Warwick Arts Centre diversity concert

The Warwick Arts Centre hosted ‘Warwick Fused III’, a concert celebrating musical diversity.

The concert was held on Tuesday 4 March.

The Lord Mayor of Coventry’s annual charity concert featured musicians from across the globe performing a wide variety of musical genres.

As a celebration of the University’s international status, groups such as Warwick Indian Music Ensemble, the Warwick Symphony Orchestra and the African Caribbean Society Choir performed in what has been described as “a unique world music extravaganza”.

The concert took place in aid of the Lord Mayor’s charity appeal for this year, the Heart of England Community Foundation. The charity works with and funds local community organisations which support the citizens of Coventry.

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Gary Crookes, attended last year’s Warwick Fused concert and was impressed. As such, he wanted the event to be his charity concert for 2014.

He said: “I was completely blown away by what I saw and heard when I attended the Warwick Fused concert last year and, when I was made Lord Mayor in May 2013, I knew I wanted Warwick Fused to be my charity concert in 2014.”

Warwick University’s director of music Paul McGrath and artist in association Ruairi Edwards organised the concert with the aim of bringing different styles of music together.

Mr McGrath said: “Music is an international language, a common ground. When international students come here, all the way to the UK, I want them to bring their music with them.”

Mr Edwards said that the concert is unique in that it is a magnificent musical collaboration and a celebration of diversity.

He described it as a musical Rainbow Nation bringing people from different backgrounds together to make music.

The concert finished with a musical accolade to the late Nelson Mandela, with more than 200 musicians performing on the night.