December 2005 - Volume 2, Edition 3

Dear Friend,

Contents
> Fourth Annual Daniel Pearl Music Days Expands to 41 Countries
> E-Stage Attracts Hundreds of Musicians, Lyricists, Poets and Storytellers
> Music Days Honorary Committee Provides Broad Support for Global Effort
> Professors Pearl and Ahmed Appear at Museum of Jewish History as Part of Continuing Dialogue
> 2006 Daniel Pearl Fellowships Awarded to Journalists from Pakistan and Nepal
> Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Expands to Stanford University in 2006
> PEARL World Youth News Publishes First Articles

Fourth Annual Daniel Pearl Music Days Expands to 41 Countries

The Fourth Annual Daniel Pearl Music Days placed special emphasis on performances aimed at bridging East-West divides, with this year's wildly varied group of artists using the power of their creative voices to promote tolerance and reflect on the theme of "Harmony for Humanity." Over 300 concerts were held in countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Malta, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Israel, Jordan, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Germany and throughout the United States. Performers included Elton John, Los Lobos, Mark O'Connor, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, the Swansea Hollow Bluegrass Jam, Ireland's Cathie Ryan, Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal, Russian cellist Mischa Maisky, Israeli violinists Gill Shaham and Ittay Shapira, and trip-hop collective Eyedentity. A radio program was coordinated by Todd Mack titled FODFest (Friends of Danny Festival). Featuring blues, jazz and country performances, it premiered on the Harmony for Humanity e-Stage.

U.S. Embassy participation in Music Days ranged from Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot youth attending an event in Nicosia to a festival of traditional Indian Music in Orissa, India, to an Alei Gefen Chorus performance in Tel Aviv. Other Embassy-sponsored events took place in Morocco, Tunisia, Nepal, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe. Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, attended the performance of Pakistani pop singer Fail Kapadia in Karachi , and Molly Bordonaro, U.S. ambassador to Malta , enjoyed an evening of music at a dinner given by Shelley Tayar, a leader of the local Jewish community, that welcomed a multiethnic group of political leaders and cultural figures. Embassy involvement was made possible through the efforts of the U.S. Department of State and local cultural affairs officers, who provided invaluable assistance

Please join us in October of 2006 for the fifth installment of Daniel Pearl Music Days as we continue to unite people through musical expression. (NOTE: As Daniel Pearl Music Days is not a fundraising initiative of the Daniel Pearl Foundation; participation requires no financial commitment.)

Harmony for Humanity e-Stage Draws Hundreds of Musicians, Lyricists, Poets and Storytellers

Daniel Pearl Music Days expanded its outreach this year with the inaugural run of the Harmony for Humanity e-Stage – a Web-based selection of words and music inspired by the theme "Harmony for Humanity." A dedicated Internet radio station played original compositions and offered themed broadcasts throughout the month of October.

Hundreds of musicians, lyricists, poets and storytellers joined in and a multitude of genres were represented, including roots music, rock, bluegrass and classical. In addition to Kara Sjoblom-Bay's beautiful fable about a little boy and a pearl and the world premiere of Lullabies for Free Children (a global collaboration of composers creating lullabies from children's poems), e-Stage showcased lyrics and poems inspired by Daniel Pearl.

The broadcasts included:

• Danny's Jams, featuring the Todd Mack Show, with Daniel Pearl on violin and mandolin.
• Rays of Hope, featuring stirring stories and special dedications from Elton John, R.E.M. and more.
• Around the World, featuring Masters of Persian Music and God Bless the Child.
• Music Days Eclectic, featuring a variety of artists and genres, including songs written for or about Daniel Pearl.
• Roots of Peace, featuring past Music Days concerts, including Club Passim, and this year's FODFest.
• Classical Stream, featuring Russell Steinberg's Stories From My Favorite Planet .
• With Honors, featuring the diverse music of Music Days Honorary Committee members.
• Lullabies for Free Children, featuring lullabies from around the world, many born of children's poems, including "Adam's Lullaby," written for Daniel Pearl's son.

Music Days Honorary Committee Provides Broad Support for Global Effort

From Elton John's dedication of his song "Daniel" to R.E.M.'s tribute on e-Stage, Music Days Honorary Committee members moved audiences everywhere. Dedications went out from Zubin Mehta, conducting the Israeli Philharmonic in Tel Aviv; Itzhak Perlman, who designated an evening of music in Rockford, Ill.; bluegrass fiddler Mark O'Connor, dedicating concerts in Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas; Theodore Bikel, performing in Michigan; George Pehlivanian, conducting the Orchestra Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste; Salman Ahmad, of the Pakistani rock group Junoon, who appeared at American University in Washington, D.C.; Nubian multi-instrumentalist Hamza el Din, performing on oud and tar, who dedicated two performances in Northern California; and Peruvian singer Tania Libertad, performing at Miami Dade College.

