Cork pianist to 'make freedom ring' for people of Gaza
Renowned Cork pianist Ellen Jansson will return to home this weekend to perform a special concert supporting the people of Gaza.
Jansson will be joined by both local and international talent at MTU Cork School of Music on Sunday where musicians and speakers will unite under the Make Freedom Ring initiative to raise funds for Gaza Go Bragh, an Ireland-Palestine grassroots solidarity group.
The programme will comprise both western and Palestinian classical music, Irish trad, and speeches.
Jansson, who is both an organiser and performer, graduated first in her class from Cork School of Music in 2020 before continuing her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. She returned to Ireland this September to begin a Doctor in Music Performance programme at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Trinity College Dublin, where she is an 1848 Scholar and recipient of the SALT Bursary.
Jansson says: “Having started cello and piano lessons in Cork School of Music at five years old, it is especially meaningful for me to return there now for a cause so close to my heart. It’s a joy to welcome so many of Cork’s finest musicians to perform in this concert, including Ed Creedon, Caitríona Frost, Yseult Cooper Stockdale, Siún Milne, and Molly O'Shea.”
Make Freedom Ring is a collective of performers and workers from across the creative industries. The collective was founded in January 2024 as a response to both the atrocities in Gaza and the lack of acknowledgement from the classical music industry. Subsequently, the group have gone on to raise over £100,000 for Palestinian charities through more than twenty fundraising concerts across Europe.
Co-organiser Niamh Murphy, a classical music worker and artist based between London and Cork, said: “Ireland has historically shown enormous solidarity with the Palestinian people, and we’ve had fantastic turnout to our previous events in the UK and across Europe from Irish artists and audiences.”
Previous events have involved high-profile and wide-ranging artists and speakers including classical guitarist Alexandra Whittingham, British-Palestinian journalist and activist Kieran Andrieu (participant in the September 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla), international mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, and writer Deborah Feldman (Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots).
Make Freedom Ring takes its name from bass-baritone and anti-segregation activist Paul Robeson’s famous quote, emphasizing the power of music to connect people. Through their events, the group opposes the censorship of pro-Palestine voices within the arts, platforming Palestinians and offering a participatory space for pro-Palestinian musicians.
Another of the event’s co-organisers, Isabella Pitman, an artist manager based in London, said: “Our industry has shown incredible spirit through crises in the past and it must do so again now. It is not enough to stay silent, and I hope that through these concerts we can raise urgently needed funds, show solidarity with the people of Gaza and mobilize others to do the same.”
The concert takes place from 1.30pm this Sunday at MTU Cork School of Music.