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Peace through Music in the Middle East
an article by Robin
Here's a wonderful, ongoing story about peace-making in the Middle East - through music.
The famous conductor Daniel Barenboim has started an orchestra with musicians from Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and the Lebanon. The orchestra, dedicated to peace in the Middle East, was conceived along with Edward Said, who has since died. Said is known to CPNN readers from an article on his work in the United States on behalf of justice the Middle East.
At the end of their concert at Royal Albert Hall in London, the orchestra got a half-hour standing ovation from the audience.
The orchestra has played several concert tours including a tour in England, France and Morocco in August 2003 and a special concert in Chicago in October 2003. After searching the Internet, I found reference to an upcoming concert planned for London August 4, 2004.
Barenboim says that the orchestra is a symbol of democracy. "Music says everything about unity and harmony. The musicians in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra work together toward a common goal. That in itself is a revolutionary concept,"
He calls the orchestra "a musical version of what I think about the Middle East, a vision I can have of the Middle East where everyone is able to contribute and where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts".
Information for this story comes from an article on the British on-line newspaper, the Independent.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
What place does music have in the peace movement?,
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Latest reader comment:
As of now, there are 33 CPNN articles on this theme, which shows the great extent to which music is the universal language of peace!
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