SINGATHON HOPES TO RAISE FUNDS FOR REFUGEES
Cyprus Mail 5 September 2020 - by Annette Chrysostomou
Here is a chance to combine pleasure with doing some good – in other words to listen to Peter Ives singing non-stop for an hour while donating money for the mission of the Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Nicosia to help feed and clothes refugees.
Last year, recovering from major surgery, Peter challenged people to donate money to the cathedral, asking them to sponsor him if he managed to complete the full hour of about 130 songs without so much as a sip of water.
He did it, and €1,500 was collected to buy food and other items for the poor, as he stressed “not to paint the church or polish brass”.
The 78-year-old explained how it works. “I remember every tune and lyric since I was a little kid,” he said. “I asked the audience not to interrupt, or clap and ask for songs because they are loosely connected and one triggers the next.”
Though singing in and for the church, there are no hymns involved, as the performer put it, “I sing everything from Schubert to Sinatra, they are all secular songs”.
Since the singer moves “from country to country”, some songs are in French and German, but most are in English, Scottish and Irish.
He was not exactly planning to do it again this year, as his health is declining.
Seeing that the church is in more need of funds than ever, Peter decided to really go for it, to break his own record and add another half an hour to the sing-along or sing-athon.
But his health got in the way again, and instead of standing up in front of an audience, he sat in an armchair in his home and sang for one hour instead of the planned 90 minutes, filmed by a professional – still an amazing feat for anybody – terminally ill with cancer or not.
This recording will now be shown at the cathedral on Saturday September 12, from 11am until noon.
The public is welcome to attend and listen.
Of course anybody who is not part of the audience is also welcome to help raise money.
Payments via PayPal to pethil@cytanet.com.cy or to account 139-03-051675-01, Hellenic Bank