Friday, December 21, 2007

Cello Help ... #212

Cellist David Chickering takes to the streets of Wellington to raise money for a fellow musician from the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, whose instrument was destroyed in a terrorism raid.

The Iraqi cellist, known as Tariq, needs $6300 to replace his cello, which was bashed in by an armed mob that attacked his Baghdad home and kidnapped his father. Chickering, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's principal cellist, said he made contact with the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra after reading news stories about its plight. Members must practise under armed guard, battling blackouts and constant defections as musicians flee the fighting.

They are running out of reeds and strings, and few music stores remained open in Iraq, as they are a bombing target for militant Islamists.The Iraqi national symphony's librarian told Chickering what had happened to Tariq, so he decided to try to raise some money.Chickering and New Zealand National Youth Orchestra cellist Alexandra Partridge played for Christmas shoppers yesterday in Lambton Quay, raising $180 in two hours.

THANKS to the DOMINIONPOST for the text

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