Traditional Easter services won’t be taking place in churches on Sunday, but Andrea Bocelli is entering the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy.
And he’s going to sing for the world.
Accompanied only by cathedral organist Emanuele Vianelli, the renowned tenor will perform a concert called “Music for Hope,” according to Variety. The set list includes a number of sacred pieces, including “Ave Maria” and Mascagni’s “Sancta Maria.”
The concert, streamed live on Bocelli’s YouTube Channel, will take place at 11 a.m. MT — the time many viewers in the U.S. would typically be attending church services if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, Variety reports.
The archpriest Gianantonio Borgonovo, and Milan’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, have granted the 61-year-old singer access to the closed Milan cathedral, according to Daily Mail.
“I am happy Andrea has accepted our invitation,” Sala said in a statement announcing the performance. “This year, Easter will be very different for all of us. The joyous serenity that usually comes with this day has been greatly troubled by the pandemic we are experiencing. I am sure that the extraordinary voice of Bocelli will be the embrace we are missing these days, a strong, special hug, capable of warming the heart of Milan, Italy and the world.”
Italy has been especially afflicted by the novel coronavirus — more than 130,000 cases in the country have been confirmed, and more than 16,000 deaths have been reported. The tenor’s Andrea Bocelli Foundation has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help hospitals purchase supplies to help protect medical staff from the virus, Variety reports.
Bocelli was also one of several musicians to join James Corden’s Homefest last week. The tenor performed “Con te partiro” (“Time to Say Goodbye”) from his home in Italy.
“I believe in the strength of praying together,” Bocelli said in a statement. “I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone — whether they are believers or not — truly needs right now. Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded earth’s pulsing heart.”