NEWS AND EVENTS

Success at the Unity Awards
	Marilla was voted 'International Artist of the Year' and her album  'I Believe in You'  received the accolade of 'International Album of the Year '  and the song ' ' Were you there,' featured on the album, took the award for  'Best Song of the Year'  at the ninth UCMVA (United Catholic Music and Video Association) Unity awards ceremony held at Loyola University in New Orleans, USA, on 25th October. The association was set up to support. encourage and promote the development of all forms of Catholic music and the Unity awards for which votes were invited from all association members are designed to recognise the achievements and excellence in various categories of music and video. Asked for her reaction, Marilla said, " I was absolutely thrilled to receive three awards especially as the nominations came from people involved in the music scene in the USA. It's great to know my work and ministry are enjoyed and appreciated by fellow artists and other music professionals."

Marilla In Oz- a report from down under

The recent Australian tour was very successful and we received a wonderfully warm welcome from everyone who came along to the Concerts. As well as the planned Concerts, I was invited by the Rev Dr. Gordon Moyes who is head of the Wesley Mission in Australia to sing at his 'Sunday Night Live Service,' which is broadcast live on radio from the Wesley Mission Building in the centre of Sydney.

Gordon is a Member of Parliament, as well as a Pastor and he does great work for the sick, the poor and the homeless and for those suffering from drug addiction. Some of this work has involved building hospitals, hostels and hospices He is also a sought after speaker and travels the world evangelising. His services are entirely ecumenical and he regularly invites the priests and pastors of all denominations to take part.

We were also invited by him to do concert in Perth, however since we had already booked our return flights via Dubai, where we planned a few days rest before the journey home, we were unable to change the flights to fly via Perth. One very interesting thing happened whilst we were in Sydney, not directly related to the concerts. Many of you I'm sure went to see Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of Christ" which was acclaimed throughout the world. The photographer who took the still pictures for the film and later produced a book on it, is the Australian, Ken Duncan. Although he specialises in landscape and wild life photography he also happens to be a life long friend of Mel Gibson who produced and directed and financed the film and so when Mel asked him to do the stills photography for it, he dropped everything and went to Italy to start work.

Months later, Ken was asked to speak about his work on the film at a large service which was being held over Easter in Sydney. I had been invited to sing at this event but unfortunately, was unable to be there. However, someone who was there, gave him one of my videos and Ken sent me a unique leather bound limited edition of his book! A most wonderful book with stunning pictures and interviews with members of the cast and in which he'd written a note to me saying how much he'd enjoyed my singing. In his introduction to the book he said of the film, quote: "I felt a divine presence during the production of the movie and was deeply impacted by the power of the story of Christ's suffering, as it unfolded before my eyes. Cast and crew members alike were moved to give their utmost during filming." unquote.

It might interest you to know that Jim Caviezel who played the part of Jesus is a devout Catholic who prayed before and after every scene and he carried his various relics and rosary with him all the time, he said quote "For the rest of my life |I will have to be chaste in the roles I take and things I do and represent" unquote.

Mel Gibson based this film on the book "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord" written by Anne Catherine Emmerich a 19th century visionary, who although bedridden for most of her life, was able to describe in detail the life and death of Jesus, even down to the landscape of the Holy Land and the clothes worn at those times. For those of you who have not seen this film, there is a DVD coming out shortly, although it is probably better to see it on the big screen if you can.

A truly wonderful evening was had by all at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on the 25th November 2003. Marilla sang to an large audience for well over two hours and during the process helped raise a large sum for the charity that promotes Primary 'Healthcare in the Third World' - CAFOD and SCIAF.

At the end of the evening Marilla was presented with a special gift as a thank you for her contribution by James Bardsley (pictured above) of the Knights of St. Columba Southport Branch who organised the event.

When asked, Marilla commented that working with such people for such a worthy cause makes it all worth while especially when the opportunity presents itself to meet so many friends and members of the 'Friends of Marilla'.

Thanks to the generosity and hard work of the Knights of St. Columba, many communities now have access to clean water, the next step is to give our brothers and sisters in developing countries access to better healthcare.

Picture Caption
James presents Marilla with The Last Supper Marquetry picture. The flowers were presented by Mrs Phyllis Reece.