On the occasion of 10th anniversary of Melody for Dialogue among Civilization Association coinciding with 70th anniversary of UNESCO, you are cordially invited to attend the event as announced in this page.
Following a 2013 International Conference on “Books facing the challenges of a globalized world” which resulted in adopting the historic “Shenzhen Declaration”, a new initiatIVE jointly with UNESCO led to the convening of A SECOND conference Namely “DIGITAL BOOKS AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES” WHICH WAS HELD ON NOVEMBER 29-30 IN SHENZHEN.The Meeting Concentrated on digital world where the format of reading and learning will drastically change leading to further divides between “AVE” and “ AVE NOT”. This conference was the result of this collaborative efforts in which 24 International experts participated and dialogued with their 45 Chinese nationals. This Conference was open to public and during a round table meeting, live questions from the audiences or students from various universities and colleges was replied too.
For further details see the documents listed here:
More information coming soon!
Following an invitation, the President visited Nanjing in order to meet with officials of the City including the Vice Mayor Xu. In the course of this meeting the President accepted to organize on the occasion of an international meeting of Mayors a multicultural concert on September 26. She also received an honorary designation as the City’s Cultural Advisor. For this purpose, the President will invite 20 international artists from 4 continents to play with the Nanjing Traditional Orchestra and its Chamber classical group. Composer Wang Ning will collaborate with Professor Xie in writing the music and Maestro Igor Vlajnic will conduct this multicultural concert.
The second phase of this conference will be held in Shenzhen, China from November 7-8 2014.
Visit the Think Tank
Transcript:
Creative cities: meeting urban challenges—szdaily多媒体数字报刊平台
Shenzhen is a miracle in the world’s history of industrialization, urbanization and modernization. However, the city is also confronted with some challeges facing large cities around the world like traffic jams and air pollution. Two articles published on the Opinion Internationale website offer expert views on how cities, including Shenzhen, tackle urban challenges.
“We need to fundamentally change our way of thinking,” Mehri Madarshahi, president of Global Cultural Networks and an international cultural adviser to the city of Shenzhen, said as she introduced the way we should conceive cities and, more generally, how we must imagine our future. She recently co-organized with UNESCO an international conference on the future of sustainable cities. She visited Shenzhen in March to organize a follow-up meeting, which will be held in October this year in the city.
Growing urbanization represents huge challenges
Based on the latest statistics, cities are now home to more than half of the world’s population, and by the year 2035, it is estimated that they will be host to 70 percent of the total world population. Madarshahi emphasized how huge the challenges were. Involving dimensions that are social, economic and environmental, they include challenges related to food, water, sanitation, transportation, pollution and social diversity.
“The many unknowns facing us produce a strong feeling of anxiety,” she said. But she believed that the Creative Design concept was up to the challenge. Representatives of UNESCO Creative Cities and Design were thus invited to reflect on this concept as a way to find innovative paths for cities to cope with the human influx caused by globalization.
A challenge but also an opportunity
Madarshahi was convinced that the growing population influx can have a positive effect by creating an enormous diversity of values and perceptions, which could, in turn, give rise to more creativity. Cities are, after all, a stage for cultural, social and economic activity.
She has three model cities that come in mind: Wuxi in China, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and Songdo located in Incheon in South Korea. All labeled as smart-cities, they share common goals in their development model and are emblematic of how we must “drastically change our way of thinking and living,” and how we must “rethink our habits and our desires.”
Madarshahi reminds us that most cities in the developing world do not have the financial resources to respond to challenges.
Innovation and creativity are part of the solution for those challenges, but if they are to be successfully introduced and accepted by society, they must be based on diversified forms of partnership and, above all, in continuous dialogue between all stakeholders, including NGOs, academia and private citizens.
A think tank to tackle the problems
But, Madarshahi is definitely not among those to be discouraged by the scale of the task at hand: In cooperation with UNESCO, she has proactively initiated and established a group of volunteers acting as a think tank. The main function of this group is to receive and capitalize best practices, conduct research on innovative and practical solutions to problems of an urbanized future and run reality checks on these solutions.
With the agreement of UNESCO and Shenzhen, a knowledge-sharing mechanism will be established to facilitate exchanges including multi-media presentations, text messages and dialogues or blogs.
