An eight-year-old boy’s story about surviving and recovering from a heart transplant will be accompanied with music played by the Albuquerque Youth Symphony in a concert titled “Sing Me a Story.”To say Hunter Rael has been through a lot is a vast understatement. Afflicted with kawasaki disease — the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children — he was given a heart transplant last November that was not successful. Thankfully, the second heart transplant was a match and he is now regaining strength before returning with his mother Anna Moya, to their home in Valencia County.Beth Ratay, a Czech-American composer and performer on the faculty at the University of New Mexico, explained the process that laid the foundation for the symphony’s performance at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 11, at Popejoy Hall.”In Hunter’s case, he wrote a story specifically about what his experience has been with his illness, and the fact that he needed a heart transplant,” Ratay said. “There are five short sections that explain a little about Hunter’s life and where he came from, the things he had to change when he learned he was sick, and then his dream for the future and his hope once he gets a new heart.”Tickets for the concert are available online at unmtickets.com.
An eight-year-old boy’s story about surviving and recovering from a heart transplant will be accompanied with music played by the Albuquerque Youth Symphony in a concert titled “Sing Me a Story.”
To say Hunter Rael has been through a lot is a vast understatement. Afflicted with kawasaki disease — the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children — he was given a heart transplant last November that was not successful. Thankfully, the second heart transplant was a match and he is now regaining strength before returning with his mother Anna Moya, to their home in Valencia County.
Beth Ratay, a Czech-American composer and performer on the faculty at the University of New Mexico, explained the process that laid the foundation for the symphony’s performance at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 11, at Popejoy Hall.
“In Hunter’s case, he wrote a story specifically about what his experience has been with his illness, and the fact that he needed a heart transplant,” Ratay said. “There are five short sections that explain a little about Hunter’s life and where he came from, the things he had to change when he learned he was sick, and then his dream for the future and his hope once he gets a new heart.”
Tickets for the concert are available online at unmtickets.com.
