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Award-winning, Italian-born pianist Cristiana Pegoraro returns to Bahrain on November 3 to play poolside at the Novotel Al Dana Resort.
The concert is being organised by the Culture Vultures in association with the Italian Embassy and The Italian Bahraini Friendship Association.
All profits will help fund the RIA Centre and Alia for Early Intervention where individuals with behavioural and communication difficulties are given not only practical educational help but are also empowered with an invaluable sense of self-worth.
The concert entitled Ithaka, The Journey of Ulysses: the piano as a vessel in discovering the Mediterranean is being sponsored by African and Eastern, Contax and Euromotors and is part of Bahrain’s first Italian Cultural Festival.
“We are delighted to be involved in such an exciting collaboration,” said Culture Vulture publicity director Emma Garrett. “Cristiana Pegoraro is a beautifully talented pianist and we are so pleased to be able to host her on her second visit to Bahrain.
“On this occasion, she has themed her programme around water which is obviously very apt for our island habitat, it promises to be an inspiring, enlightening and entertaining evening.”
Cristiana was last in the island in 2006 and is thrilled to have been invited back this year. “I have such beautiful memories of Bahrain,” she said.
On this occasion, she will include some of her own compositions in the programme. She added: “Composing is an incredible experience for me. It is the moment when I let my soul create without inhibition.
“At the concert I will play four pieces inspired by the poem Ithaka (written by the Greek poet Cavafis) which is based upon the voyage of Ulysses, and these will be the leit motif of the programme.
“The music was inspired by the need to unite people from diverse cultures, regions and traditions of the Mediterranean; the Mediterranean as a place encompassing solidarity, tolerance and friendship, and as a defender of peace; a sea as a unifying force and a symbol of dialogue between histories which are different, but which are all about the same universal subject: mankind. Through the music I attempt to capture my vision of an ideal life full of adventures, discoveries, goals and lessons learned, like the voyage described in the poem.”
This voyage of discovery is one that the children at RIA Centre and ALIA for Early Intervention take on a daily basis – life for them is full of ‘adventures, discoveries, goals and lessons learned’ and the work of the two multi-linguistic, multi-cultural and multi-national schools is absolutely crucial for children here in Bahrain.
Cristiana, who has been playing the piano since she was four years old, embraces the philosophy of empowering individuals and giving them a ‘whole’ holistic education.
She said: “Music is very important to develop communication and can be used to help children with difficulties because it is a universal language. It doesn’t relay on words, but on feelings which makes it common to just everybody.”
