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Programme * Virginia Kerr * Equus Ensemble

Patron Dr T.K. Whitaker

Virginia Kerr Ireland's distinguished soprano presents an evening of much loved operatic arias and songs at Castletown House, Celbridge Saturday, May 9th, 2009 Private tour of Castletown House at 7pm, drinks, concert at 8pm followed by a reception. Dress: Lounge Suit Tickets are €75. All proceeds go to the PestalozziWorld children's charity. The cost of this event is fully sponsored. The event was a great success. You may still donate to this worthwhile philanthropy. Telephone 059 915 5037 with your credit card information, or donate with PayPal here: events @ pestalozziworld.com

Sponsors Virginia Kerr Castletown House Lightning Print and Design Harney Nolan - business advisors Moth to a Flame - candles CocoZen - handmade chocolates and wedding cakes Vendemia Organic Wines Paula Sheridan Candle Designs Astraea Ballin Temple Ally Bunbury Public Relations Bunbury Boards - every board tells a story Jojo Fennell - handmade jewellery Feel Good Organic Hampers The Curragh Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse Six Nations Rugby Lily O'Briens Chocolates Oddbins

Booking Form here.

Location information here.  Download map here.

Programme

Virginia Kerr

The highly distinguished soprano Virginia Kerr is well known on the operatic stage, concert, and oratorio platform and as a recitalist.

A successful career has taken Dublin-born Virginia around the globe. She has sung with many of the world's leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Halle and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her operatic and concert performances have taken her as far afield as Asia, Russia and North and South America.

Virginia's extensive repertoire includes operas by Bizet, Gluck, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Strauss, Verdi and Wagner. She has performed numerous roles for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Opera Ireland, Opera Theatre Company, Leipzig Opera, Opera de Nantes and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, appearing with that company at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Future engagements include a national tour with the Equus Ensemble and her debut at the Teatro dell Opera in Rome.

Equus Ensemble

The Equus Ensemble, comprised of six of Ireland’s finest musicians, was formed earlier this year to accompany Virginia Kerr on her nationwide tour of “An Evening with Virginia Kerr”. Led by Michael D’Arcy, who also leads the famed Camerata Orchestra whose base is here in Castletown House, the ensemble includes flautist Ríona ó Duinnín, clarinettist John Forde, cellist Jane Hughes, harpist Aisling Ennis and pianist Una Hunt in a programme of timeless instrumental and vocal favourites.

Castletown House

Built between 1722 and 1729 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, Castletown House is an extraordinary part of our cultural inheritance as Ireland's earliest and finest Palladian house. Castletown remained in the hands of the Conolly family until 1965 when it was purchased by a property developer. In 1967 the house was saved when, along with 120 acres of the demesne lands, it was bought by the Hon. Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society. The house was opened to the public in the same year and restoration work began, funded by the Irish Georgian Society and private benefactors. In due course, the house was transferred to State care and it is now managed by the Office of Public Works, with the long term objective of preserving one of the most important houses in Ireland and one of significance in terms of European architectural heritage.

PestalozziWorld

PestalozziWorld educates very poor yet talented children at secondary level in Africa and Asia. We provide scholarships, housing and vocational training.

The education and training we furnish equips the children to help their families and communities to self-sufficiency, breaking the cycle of poverty.

Children are selected on the basis of their potential to succeed, their health and their lack of resources, usually from remote rural areas without access to secondary schooling. Some students live in residential centres operated by PestalozziWorld while they attend local schools. Others receive scholarships to attend local boarding schools. All students' academic education is supplemented with training to develop practical skills and social and ethical awareness based on the principles of “Head, Heart and Hands” developed by the Swiss humanitarian Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.

PestalozziWorld is a flexible organisation with 14 years of experience, overseen by active trustees who, together with sponsors, pay all fund-raising and administrative costs so that every penny donated goes directly to the education of children.  

