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The Passion and The Joy

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St Peter's Surry Hills
Conductor Eugene Raggio, pictured performing at St. Peter’s in Surry Hills, will lead The Passion and The Joy concert with the Archdiocese own Meg Griffin on Saturday April 3. PHOTO: Giovanni Portelli.

Combining Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate to celebrate the Passion and the Joy of Easter in concert at St Peter’s Church, Surry Hills.

It was a comment from a passing colleague that sparked the idea in Meg Griffin’s head. Combining Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate to celebrate the Passion and the Joy of Easter in concert this year at St Peter’s Church in Surry Hills.  

Put together by musicians and friends Meg Griffin and Eugene Raggio, the Easter Saturday concert aims to “give the broader community an opportunity to enter into the cultural and mystical experience of Passiontide and Easter

Archdiocese employee and talented performer Meg Griffin PHOTO: Giovanni Portelli

I had been wanting to do Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate for a while now,” said Meg Griffin, an employee of the Archdiocese of Sydney. But when a co-worker walked past my reception desk saying she loved the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi, the concept of doing the two in the one concert began to form. 

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The idea came from a desire to represent two works that present the tone of Holy Saturday as one that is both the aftermath of the preceding day’s sorrow and the hope of the expected resurrection,” added Eugene. “Both works are Marian and devotional in character. 

Meg and Eugene have been friends since performing together in the 2010 Artes Christi’s production of Mackillop the Musical and have looked for opportunities to work together since.

Conductor Eugene Raggio performing at St. Peter’s, Surry Hills. PHOTO: Giovanni Portelli

  Drawing on their extensive careers both studying and performing both at home and abroad, the pair have come together with a talented ensemble of musicians to share the joy these two pieces to the Sydney community intended to, as Eugene puts it, “draw one into reflection on the mystery of salvation and to cultivate a hopeful disposition. 

Meg and I have worked with most of the musicians in the ensemble,” said Eugene, “but we are also working with some for the first time who are enthusiastic to collaborate on these two works in a more intimate configuration. 

We have been coming out of a hard year for musicians and it is heart-warming to see people’s efforts to keep such a beautiful and essential work in our community alive”

We have been coming out of a hard year for musicians in general and it is heart-warming to see people’s efforts to keep such a beautiful and essential work in our community alive,” said Meg.

We would say of anyone who has a love of beautiful music and wants to find an additional way in their own lives of marking this Easter Season, to consider coming to support these wonderful musicians. 

For more information and to buy tickets click here! 

 

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