It was a night to remember.

On Friday, September 2nd, Duke Divinity School hosted a concert unlike any other. Featuring the New Caritas Orchestra led by Dr. Jeremy Begbie, Cries of Loss and Hope was an evening of lament and celebration through word and song.   

From Schindler’s List to jazz music by Bernstein, from East to West, from poetry to audience participation, the program was vast and diverse, and the night was more than a concert. It was a transformative experience, especially after the pain and struggle we have felt during the last few years. 

As one audience member said, “the concert was beyond any words I have to describe, and the healing effects continue.” 

Conductor Jeremy Begbie’s theological meditations and musical explications were a highlight for many, and the culminating rendition of an ancient hymn by the orchestra and audience shook the hall with a collective cry of hope.  

Duke Divinity professor Dr. J. Warren Smith said the evening was “a participatory experience—as worship should be. We did not simply behold beauty. We were drawn into it.”  

The evening also featured guest appearances from VaChikepe: The Poet and a student ensemble from The Raleigh Music Collective, an organization that provides free music lessons to refugees. All proceeds went to organizations working with refugees in NC.  

We hope this site helps you relive the night or experience it for the first time. Scroll down. Click around. View the event photos. And let us know you’re here. We’d like to continue the conversation with you, and we are grateful to each and every one of you who made this event so meaningful.