Ely Vicar Plays Viola for International Virtual Choir for Peace in Ukraine
A virtual performance of the classical piece Ave Maria has been recorded and published to encourage prayer for peace in the Ukraine war.
The director, Zsófia Széna from Hungary, reacted quickly to the unfolding events between Ukraine and Russia and organised the recording to inspire prayer for the countries.
The Rev’d Canon Jan Gould, vicar of the Church of the Resurrection in Ely, plays the viola in the ensemble of musicians from across European countries, including Ukraine.
“Zsófia pulled everyone together pretty much as soon as the war started in Ukraine,” said Jan.
“By about a week into the war, we'd all been sent our music we needed to record with a metronome beat, so that we would all play in time.
“Then we had to record our own part. It is a really difficult job pulling them all together and balancing all the different tracks and then you've got a different quality tone and things like that.
“If they were slightly off key, they might have to record their bit again, so it's a very intricate job then to actually balance everything.”
Zsófia said, "I started to create virtual choirs during the COVID-pandemic. During lockdown, they became very popular, and I found many examples on YouTube. Creating a virtual choir is a complex activity, because not just musical and computer skills are required, but mathematical background and visual creativity are also very important. When I created this video, I used all of the skills that I learnt in the university, in the music school, and mostly at home by myself."
The music plays over a completion of poignant images of the events in Ukraine.
Zsófia said, "The war in Ukraine touched me deeply not just because this country is in the neighborhood of my home, but also because next to the Ukrainian locals, many Hungarian people live in Transcarpathia (the southwest region of Ukraine).
"When I created this virtual choir, I didn't focus just on the result, but the creative process had the same importance for me: working on "Prizeman: Ave Maria" was like praying the Rosary regularly, and during these hard times I found countless reasons to pray. The news published every day about the death of innocent soldiers, children and citizens.
"I don't know the number of the tragedies I have read about, but all of them motivated me more and more to work on this video."
Jan explained how it felt to play the music for the recording knowing what was going on in Ukraine at the time:
“It was quite emotional. As a musician, it's one of the things that you have to offer really, and for me, my music is always an offering a prayer as well.
“It's a gift I have being given and, and to use it for the purpose of prayer is a really powerful privilege. You are very conscious of that when you're doing the recording. It is such a short piece, but I must have recorded it about 30 times.
“It was so important that it was just right. The peace that we're all wanting is such a pure thing and the music had to reflect that.
“I think, for me, the thing that's just so amazing is that we can do it with people all over the world. Some of us don't even understand each other's spoken language, but we all speak the same language of music.
“Music has the power to bring people together in circumstances like this in way that nothing else could. I just think it's incredible and it's such a powerful thing to be doing.”
All the musicians in the video are connected with the Taizé monastery in France and are Christians, from all over Western and Eastern Europe with different denominations.
The Taizé monastery has become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage, with a focus on youth. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work.
Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation. Canon Jan has taken her own groups there for years.
Jan heard about Zsófia quest for a viola player from a mutual friend connected to the Taizé group at the beginning of lockdown for another project. Zsófia now regularly asks Jan to be a part of her videos.
Jan simply said, “I love it, for me it is such a beautiful way to use my music.”
Zsófia said, "I can't be grateful enough to all of my friends who participated in the work: this video wouldn't exist without Them... In these sorrowful times, the good and the evil have a stronger battle than ever, and the only way we can win out is if we keep our unity: nothing might be stronger than people united in prayer. Our virtual choir is a symbol of the worldwide Love and Solidarity."
Most of the musicians in Zsófia Széna videos are music students, however, Jan was a professional viola player before she was ordained.
Jan was forced to give up her viola playing early on in her professional music career due to neck surgery which made continuing impossible. The time spent away from playing music made way for Jan’s discovery of ministry.
“In the first year and it all crashed to a halt. And then I couldn't play at all for about 10 years.”
Combining her talent for music and vocation, Rev’d Canon Jan, the vicar of Ely, founded the ‘Making Music, Changing Lives’ project.
Making Music Changing Lives (MMCL) was started in 2009 with the aim of transforming the lives of children in Ely and Caerau by teaching them how to play an orchestral instrument. The charity is based at Jan’s church, the Church of the Resurrection in Ely.
Jan said about the project, “We believe that music enables participants to flourish, developing an increased sense of self-worth, confidence, raised aspirations, and an improved quality of life. Our work brings together people of all ages, creating a strong community spirit and a deep sense of pride through musical achievement.”