(This is an excerpt of an article, titled “Creative cities: ‘We need to fundamentally change our way of thinking,’” and published on the Opinion Internationale website on March 18.)
Read more on CREATIVE DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
July 19, 2013
Speech by Mehri Madarshahi
Sustainable Development and role of Women Enterpreneurs
Sustainable development has been defined by the Brundtland Commission as “development which meets the needs of the present without jeopardizing the needs of future generations” This means economic growth that does not deplete irreplaceable resources, does not destroy ecological systems, and helps reduce some of the world’s gross social inequalities.
We are still far from achieving these goals. Today, between a fifth and a quarter of the world’s population live in poverty, without adequate food, clothing and shelter. 90 % of these people are in developing countries . Moreover, Population growth of nearly one billion in a decade, pollution and habitat destruction pose serious environmental problems which obligate all of us including business community- to take swift actions in dealing with these problems. Some examples of serious environmental problems are deforestation, destruction of coral reefs, introduction of aggressive new predators, and other human activities that are making many species disappear. If these trends continues unchecked, the future of mankind may be in a jeopardy.
Eco-efficiency emphasizing the need for more efficient use of energy and maximizing use of renewable resources may help solve many problems created by global warming including
pollutions and toxic substances, clean water and adequate sewage disposal ,….
The world-wide adoption of eco-efficiency by Government and now by businessmen and women is under way. While the business community can not solve some of these fundamental problems alone, The world-wide adoption of eco-efficiency by Government and now by businessmen and women is just under way. Evidence of the evolution of eco-efficiency from theory to practice and action is growing day by day
Eco –efficiency workshops have been conducted
International and national organizations are promoting awareness world wide
Important managerial manuals are being published by business community.
Environmental protection issues has already affected many business and is becoming increasingly a determinant of a company’s reputation among employees, customers, and stake holders alike. With industrial products and consumer goods flowing freely around the world, corporations are becoming increasingly aware that they have a stake in the economic health and development of all societies they do business with
Monosanto and 3 M are tow companies that have introduced zero emissions. Xerox Corporation has set the goal of waste-free products from waste-free factories. Dow has recently announced aggressive 10 years reduction goals for environmental performance and resource conservation
All those who are engaged in environmental advocacy know how fundamental it is to organize sustained
public awareness campaigns on preservation of water, forest and energy . Public education and popularization of these issues have become an indispensable tool to emphasize the point that economic development should not be at the expense of clean air and water and preservation of our natural heritage.
Although consumer choices are influenced by income levels, social conditions and biases, gender is also a major factor. In their consumption choices, women throughout their lives affirm their reproductive role and concern about the longer-term well-being of families and children How women entrepreneurs make a difference .
Women are increasingly visible in export-oriented sectors in middle income developing countries, where they comprise up to 90% of workers. Females now tend to dominate in low-skill, labour-intensive jobs in textiles, clothing, pharmaceuticals, household goods and toy production in non-OECD countries. Much of this employment is located in export processing zones, which account for between 33% and 88% of production and exports depending on the sector. In 2005, it was estimated that there were 50 million jobs in export processing zones worldwide and that 80% of these were held by women
Surveys show that women tend to be more sustainable consumers. Women are more likely to recycle, buy organic food and eco-labelled products and place a higher value on energy-efficient transport (OECD, 2008a). They make more ethical consumer choices, paying closer attention to issues including child labour and sustainable livelihoods and are more apt to buy socially labelled goods such as Fairtrade. For example, in Sweden, statistics indicate that the group that is most concerned about eco-labelling and green purchasing includes some of the poorest members of society: single mothers. Women also use public transportation, even in households with cars, more often than men and travel short distances closer to home, while men more often travel in their own car and for greater distances
More and more companies are realizing that the best performance comes from staff or associates who share and commit to common values. 3 M, for example, bases its success on consistent application of four key values;
Satisfying customers with innovative products, superior quality and value providing investors with an attractive return
Respecting the social and physical environment
Being a company employees are proud to be part of.
Development must take due consideration of the constraint of our rich but fragile environmental base. Only through econ-efficiency and optimitization of human , capital and environment resources will we be able to offer all our people and future generation the hope of a better quality of life.
