On November 8th, 2019 at the initiative of Ingolf Wunder and Paulina Wunder the general rehearsal was open for people in need. It took place at the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic Hall in Łódź, Poland, in the morning of Wunder’s concert with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra.
Several hundred of poor, disabled and blind people attended the performance of Beethoven’s 1st Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony. In the break of the rehearsal the poor were invited for lunch, which was sponsored by the Polish Association of Engineers and Construction Technicians. The association had been approached by Ingolf Wunder and responded immediately to his request.
The whole organisation took a couple of weeks and was a spontaneous idea of the pianist and his wife, who wanted to do their part within the celebrations of the World Day of the Poor, established in 2017 by Pope Francis. The event in Łódź happened on the eve of the Concert for the Poor in Vatican.
A few parties participated in making the event possible, including: the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic team, who welcomed the idea with great enthusiasm and opened their doors right away, Caritas Polska who took care of informing people in need and logistics, and the UNGSII Foundation. Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was informed by Ingolf Wunder about the whole initiative shortly before it, agreed to the open-rehearsal without any hesitation.
Ingolf Wunder and Paulina Wunder are active supporters of the United Nation’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). The Concert for the Poor supported the SDG1 – No Poverty.
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