One of Syria’s best musicians headlines a fundraising concert for an organization counselling immigrants and refugees who have experienced trauma and torture in their home countries.
Sari Alesh, a former member of Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, headlines Heartstrings, a journey across musical traditions hosted by Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants & Refugee Association (VICCIR) and 2 Saints & Friends, St. Peter’s Lakehill Anglican Church and St. David-by-the-Sea Anglican Church.
While Alesh received training in western classical music, his repertoire as violinist also includes the music of Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Syria. Differing from country to country, this music involves unique tunings for the violin and a range of subtle intonations.
Matty Poon, a Victoria pianist, will accompany Sari, who will use the occasion to tell his journey from Syria to Canada. Alesh arrived in Victoria as one of the 400 Syrian refugees resettled in February 2016 after fleeing the Syrian capital of Damacus for Istanbul, Turkey.
“I have heard him play and it’s lovely,” said Adrienne Carter, VICCIR’s director of services and co-founder.
It – along with the two churches – will benefit from concert, which will take place 2:30 p.m. June 11, in the church located at 3939 St Peter’s Rd. Tickets are $25 and all proceeds will support the integration of newcomers in Victoria.
Next month’s concert takes place after VICCIR issued an appeal for donations after experiencing what the organization described as a “funding crisis” towards the end of last year.
A public appeal — which included an article in the Saanich News — proved to be successful, said Carter.
The group received $3,700 in anonymous donations after the article appeared, with $3,250 coming from an single, anonymous donor. “I don’t even have a contact information for her,” said Carter, adding the donations were very welcome.
They allowed the organization to cover office space rentals for May, June, and July, she said. The registered, not-for-profit agency works out of St. Peter’s Anglican Church, where it pays about $1,000 in rent.
This said, Carter said her organization is always looking for additional support to help cover office expenses and help pay its volunteer translators, some of whom travel long distances without receiving any compensation for gas, for example.
“Being able to pay the translators would really be a big deal for us,” she said.
Formed in the spring of 2015, the organization continues to establish itself as it seeks to help immigrants and refugees deal with a wide range of refugee mental health issues. It has applied to the federal government to charity status and attracted several current and retired professionals to serve on its board.
Demand for VICCIR’s services are unabetted. “The clients are coming so fast, it is getting difficult to match clients with volunteers,” said Carter.
Large families with four to five children and young couple suffering marital issues make up an especially large segment of clients, she added.