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| 7th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days The Daniel Pearl Foundation today announced that the 7th annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days will be held October 1 - 31, 2008. Musicians of every genre - professional, amateur and youth - are invited to participate in this global network of concerts, using the power of music to help spread a message of hope, unity and "Harmony for Humanity." Performances by the World Music Days Honorary Committee, including this year's Grammy Award winner Herbie Hancock, are expected to be among the highlights, as in previous years. Since World Music Days' inception, more than 2, 000 concerts in 77 countries have been dedicated in memory of Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal reporter murdered by extremists in Pakistan shortly after 9/11. Pearl was a talented musician who believed in the power of music to bridge differences and unite people around their shared humanity. The Foundation established World Music Days in 2002 to honor his October 10 birthday. "Danny joined musical groups in every community he visited, playing everything from classical and jazz to folk, rock and bluegrass, " explained Judea Pearl, Daniel's father and president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. "He used music to overcome cultural and language barriers, leaving a long trail of musician friends around the globe. World Music Days continues his legacy of hope and international friendship." World Music Days is an awareness raising network, not a fundraiser, and there is no financial obligation to participate. Musicians simply register their prescheduled or specially planned October performances at http://www.danielpearlmusicdays.org, and make a statement from the stage or in the printed program in support of the "Harmony for Humanity" theme. The World Music Days website offers participating musicians the chance to promote their music via individual Artist Pages, featuring biographical information, photos, flyers, links to websites, MySpace pages and YouTube links. Dedicated concerts outside of October can also be registered as special "Tribute Events". "In 2007, artists at more than 500 concerts in 42 countries set a record by speaking out for sanity and humanity, " said World Music Days' Program Manager Paul Karlsen. "The World Music Days eStage, our streaming Internet Radio Station, reached listeners in 77 countries; enabling musicians to introduce themselves to an international audience who shares their vision for world peace and cross cultural understanding. In addition to dedicating live October performances in 2008, we encourage all musicians to visit the eStage section on the World Music Days website to submit original music and lyrics in the theme of 'Harmony for Humanity' theme." The World Music Days Honorary Committee is composed of celebrated International artists who represent a broad spectrum of musical styles from classical to hip hop including Salman Ahmad, Theodore Bikel, Yefim Bronfman, Ida Haendel, Herbie Hancock, Elton John, Tania Libertad, Yo-Yo Ma, Zubin Mehta, Mark O'Connor, George Pehlivanian, Itzhak Perlman, R.E.M., A.J. Racy, Steve Reich, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Ravi Shankar, Russell Simmons, Barbra Streisand, and John Williams. The Daniel Pearl Foundation http://www.danielpearl.org was formed in 2002 in memory of journalist/musician Daniel Pearl to promote the ideals that inspired his life and work. It works domestically and internationally to promote dialogue and understanding, to counter cultural and religious hatred, to encourage responsible and creative journalism, and to enrich people's lives through music. After Danny's funeral in August 2002, in the spirit of his love for music, his family decided to inspire hope and unity by inviting people everywhere to dedicate a musical event on the day he would have turned 39 years old. Thus, the seeds were planted for Daniel Pearl World Music Days, which is now a full month of worldwide "Harmony for Humanity" concerts. For more information, please visit http://www.danielpearlmusicdays.org or contact World Music Days Program Manager Paul Karlsen paul@danielpearl.org. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |