For three years now, Utah Symphony associate concertmaster Gerald Elias and pianist Marjorie Janove have taken time out of their busy schedules to play benefit recitals for Seeds of Peace, an international organization dedicated to bringing together young people from war-torn areas around the world.
The organization's goal is to foster understanding and mutual respect among youngsters who have only known hatred and violence in their shorts lives. It tries to accomplish this goal by bringing kids from opposing sides to a camp in Maine for two weeks, during which they're able to work through their long-standing mistrust of and animosity toward each other.
That hope for a better future is something in which Elias said he believes passionately. "You read in the paper every day about suicide bombers, and you think to yourself, 'How is this ever going to be resolved?' " In his opinion, the solution is to find people who are willing to listen to the other side. "And that's what Seeds of Peace is all about."
However, Elias said that he tempers his optimism with cold reality. "I don't view their work in a Pollyanna way. They don't guarantee that everyone at the camp will go home and be a peacemaker. But, hopefully, in the long run, there will be enough people in the world to make a difference."
Two years ago, Elias visited the Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield, Maine. He was struck by how a traditional camp with an untraditional agenda functioned and thrived. "It's an old-fashioned camp next to a beautiful lake in the forest. It's the kind of camp you went to as a kid, or wished you had gone to. But once inside, the first thing you notice is that the ethnic mix is very different than any camp you've ever been to."
Central to the two-week camp are "co-existence meetings." "These galvanize the whole project," Elias said. He was allowed to attend and observe one such meeting. "This meeting, which was led by a professionally trained facilitator, had a group of Serb and Bosnian teenagers. When I was there, it was toward the end of the two-week session at camp, and these kids were at the point where they were ready to bring things out into the open. There was a lot of shouting and animosity, but there was also a glimmer of realization that not all that they were taught was true, and that the other side had some valid points, too. It was a wrenching experience."
That evening, the camp held its talent show. "What was really remarkable, was that after all this harshness and antipathy, the kids threw their arms around each other at the end of the session and ran off to get ready for the show. It really gave a hopeful outlook for the future."
Elias hopes that next Saturday's recital will raise a substantial amount of money. Last year's benefit brought in $11,000. This year, with the concert taking place in a larger venue, Seeds of Peace hopes to increase that amount to $16,000. "Our goal here is to send six teenagers to camp this year," Elias said.
He won't reveal what he and Janove will play at their recital. "We're keeping it a secret," he said in a teasing way, adding that his son, who is a rock musician, inspired him not to announce the program beforehand. "At rock concerts, you don't know what they're going to play. If you like it, you jump up and down."
Elias isn't afraid to do things in a different way. "Concerts have become too predictable today. They're thoroughly researched and planned, and no one is thrilled by the music anymore. But people really do like to be surprised.
"I will say, however, that the program is going to be great. There is nothing on the program that anyone will not like."
What: Benefit recital for Seeds of Peace with Gerald Elias, violin, and Marjorie Janove, piano
Where: Cathedral Church of St. Mark, 231 E. 100 South
When: 7 p.m. Friday
How much: Concert, $25; concert and post-concert reception, $35
Phone: 328-5043
E-MAIL: ereichel@desnews.com