"Millennium Choir performs in fundraiser at St. Augustine"

The Millennium Choir, the official choir of the Vatican during the opening of the Holy Doors on Christmas Day in 1999, will be performing at an Aug. 4 concert to help raise funds for a mission trip to Jamaica by the Life Teen members of St. Augustine Church, Culver City."It's a benefit for both the choir and the youth group," said Dean Diomedes, organizer of the concert. While the choir is performing for free to get more exposure in Los Angeles -- something it lacks despite being based here -- it's helping people do a good deed. The money raised from the concert will go towards taking the mission team of 20 to Mustard Seed Community in Kingston, Jamaica."The goal is $1,000 per person but we also want to leave some money; and to leave a sizable gift to Mustard Seed, we need to raise $1,300 per person," said Kathy Regalado, youth minister of St. Augustine Church. Mustard Seed Community, which takes its name from the parable describing God's kingdom, cares for orphaned, disabled and abandoned children as well as fostering homes and communities in Kingston's marginalized areas. The Life Teen mission team will spend a week working on construction projects and care-giving services."People ask us, 'Why don't you just do that here?' Well, we could but somehow the Holy Spirit is working on this mission. Maybe next year the Holy Spirit will call us to work here in L.A.," explained Regalado.Indeed, everything about the mission, the concert and the choir seem to be, as choir director and composer Beppe Cantarelli puts it, fated."It's funny how it all started," said Diomedes. He met Cantarelli during last year's World Youth Day in Rome, where the choir was asked to perform. Upon hearing the Millennium Choir sing Cantarelli's compositions, Diomedes was bowled over. "The music is awesome," he enthused. "It's classical but it's pop enough that you can hum with them."Diomedes befriended Cantarelli and offered to help the choir get more exposure in Los Angeles. The first concert Diomedes liaised was in June at St. Vincent Church in Los Angeles. Then, when the choir was waiting for the next performance, Diomedes found out that his parish's Life Teen group was trying to raise money for the mission trip and, he said, "It all came together." The Millennium Choir itself just came together, "almost by mistake," said Cantarelli, who had moved to Los Angeles about 20 years ago from his hometown of Busseto, Italy, the birthplace of renowned composer Giuseppe Verdi."One day, I asked some of my friends from the recording studio here to record [a demo] of the Magnificat," said Cantarelli, which he was commissioned to compose for the opening of the new Santuario del Divino Amore, a sanctuary in the Vatican."The demo came out so good and the people that participated in the sessions were so ecstatic with the result that I started getting calls from other musicians and choir members to join in the other recordings," he said. Cantarelli was then invited to bring a choir to perform the Magnificat during the opening of the Holy Doors, which marked the start of the Jubilee year. That was also the choir's debut."We had never performed as a group," said Cantarelli. Singers came out of the woodwork, volunteering to join from all over the United States and Europe. They flew in to Rome Dec. 22, rehearsed for two days, then sang on Christmas Day. "You had to pinch me twice every minute. I thought I was dreaming, seeing 130 people singing my composition with the 110 orchestra members in a beautiful place," he recalled."I've been in showbiz for 20 years," said Cantarelli, himself a tenor, "and never have things come out so perfect. And I didn't do anything! Everything has been so lucky. Maybe it was meant to be."The Millennium Choir, which now consists of around 600 American and European singers -- though all have yet to be in one place at the same time -- will also sing the Magnificat at the Aug. 4 concert, as well as several original pieces from their album of the same name. They will also premiere Cantarelli's new composition called "Tu che parli con gli angeli," which means "You who speaks to the angels." Their album will also be on sale after the concert. For concert details, call (310) 838-2477. Admission is free but donations are welcome. For more information about the Millennium Choir, log on to www.millenniumchoir.com.
Da "Tiding" - by Jennifer C. Vergara
4 August 2001
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