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South West London choir perform at 9/11 memorial event

Summary:

The Fulham Camerata performed at a concert commemorating the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

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By Hardeep Matharu

A South West London choir performed at a concert to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 on Sunday. 

The Fulham Camerata sung at A Concert of Reflection in Grosvenor Square which was attended by friends and relatives of the 67 British victims of the terrorist attack. 

Performing alongside the band of the Welsh Guards and the choir of Harrow School, the Camerata’s conductor, Christopher Wray, said that the choir was proud that its music could be a source of comfort to those affected by 9/11. 

He said: “A performance can be nerve-wracking, but then you remember why you are singing and the people who are listening. 

“One man in the front row was experiencing a lot of grief as we were singing which was touching. It was beautiful because this man was quite taken by the whole concert. 

“You realise that you are reaching out to people which is the reason why we do this.”

The Fulham Camerata performs across the capital, but South West London is its base. A member of Music at the Heart of Fulham, it promotes Fulham as a venue for live classical music. 

Choir member Felicity Hayward explained that the power of expression which music has is important.        

“It has been great for the Fulham Camerata to contribute to this memorial because music has a significant role to play in commemorating 9/11,” she said.

“It lets individuals connect to emotions that they cannot express in words and this is incredibly cathartic. Music can touch people off the back of something terrible like 9/11.”

Positivity was also a message of Sir Christopher Meyer who was the British Ambassador to the US during 9/11. 

He said: “All over the world thousands came out with immense displays of sympathy, with humanity actually behaving like humanity. 

“Grief may be the price of love, but before love even the purest evil must bend the knee. I believe that this is the lesson of this tenth anniversary.”

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