It is that time of year again! For the past two years, high school musicians throughout the Westside of Los Angeles have come together for the Daniel Pearl World Music Day Concert.   These events have been held in honor of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by extremist in Pakistan in 2002.  Daniel Pearl was also a classically trained violinist, an avid fiddler and a mandolin player who spread his love for music throughout the world.

This year’s concert will be held on Sunday, October 25^th at 1:00 pm at the Edye Second Space at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica (1310 11^th Street). This concert will be one of an international network of concerts taking place in October, using the universality of music to reaffirm a shared commitment to tolerance and humanity.  Since, 2002, over thirty one hundred World Music Days Concerts have been held in eighty-five countries.

All performers will be asked to search deep within their souls to write about how their chosen piece relates to the message of the Daniel Pearl World Music Days. This personal self-evaluation aims to create more than just a meaningful concert, but to inspire ourselves, the audience members, and the community to discover the power of their musical voices and to use that power to make a difference in this world. The goal is to have the individual pieces represent the universal aspects of humanity in the form of music. In other words, the pieces need to symbolize a characteristic that portrays the elements of the Music Days. Examples: change, love, tolerance, hope, life, family, community, peace, and unity. All pieces MUST be memorized.  If you would like to see the caliber of pieces performed last year and their descriptions, please contact me.

I would love for all of you to participate in this event, whether it be by performing, volunteering or attending. There are tons and tons and tons of jobs for this program, so anyone who wants to participate in this event will get the opportunity. So, please volunteer to be part of this “awareness-raiser” to help fuel the spread of Danny’s message of humanity through harmony and to use the universal language of music to bridge the cultural gaps and create a more tolerant global community.

If you are interested in participating, attached is the a pplication form and the volunteer form. Please send the completed forms back to me before September 27th.

Warmly,