The business community must strive to be a leading model to bringing sustainable life style to all citizens and in all its facets of life. It should commit itself to brining electrical power to as many people as possible, to stimulate development and education and to raise the potential quality of life. We have already made good progress towards ensuring that schools, clinics, and other vital services are connected to reliable energy sources. We have to set target for rapid electifications of all home and ensure that electricity is generated from renewable sources of energy and become affordable.
Eco-efficiency is as valid for small businesses and developing countries as is for lagrge multinational corporations and developed world:
We must:
Agenda 21 the blue print for sustainable development states:
Achieving the goals of environmental quality and sustainable development will require efficiencies in production and changes in consumption patterns in order to emphasize optimization of resource use and minimization of wastes’
This means shifting to integrate environmental issues through out product chains: life cycle management and industrial ecology and the development of sustainable communities, cities and regions. Business can take into consideration:
The entire life cycle of goods and services-design and engineering, purchasing and materials management, production, marketing, distribution, use and waste management;
Applying the principles of eco-efficiency to create increased value for customers through the sustainable use of resources
In its roll as consumer, procuring and requesting products and services that have less environmental impact;
Needless to say that there is a continuing need for environmental policies and regulations to establish minimum standards and to set broad performance –based targets. These policies should be more broad based for the society, encourage solutions to the problem, maximize freedom of choice for business and consumers and maximize economic benefit for companies meeting the basic requirements
The use of information technology to manage the logistics and manufacturing infrastructure is widespread. Advanced technologies is critical for ensuring the quality of product or service delivered, it reduces the overall costs.
IT solutions provide real-time information on inventories in the system, receivab les and the changing patterns of consumption and a real time alerts to managers.
In the US each person generate 4.62 pounds of waste per day. If everyone in China adopted Western standards of waste per capita, there would be more than 5.5 billion pounds of waste per day.
Download Application (PDF)
The City of Shenzhen has filed its Application for 2015 UNESCO Book Capital nomination. As an open gate to China, Shenzhen is a deserving candidate for this title since not only the City has pioneered the adoption of various legislations on copyrights and intellectual property rights but also has provided -among all other Chinese Cities- the largest internet access to its population. Freedom of expressions is fully respected through use of this medium. Shenzhen has the largest publishing and library systems in China and has become a City with 24/24 open library for all its citizens. Owing to an unfortunate emotional vote that was cast by a member of jury, Shenzhen lost the nomination for 2015.
Photo: Mehri and Senator C. Dodd
This major event will bring together the CEOs of the world’s most important companies, leaders from China’s new government, and innovative thinkers from around the world.
China will be at the center of the discussions, but our program will be global in scope. The theme is “China’s New Future,” with a focus on emerging opportunities in the domestic economy, the development of Western regions, and China’s changing role in the world. In addition to the business program, the Fortune Global Forum offers a rich personal experience and opportunities for high-level relationship building, from the gala opening dinner to small group roundtables to an intimate dining experience on the second night. Your companion is also invited to join you for the dinners and to participate in an extraordinary concurrent program. Chengdu has become a magnet for multinational companies, a center for higher education, and a leader in a diverse range of industries—an ideal location for the Forum.
Invitation (DOCX)
On the occasion of the “World Water Day” and in celebration of Maestro Tan Dun’s honorary title of “UNESCO Good will Ambassador “
Presented by Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, and Parneous
Third in a series of “Music for Water” will be performed by Maestro Tan Dun at UNESCO, Paris on 22 March 2013 or the World Water Day. UNESCO has been nominated to coordinate water related activities of the UN System in 2013. Maestro Tan Dun will be nominated as the UNESCO Good Will Ambassador on this day and Melody for Dialogue Among Civilizations Association will organize a magnificent grand concert in the UNESCO auditorium in this respect. The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra will accompany Maestro Tan Dun in this program.
The launching of our Photo Contest Campaign for Water Awareness and Advocacy is postponed to a later date this year. Instead, in collaboration with Ruby Foundation, we will unveil an exhibit of Porcelain: Water and Music at UNESCO.
A major exhibit of Porcelain on the theme of Water Music will be held in the Exhibit Hall of UNESCO.
Program (PDF)
Press Release (DOC/French)
Tan Dun: Les larmes de l’océan (PDF)
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova will designate Maestro Tan Dun as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador during the ceremony to be held at UNESCO HQ on Friday, 22 March 2013. This ceremony will be preceded by Tan Dun’s performance “Music for Water”.
