Embassy at Work 2010
Daniel Pearl World Music Days Honored by Cypriot and American Jazz Musicians
October 15, 2010
Chris Byars and Ari Roland Sextet with Jazz Futures performed at the Ambassador's residence in honor of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Day
On October 15, the Chris Byars and Ari Roland Sextet and the bicommunal Jazz Futures group performed at the residence of U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, Frank C. Urbancic in honor of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Day Commemoration. Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by violent extremists in 2002, while on assignment in Karachi, was also a talented musician. During mid-October, to commemorate his birthday, musicians, performers, and journalists all over the world pay tribute to this man who stood for intercultural dialogue and peace.
The Jazz Futures program began in June 2008 under the leadership of Chris Byars and Ari Roland. With a view to establishing sustainable inter-communal networks of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot musicians, Jazz Futures includes rigorous musical training, jam sessions and public concerts in venues across the island. The program has received significant media attention and has succeeded in building island-wide musical bridges between the communities: participants who knew little or nothing about the other community are working together and performing on a weekly basis.