Proceeds go to the Al Ahli Anglican hospital in Gaza.
About this Event
An Evening of World Music, Poetry, Jazz and Cabaret in Honour of Mothers Everywhere
Proceeds go to the Anglican hospital in Gaza (via the Anglican Church of Canada)
Featuring Bob York and Hadani Ditmars, with special guests Lorraine Foster, Grace Zako,Themba Tana and Shumba St. Albert.
Join Hadani Ditmars and friends for a musical evening honouring mothers everywhere
On August 10, 2024, at 7:30 pm, Hadani Ditmars presents an evening of world music, jazz, poetry and cabaret accompanied by pianist Bob York at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, 690 Burrard.
The inaugural Susila Bryant Memorial Concert in memory of Hadani’s mother will benefit the Al Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza. Media contact: [email protected]
Tickets are $25 cash at the door or by Eventbrite.
About the Al Ahli Hospital:
Located in Gaza City, it is managed by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. Founded in 1882, it is one of the oldest hospitals in the city and the only Christian hospital in Gaza and treats people of all faiths regardless of ability to pay. Gaza’s only cancer hospital, on 14 October 2023, the hospital's Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Centre was damaged by Israeli rockets, injuring four hospital staff members and severely damaging two of its upper floors, with the mammography and ultrasound departments most affected. The Anglican Church of Canada has an ongoing appeal for funds to assist the hospital.
About Susila Bryant:
Susila Bryant was a singer/ songwriter and parishioner at Christ Church Cathedral. She had a generous heart, an infectious spirit and supported initiatives to help women and children internationally.
About Hadani Ditmars:
Hadani is a journalist who has reported internationally on the plight of refugees and the displaced for three decades and is the author of the critically acclaimed book Dancing in the No-Fly Zone: a Woman’s Journey Through Iraq. She is also a singer and musician who performs world music internationally as a tool for peace and reconciliation at cultural venues from London to Mosul and Baghdad.
Her mother’s grandparents were Syrian Christian refugees who fled Ottoman purges for Canada in 1906. Hadani is currently writing a very personal travelogue on the disappearance of ancient sites in the Middle East and their relationship to displaced populations. She began the book as her mother was diagnosed with ALS and as she writes "My visits to sacred sites in the Middle East became a dual quest to save both ancient heritage and my mother dying of ALS in Canada - and with her the matrilineal line that connects me ancestrally to a region that was the cradle of civilization- and in a way the mother of us all. Every priest, imam, Sufi, and Yezidi elder I met, said special prayers for my mother even as their own people still suffered from the effects of war and displacement. The prognosis was rather grim, but I persisted, guidebook in hand, as both my mother and the region, as I had once known them, begin to vanish."
Ditmars, who has reported from Palestine since 1994, was due to travel from Baghdad to Gaza to write about ancient sites there, but her trip was cut short by the war.
She writes, "When I watch the news on Gaza, I see the faces of my mother and my grandmother among the mothers in mourning for their children. Supporting the work of Suhaila Tarazi, the director of the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza that has survived bombing and sieges and continues to care for the most vulnerable free of charge, seemed like the perfect tribute to my late mother."
About Bob York
Bob York is a seasoned pianist, arranger and composer who has performed in the Lower Mainland for seven decades. He was at Susila’s wedding in Prince George in 1965 and accompanied both her and Hadani at a myriad of events.
About Grace Zakko:
Grace is a talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist originally from Syria.
About Themba Tana:
Themba Tana is a national treasure originally from South Africa, who has performed internationally for decades, while keeping African heritage alive in Canada. The vocalist, composer and drummer is joined by Shumba St Albert.
About
Singer Lorraine Foster is a local jazz legend, having performed for over seven decades, bringing class, style and grace to whatever room is lucky enough to have her light it up.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard Street, Vancouver, Canada
CAD 25.00