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ONLINE REGISTRATION:
j.mp/concertunesco-tan-dun-en
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The conceptual and multifaceted composer/conductor Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. A winner of today’s most prestigious honors including the Grammy Award, Oscar/Academy Award, Grawemeyer Award for classical composition and Musical America’s Composer of The Year, Tan Dun’s music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on the radio and television. As a composer/conductor, Tan Dun has led the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Filharmonica della Scala, Münchner Philharmoniker and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, among others. Most recently, Tan Dun served as “Cultural Ambassador to the World” for World EXPO 2010 Shanghai.
Tan Dun’s individual voice has been heard by wide audiences. His first Internet Symphony, which was commissioned by Google/YouTube, has reached over 15 million people online. His Organic Music Trilogy of Water, Paper and Ceramic Concerti has frequented major concert halls and festivals. Paper Concerto was premiered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the opening of the Walt Disney Hall. His multimedia work, The Map, premiered by Yo Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has toured more than 30 countries worldwide. Its manuscript has been included in the Carnegie Hall Composers Gallery. His Orchestral Theatre: The Gate was premiered by Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra and crosses the cultural boundaries of Peking Opera, Western Opera and puppet theatre traditions. Other important recent premieres include Four Secret Roads of Marco Polo for the Berlin Philharmonic and Piano Concerto “The Fire” for Lang Lang and the New York Philharmonic. Tan Dun was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to write the Logo Music and Award Ceremony Music for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In October 2012, he conducted the “Music for Water” concert at the Hangzhou Opera House, produced by Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association, at which he also premiered a new piece “Water Rock ‘n Roll”. In November 2012, he performed together with UNESCO Artist for Peace, Zhang Jun, a modern version of the Kungqu Opera ‘The Peony Pavilion” at the Astor Court of the New York Metropolitan Museum. Current projects include a new percussion concerto for soloist Martin Grubinger and a harp concerto inspired by the secret Nushu calligraphy of Tan Dun’s home province of Hunan, China.
For Tan Dun the marriage of composition and inspiration has always culminated in his operatic creations, Marco Polo was commissioned by the Edinburgh Festival and has had four different productions including, most prominently, with De Nederlandse Opera directed by Pierre Audi; The First Emperor with Placido Domingo in the title role, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera of New York; Tea: A Mirror of Soul, premiered at Japan’s Suntory Hall, has since had new productions with Opera de Lyon, a co-production by Santa Fe Opera and The Opera Company of Philadelphia; and Peony Pavilion, directed by Peter Sellars which has had over 50 performances at major festivals in Vienna, Paris, London and Rome.
Tan Dun records for, Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, EMI and Opus Arte. His recordings have garnered many accolades, including a Grammy Award (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and nomination (The First Emperor; Marco Polo), Japan’s Recording Academy Awards for Best Contemporary Music CD (Water Passion after St. Matthew) and the BBC’s Best Orchestral Album (Death and Fire). Tan Dun’s music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer. Inc.
Organized by Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association/ Programme of Honorary and Goodwill Ambassadors
Goodwill Ambassadors- Website
PRESS
Le compositeur chinois Tan Dun nommé Ambassadeur de bonne volonté de l’Unesco
25-03-2013 05:50 (Beijing Information)
Chinese composer is named Unesco ambassador
23-03-2013 23:37 (AJ Blog Central – Arts Journal)
Musician Tan Dun named as UN Goodwill Ambassador
23-03-2013 19:36 (China.org.cn)
UNESCO names Chinese composer as Goodwill Ambassador
23-03-2013 07:46 (Indiablooms.com)
UNESCO names Chinese composer Tan Dun as Goodwill Ambassador
23-03-2013 03:31 (Beijing News.net)
Le compositeur chinois Tan Dun nommé Ambassadeur de bonne volonté de l’Unesco
23-03-2013 02:36 (China.org.cn (FR))
UNESCO names Chinese composer Tan Dun as Goodwill Ambassador
23-03-2013 02:12 (Brisbane News.Net)
UNESCO names Chinese composer Tan Dun as Goodwill Ambassador
23-03-2013 02:22 (The Fiji News.net)
Distinguished composer Tan Dun named as Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO
22-03-2013 23:15 (Shanghai Daily)
Upon invitation of the Shenzhen Municipality and the Shenzhen Orchestra, Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association is organizing a multi-cultural dance, song and music in the Grand Concert Hall of Shenzhen to inaugurate the City’s Music month. The theme of this concert is on Cultural Harmony and Dialogue. Shenzhen is the City where over 50 ethnic groups live in peace and harmony with each other and contribute to the rich culture of Guangdong Province.
