News
ZACK BRADLEY TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Photographers and musicians are putting their talents together Saturday night for a photo exhibit that supports at-risk youth in Moncton.
The Moncton Youth Orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, accompanied by photographs by students of Cameras For Healing, a Moncton nonprofit that helps at-risk youth.
The free 7 p.m.concert at the Moncton Wesleyan Church is the season finale for the Moncton Youth Orchestra and will feature students from its partner youth orchestra, Sistema NB.
“They use art to help children. That is exactly what we do here,” says Maurice Henri, creator of Cameras for Healing. “It was a natural fit.”
Students from the weekly photography program have been studying Beethoven since January to match photos with the music.
“Music sets the mood for the image but the students needed to find the colour in the music first,”said Henri.
Symphony No. 5 was chosen as it is “one of the most renowned musical pieces in history,” says Donald Matheson, chief operating officer of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.
“It has power, it has emotion ... There’s no better piece to centre their inspiration on,” adds Matheson.
About 90 members of the orchestra will be involved, with most of the students between the ages of 12 and 15. Close to 60 photos, in an exhibit titled Movement, will be projected on a screen behind the orchestra,featuring the work of 10 youth photographers.
Youth accepted into the photography program usually have a history of abuse or bullying, mental-health issues, lack of a support system, or low-income backgrounds. What they receive from the program is a boost of confidence, says Karen Casey, project manager for the program,
“Nobody has ever listened to these kids,” says Casey, a photographer who runs the program with Henri. “That’s what we’re trying to change. We give them a sense of appreciation that they may not receive at home.”
Henri says cameras are an ideal tool to get children, who have been sheltered most of their lives, to openly express their feelings.
“The camera becomes their voice,”says Henri. In the program, which provides cameras free of charge, children explain their photos in workshops and weekly meetings.“We offer a non-judgemental, safe area for these children.”
About 60 youth, ages 12 to 16, have participated in the program since it began in Moncton in 2013.
After Saturday’s event, the photos will be on display for two months at the Moncton Public Library Gallery in the Blue Cross Centre, with a formal debut scheduled for June 30 at 5 p.m.
Students from Haiti were going to contribute their photos to the exhibition but Henri says political unrest in the Caribbean country made it difficult for the students from the two countries to communicate. The project is delayed until Henri visits Haiti later this year where the program will undertake building a wheelchair accessible school.
Cameras for Healing have previously built schools in areas where they have volunteered, said Henri.
