Three Verona residents will be among the voices on Saturday, October 26, at a free concert to raise awareness of domestic violence. Cinzia Cortese and Holly Denton are part of the Montclair Community Chorus, which headlines the event, and the pair will also be singing there with the Women’s Fire Choir with a third Veronan, Stephanie Auteri. October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.
The Montclair Community Chorus was formed by Music Beyond Measure, a Montclair-based nonprofit that provides arts therapy to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of trauma. One of the group’s flagship programs is the “Sing Your Story” project. Through this, they bring professional musicians together with survivors to write lyrics and compose music to their own original songs. Some of these songs will be among those performed at the October event.
The Women’s Fire Choir is committed to what it calls “artistic activism”: Singing at local demonstrations, singing in support of immigrants’ rights and racial justice, and performing at fundraisers for progressive organizations. The choir sings to women with cancer, the aged and the dying, and at women’s shelters and soup kitchens.
The concert will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Central Presbyterian Church of Montclair at 46 Park Street, and will be followed by a brief reception.