Maestro Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde from Belgium will conduct this rich -multicultural program. Nguyen Le and Anthony De Ritis are the two composers for adopting the music of Mosorgsky-Ravel (Pictures of Exhibition). Niko Andrea Guarin will be the Solo Guitar in the Rodrigo’s composition where Angelika de la Riva Mezzo – Soprano will improvise. Our second Mezzo Soprano from Croatia will sing an aria from Carmen “Bizet”. Our virtousi violin player Wolfgang David will play with the Orchestra Capriccioso by Saint Seans and the School of Arts and Dance of Shenzhen will provide dancers for Borodin ‘s “Prince Igor” who will be accompanied by a Rym Charabeh lead dancer and a couple of Cong Fu performers from Shaolin Temple “China”. Additional musics will be provided by a Jazz trio led by Nguyen Le. The program is rich and beautiful. In addition, we will have the honor of presenting 15 traditional instrumentations by virtuosos from 14 countries.
Program (PDF)
Letter from Mr. Wang Jingsheng
Article “UNESCO in the NEWS”
Press Review (DOC/Chinese)
Mehri’s Speech (DOC)
Monday, October 22, 2012 – Wednesday, October 24, 2012
8am-8pm
Tokyo, Japan
GLOBAL INITIATIVE ON CULTURE AND SOCIETY
In recognition of the indisputably growing impact of the Asian economic, cultural, and political dimensions in global affairs, the Aspen Institute and International Christian University (ICU) are pleased to co-host the 2012 Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum. The annual Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum is a high-level policy dialogue and public convening designed to reflect on the power of cultural assets in engaging difference, promoting identities and timeless values, fostering mutual understanding, and strengthening international relations.
Mehri Madarshahi and President Obasanjo jointly received the 2012 Aspen Awards for Cultural Diplomacy
View Agenda (PDF)
An interview conducted by SVGN group on the importance of popular participation in water management awareness through music.
Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductors: Tan Dun and Igor Vlajnic
Soloists: Wolfgang David (Violin), Guo Gan (Erhu), Cherry Yu (Pipa), Arif Azerturk (Saz), Dragan Dautovski (folk instruments), Fawzi Alangowi (Oud), Shyamal Maitra, Kengo SaitoWang Beibei, Xin Yutang, Rong Chenehu
Choreographer: David Rhodes
Conductors: Maestro Tan Dun
Maestro Igor Vlajnic
Melody for Dialogue Association was invited by the Grand Theatre of Hangzhou to organize the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Music Festival on September 15, 2012. The Festival will last for 30 days and a great number of companies and orchestras are invited to participate in its celebrations.
Melody for Dialogue will continue its activities on “sustainable water management”. This concert is planned for the advocacy and awareness part of the program.
Download Program PDF
Third regional meeting on Sustainable Water management in Guiyang, China which was hosted by the ECO FORUM 2012.
Speech (DOC)
Ceremony held on 18 May, 2012 in Shenzhen, China in which the President of Melody for Dialogue signed a contract with the Shenzhen Orchestra and the City of Shenzhen to hold a multicultural concert on 7 December 2012 in the Grand Concert Hall of Shenzhen. At the same time, the Vice Mayor of the City appointed Ms Mehri Madarshahi as the International Cultural Advisor to Shenzhen, Creative City.
Meeting with diva Sumi Jo after her performance in “Nixon in China”.
Water: The Global Challenge of Our Future – March 23, 2012
Can a world where exponential population growth and an insatiable demand for water be sustainable? The water crisis consumes more lives yearly than all the wars and AIDS related deaths combined, yet we hear precious little about it. With water scarcity starting to affect the developed world as well as its disproportionate impact on developing countries, how do we, as a global community, address this challenge for our collective future?
The Melody for Dialogue Among Civilizations Association, in conjunction with NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, will spend a day examining the implications of this underreported crisis as part of its global series of conferences. Join keynote speaker Alexandra Cousteau for a series of panels and debates featuring academics, members of the private sector, government, the UN system and civil society to not only discuss the crisis, but also explore what can be done about it.
