Toledo Symphony to perform in the Polish Village |
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Written by SHIRLEY CZYZEWSKI, Toledo St. Hedwig
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Monday, 11 August 2008 09:47 |
TOLEDO—After a hiatus of more than 20 years, Toledo St. Hedwig welcomes back the Toledo Symphony to the Polish Village in a neighborhood concert Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m.
In February, the parish was advised by an organ company that St. Hedwig’s 20-rank pipe organ, with 1,374 speaking pipes, was in need of repair. The instrument, which was installed in the 1920s and has had no major work done on it since the 1980s, is of electro-pneumatic design — a pneumatic system that operates by means of leather bellows and valves located throughout the structure. The cost of repairing it is approximately $36,000.
Knowing our faith community could not afford to pay for these much-needed repairs, the members of the of St. Hedwig’s choir, organists and other members of our faith community, including representatives from the Parish Council and Finance Committee, formed a steering committee to plan a capital campaign to raise the funds.
The steering committee challenged the parishioners of St. Hedwig to donate one-half the amount needed in personal contributions.
The campaign began the last week of April and we are proud to report the congregation and alumni of St. Hedwig School have contributed more than $8,000 in personal gifts. Two members of our faith community have established a 10-to-one challenge grant to help the congregation meet the goal. For every $10 received in personal contributions, the challenge grant will add another $1.
It is the steering committee’s responsibility to raise the balance of the funds needed. Various fundraising activities have been selected, the crown jewel of which is the presentation of the Toledo Symphony in a neighborhood concert at St. Hedwig Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m., featuring Symphony No. 3 by the Polish composer, Henryk Gorecki.
This work was chosen because Sept. 1 is the 69th anniversary of the fateful day in Polish history when a German battle-cruiser, ostensibly on a training exercise, moved from its anchorage outside the free city of Danzig (Gdansk), and opened fire on the Polish positions. Adolf Hitler’s attack on a courageous but ill-prepared nation had begun, and by evening of that day, Europe was at war.
The concert by The Toledo Symphony is a memorial to the thousands upon thousands of courageous Polish men, women and children who suffered and/or died under the Nazi regime.
The Toledo Symphony will be under the direction of Chelsea Tipton II, with soprano Carol Dusdieker. The symphony encompasses three traditional texts: a 15th century Polish prayer, “Holy Cross Lament;” the opening lines to the Polish “Ave Maria,” carved on a prison cell in Gestapo headquarters in the Polish mountain resort of Zakopane and signed by its 18-year-old female occupant; and a Polish folk song portraying a mother’s anguish over the killing of her son in battle.
The concert begins with the National Anthem during the posting of the colors by the Buddy Frankowski Post 5530, followed by the Polish National Anthem as a memorial wreath is placed by the Polish Veterans.
St. Hedwig, a beautiful neo-Gothic church on the corner of Lagrange and Dexter streets, was built to commemorate the centennial of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791. For more than 100 years, its faith community has gathered in this majestic house of prayer to worship the Lord and celebrate the important moments of the parishioners’ faith life.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the rectory of St. Adalbert/St. Hedwig, 3233 Lagrange St., during regular business hours, or following the St. Hedwig Sunday Masses at 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
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Last Updated on Friday, 07 November 2008 09:04 |
