Concert to benefit Liberian school

The award-winning choir of Disciples Christian Church. 

The Agape National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Monrovia, Liberia, is an after-school music program for children in a country ravaged by civil war and Ebola. ANAM needs money.

When Adam Kukuk, music director at Disciples Christian Church, learned this, he decided to arrange a concert fundraiser to help the school.

Kukuk has organized Sing for Liberia!, an evening of great music and an opportunity to help young musicians. The event will take place on Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m., at Disciples Christian Church, 3663 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights. All proceeds from this event will go to ANAM.

The church’s award-winning choir, soloists and house band will perform. Guest musicians Brian Thornton, from the Cleveland Orchestra, and Jen Woda, from Opera per Tutti, will also join in the festivities.

The concert will feature three out-of-print arrangements of Liberian songs by Agnes Nebo von Ballmoos, noted ethnomusicologist and music educator, and a pillar of music making and community building in post-civil war Liberia. It’s a rare opportunity to hear these songs in their original languages. 

ANAM was founded by Samson Tarpeh in 2008. His vision was for the school to be a peaceful alternative in the lives of its students. Its mission is to provide formal music instruction for children at the preparatory level, and to collect, preserve and teach the indigenous tribal music of Liberia. When the Ebola crisis closed the school in 2014, Tarpeh’s goal was to raise funds to reopen it.

Singers of all abilities are invited to join the choir for this concert. Those interested in participating are encouraged to attend at least one of two rehearsals at Disciples Christian Church on Thursday, May 14, at 7:15 p.m., and Sunday, May 17, at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Adam Kukuk at adam@discipleschristian.org.

Tickets for Sing for Liberia! can be purchased at the Sing for Liberia! Facebook page, or at www.singforliberia.eventbrite.com.