Click here to read our agenda for the day
Click here to download the annotated agenda
Click here for our PRESS RELEASE
On the occasion of the World Water Day (22 and 23 March 2012) Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association in collaboration with its partners: Northeastern University, New York University (CGA), UN HABITAT, UNESCO and others organized a multicultural concert on Water and a day long International Forum (Water as the Crisis of our Future) with participation of 23 experts and two key note speakers, Alexandra Cousteau and Amina Az-Zubar in New York City. The first of this series took place in Lagos, Nigeria (31 Nov-1 Dec 2011).
North American Regional Event (view PRESS RELEASE):
Building on its brand of unprecedented multicultural concerts, on March 22, 2012, Melody for Dialogue Among Civilizations will put on a one-time event at Kaufman Center, Merkin Hall to raise awareness about the global water crisis. Joining the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Virtuosi String Quartet on stage, will be renowned musicians from all over the world including Guo Gan (China) on Erhu, Wolfgang David (Austria) on violin, and Liu Fang (China/Canada) on the Pipa. They will play selections from Handel’s Water Music, Vivaldi’s La Tempesta Di Mare, and Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera. A new piece entitled Shui. Life, specifically composed for the concert by Anthony Paul De Ritis, will also be unveiled. Maestro Emmanuel Siffert (Switzerland) will be the evening’s conductor. By using the universal language of music to communicate the importance of this theme, the concert hopes to raise awareness about the central importance of water in our lives.
We are thrilled to be welcoming Alexandra Cousteau as one of our esteemed guests.
BUY TICKETS
You can also call the Merkin Concert Hall Box Office: 212-501-3330
If you have any questions, please contact anoush@melodydialogue.org
To learn more about the composers, musicians, or soloists, please see below:
Tan Dun
Antonio Vivaldi
Georg Friedrich Handel
Guo Gan
Liu Fang
Wolfgang David
Emmanuel Siffert
Anthony Paul De Ritis
Annual meeting of GEMS schools in Dubai with President Clinton and former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland.
In partnership with the African Leadership Forum (ALF)- Nigeria, Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association held a meeting for two days on 30 November and 1 December 2011 at Ota. Present at this meeting were a number of experts from African countries and President Olusegun Obasanjo delivered the keynote speech.
The agenda will be as follows : Nigeria Agenda
The Executive Summary and Conclusions for the Meeting Can Be Found Here: Nigeria Executive Summary
For updates and more information, you can follow us on twitter @melodydialogue or visit our conference blog at melodydialogue.tumblr.com
The President has accepted the invitation to speak at the meeting of
Creative Art Summit organized by Aspen Institute in Muscat Oman. She will
proceed immediately after to the first Regional Meeting on Water Management
organized by the Association in Nigeria in partnership with Africa
Leadership Forum and UNESCO. this meeting is scheduled for 30 November and 1
December 2011. For further detail see our “upcoming event” page in this web
site.
The President was invited by the Organizers of the International Forum to deliver the Opening Ceremony, the Opening Session and a substantive half an hour statement at the Forum on the importance of culture in the creative and design cities. A brief of this presentation is in the attached document (PPT).
Meeting with the Director of Publicity Department and attending the opening ceremony of the International Piano Competition Oct 24, 2011.
The global competition of professional photographers to capture cultural diversity in action were invited by Chinese Folklore Photographic Association in Kunming to which the President attended as a Guest of Honor.
President continued her negotiation with the leadership of Hangzhou Municipal Government for holding a Forum on Water related issue followed by a multicultural concert. At the same time she attended the opening ceremony of Hangzhou Leisure World Fair
As part of UNESCO team, President attended the opening ceremony of the Universiade Games in Shenzhen, China. During this trip she also visited the Shenzhen concert Hall and the Shenzhen Orchestra and started a priliminary discussion on a possible concert to be organized by the Association next year in this city.
The President of the Association has been invited to deliver a statement at the Eco-Forum Global, Guiyang, China (EFG) on July 15. The topic chosen is “Future Cities: Transition to Green Development”. The main objectives of the Third EFG are:
– to create an interface for members to exchange information and experiences, practices and significant lesson learned
– to promote sustainable development with respect to environmental protection, harmonious relations between people and nature and environmental-friendly consumption and lifestyle
The meeting will take place from 15- 17 July 2011 and it is sponsored by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Peking University, the Guizhou Provincial Government in China, UNEP, UNESCO and other international organizations. Over 6000 spectators and 40 Chinese Mayors plus foreign dignitaries, artists and visionaries are expected to attend at these meetings.
