"Whenever there's an opportunity to give something a little different, a little special, it's a good time to do something worthwhile in terms of community — whether you define that community in terms of Salt Lake or the whole world." So says local violinist Jerry Elias, who will be taking his own advice to heart next week in a combination recital/fund-raiser to benefit the "Seeds of Peace" organization.
Not only will he benefit the local community by presenting the American premieres of several works, but he will also benefit the worldwide community by donating all proceeds to the "Seeds of Peace" foundation. The recital will be Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m. in the Gardner Hall Ballroom on the University of Utah campus.
A reception will be presented following the concert, hosted by Mazza, a new Mideastern restaurant in Salt Lake City. Tickets for the concert alone are $15; tickets for the concert and reception are $30, available by calling 587-9483.
"(Seeds of Peace) was started by a journalist named John Wallach, who covered many areas of conflict in the world," Elias told the Deseret News. "He felt that the best way to achieve peaceful settlement isn't just through diplomatic means but by getting young people to learn how to live together. So he started this camp in Maine, where he'd bring together teenagers from Israel and the neighboring Arab countries, all of whom had been selected by those countries' leaders.
The teens usually start out with a lot of fear and suspicion when they first meet, said Elias. "But as they play together and work together, and actually argue together, they learn that people are more or less the same the world around. The hope is that they'll form these relationships, they'll learn how to co-exist, they'll learn how to discuss their differences peacefully, and when they're adults, hopefully, they'll carry these bonds with them and establish a better situation than their current generation has."
Elias said that he first came in contact with the organization several years ago, when he was asked to assist a young musician who was attending the camp. He didn't become involved again with the group until he began planning his recital and realized that he'd also like to make it a benefit.
"I'm in the Utah Symphony, the Abramyan String Quartet and faculty of the university," Elias said, "but for the last several years, I have not given my own recital right here in Salt Lake City. I just felt that it was really time for me to do that again."
Elias sat down and thought about a lot of good causes that could use the money, and this one seemed unique. "In the long run, I guess trying to help achieve peace anywhere in the world is one of the most important things that can be done."
The program will include works by Saint-Saens, Brahms and will also feature American premieres of works by Thomas Briccetti and University of Utah's own Morris Rosenzweig. Elias will also premiere a transcription that he did himself of Louis Moreau Gottschalk's "Pasquinade" for violin and ensemble and a transcription of Kurt Weill's "Three Penny Opera" by Stefan Frankel.
Elias pointed out that Frankel, who transcribed Weill's "Three Penny Opera," was killed in the German concentration camps. "If there's a message about the organization 'Seeds of Peace,' " he said, "it's about people learning how to live together, and Frankel is an example of what the opposite leads to — a very creative person who is just destroyed because of intolerance."
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com