Musicians across the United States and around the world will join together, raise their collective voices and dedicate their art to the legacy and mission of journalist Daniel Pearl for the 13th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days.
During the month of October, performers are invited to participate by registering their concerts, making a dedication from the stage, adding a message to their printed program, and creating an Artist Profile page at danielpearlmusicdays.org.
Sponsored by the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Daniel Pearl World Music Days is an international network of concerts that harnesses the power of music to reaffirm a commitment to fellowship and unity. The event, which embodies the theme “Harmony for Humanity,” was created in response to Pearl’s 2002 kidnapping and murder at the hands of extremists in Karachi, Pakistan.
“It’s musical diplomacy,” says Judea Pearl, Danny’s father and President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, “and Danny understood its power. He carried his violin and mandolin with him on all his travels and, between writing stories, he played music, listened to music and inspired comradeship through music.”
Since 2002, Daniel Pearl World Music Days has encompassed more than 11,900 performances in 132 countries. Past events have featured dedications by Elton John, Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Philip Glass, Kool And The Gang, Indigo Girls, Dave Koz, and many others.
“Danny, whose birthday is on October 10th, inspired friendship wherever he traveled,” says Ruth Pearl, Danny’s mother and Foundation Co-Founder. “This is a rare opportunity for performers from every culture, ethnicity and background to assert, through music, our conviction that goodness will triumph and humanity will prevail.”
Dozens of U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world also play a key role in sponsoring the concerts.
“Imagine the joyous sounds that can be produced,” observed United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power, this year’s Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecturer, “by a mixed–ethnicity orchestra in Niger, a chorale at a Catholic college in Sudan, a Muslim-Malay combo in Singapore, and a school band for children with disabilities in one of the poorest parts of Brazil…. all to honor a writer of serious purpose who never forgot how to smile.”
The Daniel Pearl Foundation was created in 2002 to promote the ideals that inspired the life and work of Daniel Pearl. The Foundation works to inspire unity and friendship through music, to counter cultural and religious intolerance, to foster cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, and to cultivate responsible and balanced journalism.
