12/07/2012
Bizet, but not only…
December 7, 2012
Shenzhen, China
Presented by Mehri Madarshahi
Mr. Wang Jingsheng, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shenzhen, Madame Wu, honorable Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen, Respected leaders of Shenzhen, Mr. Du Yue, Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
dear Friends –
Tonight I am proud to present a unique multicultural concert as a gift to the City of Shenzhen and its people for whom I have developed a deep devotion and respect. Shenzhen is a city of cultural diversity and a city committeed to creativity, design and international cooperation. And so it is entirely appriopriate that this memorable event has been chosen to open the Creative City Month organised by Shenzhen.
Shenzhen has welcomed and integrated a large number of immigrants who all have found a fertile ground to develop their talents, to blossom and prosper – and in the process to achieve personal goals and objectives which may are not easily possible in other parts of our globalized world.
In many parts of the world, globalization has yet to deliver on the ideals of peaceful coexistence, respect for others, cultural, religious, ethnic and social diversity.
But I would suggest that globalization has to give rise to more than a mere coexistence between cultures. It needs to generate new approaches and pathways to building peace, common understanding and appreciation of one another’s differences and ways of living in a culturally diverse environment. Dialogue in all spheres must be at the core of such a process, drawing on all fields of societal engagement, including music and the arts. Dialogue constitutes a force to promote mutual understanding and knowledge, reconciliation and
ultimately peace. Dialogue among cultures at all levels -local, national, regional and international -is a powerful lever to combat ignorance, prejudices and exclusion. But how to achieve this goal and how best to give rise to mutual understanding through dialogue when there are over 70,000 written languages in the world? The Association Meldoy for Dialogue among Civilizations -producer of tonight’s concert – seeks to do so by through music and musical interaction, using the oldest and the most commonly understood language for communication and education.
Music has an intrinsically inclusive nature. It knows no borders. Tonight you will see the magic of musical dialogue and interaction as we bring together musicians from the North, South, East and West of the universe.
This is a demonstration of mutual understanding among different peoples and of outstanding artsts who share universal values and are willing to create culture of peace. Our concerts seek to promote a genuine dialogue, based on respect and dignity for each civilization and culture.
A joint performance by a classical orchestra and musicians playing traditional and contemporary instruments from various origins breaks down the barieres in communication and highlights a novel dimension of artistic creativity and engagement that is rarely seen and heard.
Tonights you will meet some 24 musicians from 4 continents who will dialogue with their Chinese counterparts and create a rousing dialogue performance through the music of eminent composers like Ravel, Mussoursky, Borodin and others.
The young and talented dancers from the Shenzhen School of Arts interact with Kung Fu masters and interact in a few movements with our lead dancer from Syria.
Our conductor, Maestro Bart Vand de Velde is the soul of this group without whose efforts, profound musical understanding and outstanding skills the Orchestra might not have been able to perform such a difficult and diverse programme.
Our special gift to the Creative City of Shenzhen is the finale of this program and we have aptly called it “Unity in Diversity”. It is in this piece where dialogue comes to its highest point, its apotheosis, and where diversity melts into unity. My special thanks goes to the composer and outstanding musician from Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Lo, who is an icon on the international jazz scene, and who has created this unforgettable piece.
The more I say, the more I deprive you from what you have come here to see, hear and watch. Thus, without further ado, I will leave you in the hands of our artists and I wish you a great, memorable musical evening which hopefull will inspire us all.