City Choir Dunedin musical director David Burchell said the free concert was aiming to fill the Dunedin Town Hall and raise a significant amount for the New Zealand Red Cross’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
The concert will run for about two hours from 4.30pm, Mr Burchell said.
The impetus to organise the event came from a member of the city choir who had organised smaller scale benefit concerts for other causes.
The group agreed they must do something to help the humanitarian response to the Ukraine crisis and the benefit concert idea grew into something much bigger.
The community response to the concert had been very positive so far, and it had "not been a major and onerous task by any stretch" to recruit musicians who were eager to perform, Mr Burchell said.
The concert will run in two halves.
The first half will start with Heleen du Plessis and The Cellists of Otago, followed by Cafe Operana, dancers from the Bennett School of Ballet and Jazz, singer Calla Knudson-Hollebon and will close with the city choir performing A Ukrainian Prayer composed by John Rutter.
The second half of the concert will comprise the city choir and the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra performing various numbers, including the national anthem of Ukraine.
The groups would close the night with the Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which had become something of a "universal protest piece" and also a celebration of humanity’s togetherness and a plea for unity in the world, Mr Burchell said.
The organisers had tried to assemble a good mix of musical styles and tunes, some of which would be recognised by the audience and others not.
He was excited about the concert because it would be different from most of the choir’s concerts and a bit more informal.
The Red Cross would be present collecting money and running raffles, and the audience was encouraged to give as much as they felt able to.
"We hope we can raise a significant sum to assist with the response in Ukraine," Mr Burchell said.
