At 2 p.m. Sunday, everyone is invited to St. Mary Basilica for a wonderful program of music and faith presented by award winning composer Eric Genuis.  Eric’s “Concerts for Hope” have been performed all over the United States to audiences who come away moved by both his beautiful music and the witness of his deep faith.

Eric was born in Toronto, Canada, and began performing locally at the age of 7.  Later one of his performances was heard by a government dignitary from Krakow, Poland and Eric was invited to headline the performance for an AIDS benefit concert there, where he played for an audience of 15,000 people.  Since then he has performed upwards of 100 concerts a year, both as a solo artist and with the Slovak Symphony Orchestra.  In collaboration with British Maestro Allen Wilson and the Slovak Symphony he has produced four CDs of original music.  Eric has also collaborated with composers in the film industry for the soundtracks of several movies.  Genuis’ musical education includes achieving First Class honors in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and completion of coursework in film scoring from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eric’s concerts consist of all original compositions, usually written in response to events in his own life out of his deep faith in God, which he shares during his concerts.  He says that the pupose of his concerts is to bring the beauty of music and music’s ability to touch hearts to as many people as he can, including people in situations where the kind of music he offers is not readily available.  With that goal in mind his performances are not only in concert halls, churches, and schools, but also in prisons and homeless shelters, where  he performs free of charge.

Eric Genuis’ music is accessible to lovers of both classical and contemporary music, so we at St. Mary Basilica hope that as many Natchezians as possible will avail themselves of the opportunity Sunday to hear this beautiful music and powerful faith witness.  There is no charge to attend the concert, although free will offerings to support Eric’s ministry will be accepted.
Ruth Powers is a member of St. Mary Basilica.