The European Broadcasting Union has announced that its network of public radio music channels will celebrate UNESCO World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development on or around 21 May.
With music and spoken word events, some 43 stations across Europe, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand will emphasize the “importance of music and culture in promoting diversity as an agent of inclusion, prosperity and positive change.”
The EBU explains that the musicians involved are recognized for their work in the field of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue and have expressed their full support for this special public service mobilization. This initative includes Catalan viol player and conductor, Jordi Savall; European composer and activist, Max Richter and his creative partner award-winning artist and filmmaker, Yulia Mahr; Egyptian soprano, Fatma Said; and composer and conductor, Tan Dun.
“I am not an ambassador of the East, nor an Ambassador of the West. I prefer to think of my music and myself as creating unity,” Tan Dun, UNESCO goodwill ambassador. “We are all one people but, many lives, under the cosmos. Even when I work on a concert piece, any note is like a life. From a shamanistic or theatrical point of view, I’m always trying to search where this note came from, how you want to play with it, and where you want to send it. But, in the end all notes come together to create something beautiful. I am honored to be a part of a celebration of our uniqueness for World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, and hope that even with our differences we will continue to come together and make the world a more beautiful place,” he said.
“Music as a universal language has enhanced cultural diversity and shaped intercultural dialogue for centuries,” added Noel Curran, EBU director general. “Public radio music channels are strong supporters of music diversity, they inspire audiences daily by showing how natural intercultural connections can be. For these reasons, and also as a reaction to the multiple adverse events threatening our world’s diversity by making intercultural dialogue impossible, this initiative is a priority for us at the EBU. We will continue to look for partnerships and initiatives where we can make the case for cultural diversity, dialogue and development worldwide.”