We are deeply grateful to all of the members of our Honorary Committee for their indispensable commitment and support.

Professors Judea Pearl and Akbar Ahmed Appear at New York City's Museum of Jewish Heritage

In their continuing effort to bring the Muslim and Jewish communities together, Dr. Judea Pearl (Daniel Pearl's father and president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation) and Dr. Akbar Ahmed ( Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of International Relations at American University), in conjunction with the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, participated in a town hall-style dialogue at New York's Museum of Jewish History. Foundation for Ethnic Understanding founder Rabbi Marc Schneier and board president Russell Simmons introduced the two scholars, highlighting the importance of dialogue and emphasizing mutual respect and understanding. The program was presented by the Tribeca Film Institute and moderated by National Public Radio's Jacki Lyden, and covered topics ranging from the biblical stories of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In related news, Beliefnet.com, a popular New York-based interfaith Web site, included Pearl and Ahmed in its fifth annual Most Inspiring Person of the Year poll.

2006 Daniel Pearl Fellowships Awarded

Joining with the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships , the Daniel Pearl Foundation has chosen Ghanashyam Ojha of Nepal and Shahid Shah of Pakistan as 2006 Daniel Pearl Fellows. Ojha is currently a senior reporter at the Kathmandu Post in Nepal, covering politics and human rights. In his role as Daniel Pearl Fellow, he will be working at the North Adams Transcript/Berkshire Eagle newsrooms, where Danny began his career as a reporter. Shah, business reporter for the News International in Karachi, will be based at the Washington, D.C., bureau of the Wall Street Journal.

2005 Daniel Pearl Fellow Walid Al-Saqaf recently returned to his native Yemen , where he conducted a five-day training workshop for journalists on "The Principles of News Writing." The 12 participants received training in story structure, communication skills, and information gathering and verification. An extension of the fellowship program, "The Principles of News Writing" took place at the Yemen 21 Forum, Yemen's first think tank, in Sanaa, the country's capital. It encompassed a journalism contest, another first in Yemen.

Daniel Pearl Lecture Series at Stanford University to Begin in October 2006

Beginning in October of 2006 (to coincide with Music Days), Stanford University will inaugurate its Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Series. The program will be offered in conjunction with the Hillel Foundation and will unfold in the same format as the UCLA Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Series. Each such event honors Danny's commitment to the improvement of the human condition. The annual talk at UCLA (free to the public) is given by a scholar, journalist or policymaker who has contributed original analysis or a constructive approach to problems of international concern. The Stanford Lecture Series will represent a continuum of past and present, showcasing a speaker of national or international prominence and a personal tribute to Danny. UCLA lecturers have included the New York Times Thomas Friedman, NPR's Daniel Schorr and CNN's Jeff Greenfield. CNN's Larry King will speak at the 2006 UCLA event, March 2 nd.

PEARL World Youth News Publishes First Articles

PEARL (Prepare and Educate Aspiring Reporters for Leadership) PEARL Certified Reporters recently published their first articles on the Web-based PEARL World Youth News. Among these were Lauren Ficklen (U.S.), who wrote about her hometown of Rock Hill, S.C., and Yaroslav Ovcharenko (Uzbekistan), who contributed an article about a summer camp in Kuvasai for the "Children About Children in the Media" feature. Masango Sone ( Cameroon ) penned a story about child laborers living on the streets, and Sarah Tull (U.K.) delivered a piece on climate change.

PEARL World Youth News is a unique student news service developed through a partnership with the International Education and Research Network (iEARN ). Supported by a network of more than 20,000 schools in 109 countries, high school students write collaboratively, serving as correspondents for school newspapers around the world. PEARL World Youth News is edited by designated "editorial schools," selected to oversee the various sections of the service. PEARL editorial schools are currently based in Pakistan, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Iran and the U.S.

Your Support Needed

We hope you will reaffirm your generosity by supporting the Daniel Pearl Foundation's mission to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music and innovative communications. To view our list of major donors and join them in contributing, please visit our Make a Donation page. We also very much welcome your time and energy – to join our volunteer program, please direct your browser to volunteers@danielpearl.org.

Thank you for helping us create a better world.

Daniel Pearl Foundation Contacts

Newsletter feedback: comments@danielpearl.org
General inquiries: jackie@danielpearl.org

Music Days Inquiries: musicdays@danielpearl.org
Media inquiries: media@danielpearl.org
Visit us online at www.danielpearl.org

Daniel Pearl Foundation

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