Aeolian Hall benefit concert raises $70K+ for Canadian Red Cross efforts in Ukraine

A two-night benefit concert last week at London’s Aeolian Hall collected more than $70,000 in donations from members of the community in support of the Red Cross and those impacted by the war in Ukraine, organizers said Tuesday.

At least 23 musicians and two choirs of 57 took to the stage on Thursday and Friday as part of the Concert for Peace, with money raised going toward the Canadian Red Cross and its Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal campaign.

More than 600 attended the concert, while more than 1,000 streamed the event online, according to the Aeolian Hall, with viewers as far away as Chile, Germany, Korea and Spain.

Speaking with 980 CFPL’s Devon Peacock on Tuesday, Clark Bryan, the hall’s executive and artistic director, said money collected was still being counted, and more was continuing to trickle in.

“We have done a number of benefits for world crises over the years, starting with the Haiti earthquake many years ago, and raised about $25,000. I think I was kind of hopeful we would get there again. But I had no idea we would get this kind of community support,” he said.

“It really speaks to the power that we have as a community to be able to rise to the occasion and not feel hopeless or helpless, and through inspiration, solidarity and generosity, we can make a big difference together.”

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Loreena McKennitt and Denise Pelly with Stephen Holowitz were among the musical acts who took to the stage as part of the event.

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Also in attendance were Ukrainian Toronto-based artist Anya Romanenko and her three nephews, brothers Stephan Sirko, 5, Michael Sirko, 11, and Yeuhenii Klymenko, 20. The three boys were forced to flee Ukraine, and Aeolian Hall officials say Romaneko is caring for them while their parents fight in Kyiv.

“Just to think about having to escape through the mountains, to have relatives try to get them flown out of Paris — one of them was trapped in Paris for three weeks trying to get a visa to Canada,” Bryan said.

“And then being in a strange environment, not speaking English very well or at all, and having to try to get into a school to get some normalcy. Calling home every night to try to talk to your parents who are in different places in Kyiv … and trying to reassure their children. It really brought the reality home to have them there that night.”

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 10 million people have been forced from their homes in Ukraine, and some 3.9 million have been forced to flee the country, making it the fastest-growing refugee crisis since the Second World War.

At least 1,179 civilians have died in the war, while at least 1,860 have been injured, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” the agency says.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine reports at least 144 children have died and 220 have been injured in the war, according to OHCHR.

“This event was very symbolic of the call to action that we can rise to. We are a very wealthy country and we have so much we could resource and we must resource,” Bryan said.

“With 1.4 million Ukrainians in this country, you can expect that we are going to have an ongoing need for the relatives and the refugees that are coming to do more, so I would encourage everyone to be thinking that they can do more.”

According to the Canadian Red Cross, more than $128 million has been raised through the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal, including $30 million in matching funds from the federal government.

The agency says money raised is being used to provide “neutral and impartial” emergency assistance like medical supplies, food, water, closing and shelter.

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With no immediate end to the conflict in sight, Bryan said it was possible that future benefit concerts may be held.

The Aeolian Hall says it will continue to raise money for the Red Cross by selling yellow and blue lapel pins at upcoming events.

An online auction is also being held for a guitar signed by those who performed during the concert. The auction begins on Tuesday and ends April 5.

“It’s our role in the community to do whatever we can to inspire and build community through what we do. I suspect we will have more opportunities like this,” Bryan said.

Donations can still be made through the Aeolian Hall website or the Canadian Red Cross.

— with files from Sawyer Bogdan