American soprano Eva Tonin sings in Carnegie Hall to save lives of Ukrainian children

PRLog (Press Release) - May 30, 2007 -
All earnings from the concert will go to Gift of Life International, which offers desperately ill children chance at a new life with free lifesaving open-heart surgery. This is offered to them regardless of race, gender, creed, or national origin. This represents surgery that they would not be able to afford, surgery that is not available in their home countries, surgery without which they will die. Danny Tomas once said, “That a child should die before its time is simply unacceptable.”

Since 2004 soprano Eva Tonin has participated in and single-handedly organized  over a dozen benefit concerts for different causes. In October 2004 she sang at a Charity concert for victims of the Beslan School hostage taking — that was her first benefit action. Now she aims to provide several Ukrainian children in Odessa Children’s Hospital with much-needed cardio surgery to save their lives.

“Music has power to influence people towards good, especially classical music,” Eva Tonin says.
“I thank God for the possibility He gave me to help those children. I learned about the Gift of Life at the funeral of one of the best young men I have ever known. This tragedy compelled his parents to save lives of as many children as they can. On March 23, 2007, Gift of Life International organized a fundraising event (www.nygala.org), where I had a privilege to meet its Chairman, Robert Donno, and doctors who perform the surgeries; I saw the pictures of those children who underwent surgeries, and many other people giving what they can for this cause: their time, their love. I was truly touched — there an idea about a benefit concert was born! Performing for such a cause makes me sing differently, it is the best motivation for a great performance. It is a blessing to be able to not only provide the audience with aesthetic pleasure, but to create real results changing the world for the better.”

In the benefit concert for Odessa Children’s Hospital Eva Tonin — student of Anait Khamroian, a former soloist of Tbilisi Opera (Georgia) — will perform works by Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Gounod, Thomas, Delibes, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tosti, Pauline Viardot, and Menotti.

Soprano Eva Tonin (http://evatonin.com/) — Antonina Levina, a Russian-born American soprano, now living in Montreal, Canada, studied voice, musicology and composition at Kamchatka and Voronezh Colleges of Music from which she graduated with honours in 1990. Upon arrival in the USA, she decided to become a scientist. She received her B.S. in Biology in New York in 1997 and then graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a Master’s Degree in Molecular Genetics (2000), and then she received Diploma des Cicles Superiores in Bioinformatics from University of Quebec in Montreal (2002). During all that time, Eva sung alto and even tenor parts in the church choir of St. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Meeting with Anait Khamroian—a former soloist of Tbilisi Opera (Georgia)—in March 2004 brought Eva back into the world of music. Anait discovered Eva’s true voice: a lyric coloratura, and became her teacher and mentor. Eva was able once again, to pursue her passion for singing. Since then she has performed at a wide variety of venues including the Chateau Dufresne, and Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal. Last summer, she gave a benefit solo recital for Gift of Life International in Odessa, Ukraine. In June 2006, Eva was chosen to sing the National Anthem at the opening of the Canada’s Multicultural Day Celebration at the Place Des Arts, Montreal. In July 2006, she took master classes with maestro Sergio Bertocchi (Centro Universale del Bel Canto, Vignola, Italy).

Eva is fluent in English, Russian, and French. She also studied Italian at the University of Quebec.

Gift of Life International, Inc. (http://www.giftoflifeinternational.org/) — is a nonprofit tax-exempt Corporation administered to provide free lifesaving open-heart surgery to children suffering from heart disease and other similar or allied diseases, regardless of race, gender, creed or national origin, and who would otherwise lack access to such services. Since 1975 Gift of Life International has provided emergency heart surgery or treatment to more than 9,000 children from more than 70 countries including the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. Medical centers throughout the U.S., and in Middle East and Southeast Asia, are participating Gift of Life hospitals. Dedicated surgeons and nurses donate their skills to the cause.

Gift of Life International, Inc.
475 Northern Boulevard, Suite 25
Great Neck, NY 11021
Phone: 516-504-0830
Fax: 516-504-0828

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Eva Tonin,
please, contact Eva Tonin at (514) 887-2480 or Boris Khodorkovsky via email: pr@eva-tonin.com.

To arrange an interview with Chad Everett, the Gift of Life spokesmen, please call:
(516) 504-0830.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/10018624/1