Students Work to Unite the Middle East Through Music

The Magnificat Institute of Music to Visit D.C., Baltimore for Summer Performances

Washington, D.C. – The Magnificat Institute of Music, operating in the Old City of Jerusalem, today announced that its students will visit the United States this July for five days of performances. In partnership with the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, 11 students, ages 7 to 18, and three instructors will perform in an effort to raise funds for their school.

Between July 12 – 16, the students of the Magnificat Institute will perform at various locations including the Museum of the Bible and the Franciscan Monastery’s Holy Land Festival. The Holy Land Festival, to be held on July 14th, will allow attendees to experience the culture and life of the Holy Land through exhibits and seminars, food, Arabic calligraphy, tours of the Monastery’s Holy Land shrines and vendors selling items like handcrafted embroidery, olive wood, soaps & other items made in the Holy Land.

“The students of The Magnificat Institute are so special to us, in addition to being extremely talented and hardworking musicians, they are symbols of hope to everyone who sees them,” said Fr. Alberto Pari, Director of the Magnificat Institute. “Our students, who come from different backgrounds and religions, are an example of what the Holy Land can be when communities start working together and collaborating. We do this through our passion for music and we are greatly looking forward to sharing our work with our audiences in Washington, DC and Baltimore.”

The Magnificat Institute of Music was established in 1995 by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. The school provides high academic education and practice in music for local individuals regardless of their gender, race, language, or religion. The school’s founder, Franciscan Fr. Armando Pierucci, believed that music plays a fundamental role in the process of making our societies a better place; the Magnificat Institute was created to realize the dream of a peaceful coexistence of ethnic and religious groups united by the passion for music and the arts.

The Magnificat Institute of Music is one of the many organizations supported by the fundraising efforts of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, through the Custody of the Holy Land. The Franciscan Monastery in the United States helps to sustain the 800-year mission of the Franciscan Friars in the Holy Land through education, fundraising, recruiting vocations, promoting pilgrimages and providing pastoral ministry.

The Magnificat Institute of Music Performance Schedule:

July 12, 2018 Shrine of St. John Paul II, Washington, DC 5:00 – 6:00 PM

July 13, 2018 The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore, MD 7:00 PM

July 14, 2018 Holy Land Festival, Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, Washington, DC 11:00 AM — 3:00 PM

July 15, 2018 Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC To be announced

July 16, 2018 Shrine of St. John Paul II, Washington, DC 1:00 – 2:00 PM

For more information on The Magnificat Institute of Music, please visit http://www.magnificat.custodia.org/en.

About the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land:

The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America is the Holy Land friars’ U.S. home, dedicated to supporting the mission of the Franciscan Friars in the Holy Land through pilgrimage, education, vocations and financial support. For 800 years, the Roman Catholic Church has entrusted the guardianship of the Holy Land and shrines of the Christian religion to the Franciscans. Since that time, the Franciscans’ mission in the Holy Land has grown to include schools, parishes, housing, employment assistance and additional services to assist the elderly, refugees, children and all those in need. The Franciscan Monastery brings the Holy Land experience to America with full-size replicas of Holy Land shrines, a beautiful church and contemplative gardens. To learn more, visit myfranciscan.org.