Indian-origin leads concert for Pak flood victims in US
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George Mathew, the Singapore-born Indian conductor of Western classical music, led an orchestra to the tune of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at a concert to raise money for the flood victims in Pakistan.
"In gathering together as a community of musicians, listeners and supporters, we send a message of solidarity and human support to our fellow human beings in Pakistan," Mathew said at Carnegie Hall here.
Photos of the people affected by the floods were shown in the backdrop of the show called "Beethoven for the Indus Valley."
"The floods in Pakistan last year impacted 20 million people, which is more than people hit by the 2004 Tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti — combined," Nafis Sadiq, chairperson for the American Pakistan Foundation said.
"The recovery and rehabilitation efforts have only just begun," said Sadiq, the former head of the United Nation Population Fund and currently a UN adviser for HIV/AIDS.
"Pakistan is in a precarious place right now," added Jacqueline Novogratz, head of Acumen Fund, a non-profit, which will invest the funds raised in projects for Pakistan.
In this week, Mathew had performed four concerts at Carnegie Hall to raise money and awareness about the 2005 earthquake survivors, the plight of refugees in Darfur and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV.
For his 2005 concert on Pakistan's earthquake, Mathew also chose Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which premiered in 1824.
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