Beyond Ourselves Benefit Concert

A special concert at The Trust Performing Arts Center on Feb. 26 will not only provide an afternoon of uplifting and inspiring music but also benefit a very worthy cause.

Beyond Ourselves is a joint project pairing music and social outreach. The Beyond Ourselves Chamber Ensemble promotes the global work of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) with a yearly benefit concert highlighting a specific region or need. The programming is diverse, from baroque to contemporary, including newly commissioned works.

For the 2023 concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at The Trust Performing Arts Center, 37 N. Market St. in downtown Lancaster, Beyond Ourselves Chamber Ensemble will be joined by the Aspire Chamber Choir as the guest artist.

This year’s performance marks the 11th concert after several years off during the pandemic. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved at lancastertrust.com; 100% of ticket proceeds and donations at the 2023 concert benefit MCC’s work in Nepal.

Members of Beyond Ourselves include the following accomplished musicians:

• Rosemary Blessing serves as artistic director of the Mennonite Children’s Choir of Lancaster and teaches noncredit piano at Franklin & Marshall College.
• Doris Hall-Gulati is the principal clarinetist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and bass clarinetist for Opera Philadelphia. She is a Grammy Award winner, an Adjunct Professor for woodwinds and is Director of Instrumental Studies in LBC’s Music, Worship & Performing Arts Department.
• Christy Kauffman performs with both the Lancaster and Reading symphonies and the Allegro Chamber Orchestra of Lancaster.
• Ryan Kauffman has performed throughout the central Pennsylvania region and teaches at Millersville University.