Jewish pianist tours UK in bid to raise £88,000 for refugees

A Jewish concerto soloist is touring the country to raise £88,000 for refugees, playing music exclusively written by refugees and economic migrants.

“I am a descendant of refugees,” she said. “My grandparents came from Ukraine, Odessa, and Poland.”

“Obviously I have been very concerned about the current climate of hostility towards refugees, feeling very helpless about it,” she said.

From Birmingham to Epsom, Margaret Fingerhut, 63, from London, will be giving piano recitals across the country over the next several months to raise awareness of refugee needs.

All the money raised will go to City of Sanctuaries, a network of cities, towns, villages and regions across the UK working to foster a welcoming environment for refugees.

The programme comprises of music written by composers who were forced to move away from their homeland, such as Edvard Grieg, Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

“I am a descendant of refugees. My grandparents came from Ukraine, Odessa, and Poland.”

Fingerhut has also commissioned a new piece by Moutaz Arian, the Syrian refugee who composed a national anthem for the Olympic refugee team in 2016.

“When I heard the anthem, I knew I wanted to commission him,” she said.

Fingerhut has appeared in major venues such as  the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, and performed with the BBC Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Mozart Players

So far, Fingerhut has raised about £18,000, with still nine months to go. You can donate to her fundraising campaign via Givey.