On April 23, the Chicago community will celebrate the first anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s beatification with a one-of-a-kind concert at Symphony Center. Sir Gilbert Levine, who was often referred to as the “pope’s maestro” for his close relationship to Pope John Paul II, created the concert “Peace Through Music,” which will feature the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Chorus and a quartet of international vocal soloists. The concert is being presented by several organizations — Polish, Jewish, Catholic and others. It will celebrate the life of John Paul and the relationship between Catholics and Jews, which underwent a major healing through the pontiff’s efforts. The idea for the concert originated with Levine, who is Jewish, and who first met John Paul in 1988 when the former was conducting the Kraków Philharmonic in Poland. Levine was the only American to direct a major philharmonic orchestra behind the Iron Curtain. John Paul invited Levine to conduct a concert for the 10th anniversary of his pontificate and the rest is history. “Over the course of the next 17 years, I developed a relationship that was unimaginable to a musician and certainly for a Jewish-bred musician from Brooklyn, N.Y.,” Sir Gilbert Levine said during a March 7 press conference at the Arts Club, 201 E. Ontario St., announcing the concert. John Paul honored Levine with the highest pontifical knighthood accorded to a nonecclesiastical musician since Mozart. The April 23 concert will feature pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Cone along with international soloists Amanda Majeski, Sara Mingardo, Antonio Poli and John Relyea. More than concerts Over the course of his relationship with John Paul, Levine conducted several historic concerts for him including the Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah at the Vatican in 1994. It is considered the church’s first public commemoration of the Holocaust. “The Holy Father felt that music was a language that transcended words,” Levine said, adding that the pope wanted concerts to be about outreach and have a purpose. “It became ingrained in his imagination that music could form an extraordinary method, as he would say, a way of communication. And that was his way of finding the connection between us all, between Catholic and Jew and Muslim and every other religion,” Levine said. When John Paul was beatified Levine said he knew he wanted to arrange a concert to commemorate the event and continue the pope’s musical legacy. Chicago came to mind as a place to host this event. “Chicago was incredibly close to John Paul’s heart,” Levine said at the press conference. “Everyone in Chicago was a light for him.” After meeting with Cardinal George and getting his OK for the concert, Levine said he looked to others in the Chicago community who would also support this effort. “This is not just a concert so you had to have people who shared that vision,” Levine said. He found that support in Chicago’s musical community and among the Jewish and Polish communities. A first for the community During the press conference, Cardinal George said that the Catholic and Jewish community has partnered in various ways over the years but this is the first time “we have sponsored a music event together.” The cardinal said he was “proud” this concert will be held in Chicago. “Whenever I spoke to Pope John Paul II he never started by saying ‘Oh, Cardinal George.’ He started by saying ‘Chicago.’ He called me Chicago,” he said. The cardinal agreed that Chicago was a very special place for John Paul. “To commemorate this special anniversary in this way is something that is deeply appropriate,” Cardinal George said. “We are doing this for the city so that we can show that music brings us together in peace. And in more than that, in friendship,” said Cardinal George. Jewish support On the national and local levels the American Jewish Committee is supporting the concert. “John Paul II became a global symbol of religious faith, interreligious dialogue and opposition to tyranny, particularly behind the Iron Curtain. It’s obvious why he holds a special place in the hearts of both Catholics and Poles. But he also is special to the Jewish community,” said Daniel Elbaum, regional director of the American Jewish Community. “It is safe to say that the feelings of the Jewish community toward the Catholic Church as well as toward the Polish community, both in Chicago, and indeed, across the world, changed radically and inalterably for the better during his pontificate,” he said during the press conference, adding that this will only strengthen Catholic Jewish relations in Chicago.