for the 12th edition of his annual concert at the famous Teatro del Silenzio.
They have already performed in Florence, where they sang for the inauguration of a foundation dedicated to the Italian director Franco Zeffirelli.
The children of the choir and related projects come from the Citè Soleil slums.
In addition to the choir, The Andrea Bocelli Foundation also introduces music into the 30 schools supported by the local St. Luc Foundation in Haiti.
They also help to provide education, food, and health assistance to thousands of children, water and electricity to remote and poor communities, solar panels and libraries.
“Voices of Haiti” is directed by Malcolm J. Merriweather, a professor at Brooklyn College Conservatory in New York, and is run by a team of Haitian collaborators made up of musicians, teachers, and administrators.
“Music is the light in our soul that makes all our senses feel in harmony with nature and makes us alive every single moment we remember our existence in this world. Music gracefully wakes up our system and lets us develop brilliant thoughts and skills at our best. Music becomes an additional means for social and intellectual development, not only personal, but for entire communities,” says Bocelli on the group’s website.
