A Mountain of Unity

Urban Encore’s first fundraising concert took place in a large home in the hills North of L.A. Despite the fact that two weddings had been held at this venue, the hosts reported that this was the largest gathering they had ever had. Most of the 120 people in attendance sat on the floor. 

The home’s location near the Angeles National Forest fit the theme of beauty in nature. That theme could be traced in song selections such as Debussy’s L'échelonnement des haies mouton a L’infini from 3 Melodies de Verlaine, the Flour Duet from Lakme, Dvorak’s American string quartet and Korean songs about nature.

https://youtu.be/_tbHYkXnvVI

Near the end of the program, Lorraine spoke about how she overcame homelessness and her experience in losing two sons to gun violence. Many people in the audience had never interacted with a homeless person and were fascinated by her experience. One man came to Lorraine after the program was over and said, “Thank you! I used to pass by homeless people and not know what to do, but now I know what to do.”

In addition to Lorraine’s talk, musicians and audience were brought together by the Reminiscing Kem Kang San encore performance. Reminiscing Kem Kang San is the most famous Korean song about the longing to be on Kem Kang Mountain, which is in North Korea. We asked non-Korean soloists to learn it. After being amazed by the excellent pronunciation of the soloists, the audience was asked to join in the song.

Although the song had to come to an end, the unity in the room continued as everyone enjoyed a hearty and delicious helping of Korean food!