On Saturday 6 June, just after Pentecost, the Royal Albert Hall filled with the sound of a worldwide church. Prom Praise, the annual concert mounted by the 120-piece All Souls Orchestra under Principal Conductor Michael Andrews, took as its theme “To the Ends of the Earth,” drawn from the commission in the Acts of the Apostles. Massed choir, orchestra and a global cast of guest artists, among them the gospel singer Muyiwa Olarewaju, the British-Pakistani opera singer Saira Peter, and Marianne Awaraji, herself a presenter on the evening’s broadcast partner, carried the audience from the heart of London out across borders and cultures. Steelpan, sitar and tabla shared the stage with orchestral strings, a celebration of what unites believers in a world that too often pulls them apart.

What gave this year’s concert a deeper resonance was that partner. Prom Praise was held in association with SAT-7, the Christian satellite broadcaster marking thirty years of transmitting into the Middle East and North........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)