Acting locally, thinking globally

The Society of Dalhousie Music Students (SDMS) presents a concert of classical music to raise money for a HIV testing program in west Africa. For the concert, students and professor perform together in the spirit of building the local and global community.

The concert takes place Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 1300 Oxford Street. It features an eclectic mix of talent from the faculty of the music department, including pianists Peter Allen and Lynn Stodola, violinist Philippe Djokic, bass-baritone Gregory Servant and mezzo-soprano Lucy Hayes Davis.

Two original works will be featured, an improvisation by composer Jerome Blais in tandem with top student performers and a chorale work, Dream, by recent Dal music grad Ben Duinker.

“We want to really mix it up,” says Will Horne, a third-year student majoring in music and international development studies, and vice-president of the SDMS. "Even music students get sick of Beethoven all the time."

If you go WHAT: Benefit concert WHERE: First Baptist Church, 1300 Oxford St., Halifax WHEN: Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m. HOW MUCH: $10 or $6 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the Department of Music

All of the proceeds from the concert will go to the Nova Scotia Gambia Association. For more than two decades now, the NSGA has supported education and health initiatives in the small West African nation of The Gambia. More recently, the organization has shared its best practices and experiences by launching programs in Sierra Leone.

“We chose very carefully among well-reputed NGOs,” says Mr. Horne. “The Nova Scotia Gambia Association is both local and international in scope and that appealed to us.”

The tireless efforts of this small Nova Scotia NGO focus on sustainable development initiatives that build the capacity of local youth and marginalized groups to create positive change within their own communities. The NSGA is best known for its Peer Health Education Program, which empowers youth with health information and the necessary confidence to educate their communities on important health issues.

A year ago, the NSGA began a voluntary HIV testing program in the rural areas of Sierra Leone that combines Peer Health Education with voluntary HIV testing, pre- and post-test counseling programs and focuses on reducing the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases among selected vulnerable groups, especially youth and those whose professions or life circumstances put them at risk to contract HIV/AIDS. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the project works closely with the National AIDS Secretariat of Sierra Leone to support existing government HIV/AIDS programs. The Nova Scotia Sierra Leone Program also partners with Dalhousie University to send medical professionals to Sierra Leone to provide voluntary HIV counseling and HIV testing.