The KitSon (NGO Cohen Amir-Aslani and Associate) invited the President of MDACA as a Guest of Honor to speak on the above topic. The meeting was attended by a number of the Foundation’s Board Members and others. The President drew attention to differences between war and conflict and concluded that while there has so far been an acute absence of women representation at the top tables on war related negotiations but women have had a lasting impact on resolution of conflict by, inter-alia, providing education and raising awareness on human rights and the Rule of Law. A 65 minutes question and answer followed this and other presentations.
Visit to Masdar City in Abu Dhabi
中国僧人乐团 震撼欧洲乐坛 视界点2024-09-22 15:19 ——中国 “净慧交响乐团”参加联合国教科文组织“地球•家园”主题交响音乐会轰动欧洲乐坛，广受媒体赞誉 由全僧人组成的中国净慧交响乐团（着红色僧衣者）与法国贝尔交响乐团一起参加联合国教科文组织“地球•家园”主题交响音乐会 2024年9月21日凌晨4点（巴黎时间20日19点）由全僧人组成的中国净慧交响乐团，受联合国教科文组织邀请，与法国贝尔交响乐图联袂参加联合国教科文组织“地球•家园”主题交响音乐会，震撼欧洲乐坛。法国《世界报》等数十家媒体纷纷聚焦中国僧人，给予很高评价。 净慧交响乐团，由中国僧人释悟乐创立于2003年，当时的名称“广玄禅乐团”。乐团成员皆为出家的佛寺僧人。没有任何音乐基础。释悟乐邀请武汉音乐学院、中央音乐学院等艺术院校的教授对乐团进行训练指导。中国许多专业音乐舞蹈院团也到乐团所在佛寺进行指导培训。 2013年开始乐团开始在武汉、北京、香港等地巡回演出，并发展为《广玄禅乐团》《净慧交响乐团》《香根合唱团》等3个专业音乐团体。 2015年开始，参加国内外多个专业合唱节、音乐节，与中外知名的交响乐团、合唱团广泛交流，获得多个金奖。 2023年，乐团在北美洲国家巡演，广受欢迎好评，海内外媒体广泛赞誉。（文/图 [...]
MUSIC AS CATALYST FOR DIALOGUE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT-ENHANCED BY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES Date: Tuesday, 21 September 2021 9am (New York) – 3pm (Paris) – 9pm (Beijing) Place: Online webinar Virtual forum [...]
DescriptionVirtual forum organized bythe Association of Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations (Paris – New York)andNortheastern University – College of Arts, Media and Design (Boston, USA) Time21 June 2021 at 9 [...]
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Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association is delighted to be one of the sponsors of the Etruscan Bloom Festival.
Hans d’Orville, Event Moderator, Former UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning; Georg Hajdu (Keynote) Director, Multimedia Composition, School for Music and Theater, Hamburg; Mehri Madarshahi (Keynote) President, Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Associations (Paris, New York, Geneva); Rainer Kern (Keynote) Director, UNESCO City of Music Mannheim; Jorge Chaminé, Baritone + President, European Music Center; T. H. Culhane, Associate Professor and Director of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida, Tampa; Ruth Daniel, activist and CEO, In Place of War; Anthony Paul De Ritis, Composer, former Chair, and co-founder of the Music Technology program, Department of Music, Northeastern University; Tan Dun, composer and conductor (tbc); Daniel Strong Godfrey, Composer, Professor and Chair, Department of Music, Northeastern University; Tamara Kamińska, Co-Director, Music Export Poland Office, Warsaw, organizer of Katowice’s designation as UNESCO Creative City of Music, author of SDG implementation strategies for Polish creative cities; Laura Kaminsky, composer of “As One,” currently the most produced contemporary opera in the U.S.; Pierre Korzilius, Directeur du Pôle Art et Culture, Collège des Bernardins, Paris; Herman Makarenko, Conductor, National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine; Kim Noltemy, Ross Perot President & CEO, Dallas Symphony Association; Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg, International Policy Advisor, Creative Economy & Development; Shain Shapiro, Founder + CEO of Sound Diplomacy & Executive Director, Center for Music Ecosystems; Shen Wei, Founder and Artistic Director, Shen Wei Dance Arts NY+Paris; Kahchun Wong, Chief Conductor, Nuernberg Philharmonic Orchestra + Principal Guest Conductor, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
Description
Virtual forum organized by
the Association of Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations (Paris – New York)
and
Northeastern University – College of Arts, Media and Design (Boston, USA)
Time
21 June 2021 at 9 am (NY time),
3 pm (Paris time), 9 pm (Beijing time)
Living in the pandemic age. led to closure of societies and distancing humanity. Nevertheless, It highlighted the critical and constructive role of culture at large and the arts in particular. The ensuing silence, dictated the need for a new mechanism, if not a vehicle to bring to the fore the interconnectivity of nature, creativity, design and artistic imaginations in facilitating a renewed dialogue among people and civilizations.