PestalozziWorld programs are run by carefully selected local partners and alumni and operate with very low overhead, keeping the average annual overall cost per child (room, board, tuition and transportation) to €1,000.

Our approach nurtures positive feedback. Most of our graduates return to their families and villages to transfer their learning and build their communities. Many of our graduates set up in-country foundations to help provide education for other children in similar circumstances. This is what we call the “Circle of Success.”

Fundraising

For donations in US$, €uro, or UK£ through registered charities please click here.

How You Can Help

PestalozziWorld is now sponsoring the education of nearly 500 bright children from very poor backgrounds in Africa and Asia. Our vision is to double that number within the next few years, reaching out into new countries and different parts of our existing countries.

It costs about € 1,000 or US$ 1,000 or £ 600 to sponsor each child for a year. This covers not just their secondary education but also their accommodation at Pestalozzi centres during term-time, where they learn valuable social and vocational skills.

All the funds we raise go directly to supporting the children selected by PestalozziWorld – our modest administrative costs are covered by the trustees or by investment income. We are totally dependent on the support and commitment of individuals in Europe and the USA and the funds they help raise, and of a small number of companies and grant-giving trusts.

Please consider supporting us. Your gift will have an ongoing benefit, because the beauty of the Pestalozzi approach is the ripple effect (Circles of Success) it has on the developing world – today’s underprivileged but gifted children become tomorrow’s leaders and educators. A regular monthly, quarterly or annual gift is particularly valuable as it enables us to plan ahead.

PestalozziWorld is a registered charity/not-for-profit in the UK, Ireland and the USA and there are various ways in which you can give tax-efficiently.

US$ Donors	€uro Donors	UK£ Donors
PUSCCI was established in 1998 to enable US citizens to support the work of PestalozziWorld and obtain the tax deductions available to US donors.	POCT Ireland was established in 2007 in order to offer a Euro denominated gift option and to provide tax- efficient giving arrangements for our growing number of Irish supporters.	POCT is the original trust established over 20 years ago to support the edcation of poor children in Asia.
By check payable to Pestalozzi US Children’s Charity Inc and sent to: PUSCCI, 22nd floor, 565 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017	By cheque payable to Pestalozzi Overseas Children’s Trust Ireland Ltd and sent to: Ballin Temple, Ardattin, Co. Carlow	By cheque payable to Pestalozzi Overseas Children’s Trust and sent to: Pestalozzi Overseas Children’s Trust, 15 Ebner Street, London SW18 1BT
By bank transfer Citibank 399 Park Avenue, New York 10022 Routing / ABA 021000089 Account No 48354617 For donations of stocks and shares Citibank 399 Park Avenue, New York 10022 Brokerage a/c : 21F-35228	By bank transfer Bank of Ireland The Square, Tullow, Co. Carlow Sort code 906689 Account No 63210785 IBAN: IE43 BOFI 9066 8963 2107 85 Bank Identifier Code: BOFIIE2D	By bank transfer HSBC Covent Garden, London WC23 8JF Sort code 40-04-09, Account No. 41652362 IBAN: GB46MIDL40040941652362 or offshore at The Channel Islands HSBC Guernsey Sort code 40-22-25, Account No 63810615 IBAN: GB08MIDL40222563810615
	Donate any amount via PayPal. Other donors in Europe If you are resident in other European countries there are tax efficiet ways of donating, such as via Transnational Giving Europe.	Click on the "donate online now" icon to give by credit or debit card securely via Charities Aid Foundation.
Or please click here to download a donation form (pdf).		Giving by Gift Aid enables us to reclaim 28p for every £1 you give. Please click here to download a Gift Aid/standing order form (pdf).
Reg. EI no. 04-3407363 Tel: +1 917 512 3048	Reg. Charity no. CHY17386 Tel: +353 59 915 5037	Reg. Charity no. 10466599 Tel: +44 (0)20 8704 4455

Please contact us with queries or for further information.

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