Through the collaboration between the Melody for Dialogue among Civilizations Association (Melody) and various departments of Boston’s Northeastern University (NE), we seek to integrate artists and the arts, music and design, as well as innovative architecture systematically in societal debates aimed at a better and more harmonious and sustainable living for humanity.
We try to re-define an innovative concept for future living. We challenge our distinguished speakers to share their imaginations and ideas on how to create such a new path and how to help humanity to live in more harmony with nature. Could this be achieved through a new urban designs enshrined with culture, arts and the advocacy of music? How can these elements of human civilizations be integrated to bring about a burst of innovative ideas and roles for arts, design and music as advocates of conscious and messengers for a harmonious living?
The name of the game in today’s world is urban living and urbanization. As cities expand, more congestion and more pollution are generated. Scarcity of comfort and a happy life may lead to an increase in crime, drug abuse and mental health problems.
Before the COVID pandemic, culture and creativity contributed to social cohesion at the neighborhood level, enable creative networks to form and advance innovation and growth. While, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the culture of cities, it has also revealed the power of cultural and creative industries as a resource for city recovery and resilience.
We aim to think of searching for means to support cities in unlocking the power of cultural and creative industries for sustainable urban development, and to alleviate the perpetuity of these challenges in our urban environments. We believe by reflecting on better designs for our cities, by providing recreational and leisure facilities, by introducing sustainability into our daily lives and by changing our paradigms we can live a happier life.
We want to launch a digital debating platform composed of individuals with different contextual, professional and geographical origins, drawing on a wide range of creative disciplines and trying to engage in trans-disciplinary works.
We aim to discuss about the practicality of smart cities and the circular economy as visions for the future of our communities. We will seek to identify global footprints in urban planning, reconnecting infrastructure with human health and drawing on new engineering approaches supporting the link between arts, music and architecture.
In particular we propose to reflect on:
· How creativity can transform urban planning & design
· How arts and culture, music and architecture can make cities more livable
· How the architectural design of future cities can become environmentally sustainable
Stefano Boeri (Most famous green architect, Chairman Stefano Boeri Architetti Milan-Shanghai-Tirana)
Santiago Calatrava (Architect; New York-Zuerich-Doha)
Farrokh Derakhshani (Director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture)
Gong Ke (President of World Federation of Engineering – WFEO)
Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo (Founder and President, Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation)
Ranier Kern (Artistic and Festival Director, Enjoy Jazz)
Jee Won Kim (Principal, Jee Won Kim Architects, New York)
Charles Landry (President of The Bureaucracy Festival)
Simeona Manova (Cabinet of EU Commissioner Ferrira, responsible for the European Bauhaus project)
Migendi K. M’Rithaa (Professor of Industrial Design, Machakos University)
Satoshi Ohashi (Zaha Hadid studio, Beijing — designer of new Beijing Airport and other projects in China)
Taslim Owonikoko (Founder and CEO Berekotry Ltd.)
Joe Peach (Communications Director, WhereIsMyTransport)
Annabelle Selldorf (Architect; Principal, Selldorf Architects, New York)
Shain Shapiro (CEO Sound Diplomacy)
TO VIEW THE FULL VIDEO OF THE CONCERT BELOW
Radio Report 1
Radio Report 2
UN report: Melody for a Green Planet: Debussy, but not only& A Mega Multi-Cultural Concert
UN report: Music as a catalyst for environmental awareness
