By Dr. Mohan Bhulanie*
NEW DELHI | 3 October 2024 (IDN) — From Woodstock, Knebworth, Live Aid to the Global Citizen Festival to end poverty, music has united people to bring hope and harmony. It is also a wonderful medium to raise awareness about the noble ideals of the United Nations in a powerful and unifying language.
In fact, the United Nations explores building a better future and inspiring progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Music and the Arts.
The UN Day is celebrated on 24 October every year and the organisation hosts a variety of musical events, including concerts and virtual performances.The UN Day Concert presents an opportunity each year to reconfirm the value of international cooperation in the service of people and planet.
In 2023, the UN Day Concert was held in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York and featured the Environmental Symphony and cellist Michael Fitzpatrick. The theme was “The Frontlines of Climate Action.”
To mark the UN Day’s weekend in India, a founding member country of the UN in 1945, Tonic Sonic Cytoacoustics will organise a World Music Peace Concert on Friday, 25 October 2024 at AIIMS, New Delhi. It will be an avant-garde experiential music concert that will experiment with Time(lessness) and Spiritual Jazz.
The music concert will feature renowned international music artists like avant-garde Jazz pioneer Andrea Centazzo, Steve Hubback and Sanj Hall who will be accompanied by Sanae Yamamoto, Sparsh and Vihaan Pant.
The programme of the day at AIIMS, New Delhi is as following
12 Noon to 2 PM: Steve Hubback (UK)
Exhibition of Sound Sculptures and Sonic Instruments
Lecture cum Demonstration
Evolution of Metal Percussion
2 PM to 2.45 PM: Sanj Hall
Sound healing, Cytoacoustics and Music Therapy
2.45 PM to 3.15 PM:
Indian Music Therapy, Raga Chikitsa, and Nada Yoga- concept to reality
3.15 PM to 4 PM: Andrea Centazzo (US-Italy)
The Multimedia Experience: new languages of music and images
A survey on the shifting of perception in art. Music through Images and Images through Music; with audio-visual presentation
6.00 PM to 7.45 PM:
World Music Peace Concert at J L Nehru Auditorium, AIIMS, New Delhi
Music is a fundamental attribute of the human species. The human brain and nervous system are hard-wired to distinguish music from noise and to respond to rhythm and repetition, tones, and tunes.
The neurobiology of music is a highly specialized field. But music also has major effects on many aspects of health, ranging from memory and mood to cardiovascular function and athletic performance.
Music therapy which is now being studied at leading institutes worldwide doesn’t just soothe the soul — it can help people with a variety of health conditions feel and function better.
Whereas AIIMS, New Delhi, which was established in 1956 by the Government of India is a globally renowned academic institution involved in cutting edge medical research and application to secure the Right to Health which was first articulated in the WHO Constitution (1946) for the peoples of India, the world’s most populous nation.
The Right to Health plays an important part in the Sustainable Development Goal number 3 which aims to prevent needless suffering from preventable diseases and premature death by focusing on key targets that boost the health of a country’s overall population.
Music and in particular Jazz is so much more than artistic expression. It can be a cultural refrain, a balm during a difficult time, or a link to people from other parts of the world. Jazz has a spirit of openness that calls people to look past their differences, not only breaking barriers, but also to come together to create a beautiful harmonic tapestry.
Interestingly, the International Jazz Day is chaired and led by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who serves as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
This will be the first visit of Andrea Centazzo to India who played avant-garde Jazz with John Zorn, Steve Lacy, and Don Cherry in the 1970s and became “a leading figure in the European avant-garde,” before moving to the United States.
In 2012, the Library of the University of Bologna, Italy, which was founded in 1088 CE and is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, opened the “Fondo Andrea Centazzo” with a collection of Centazzo’s works and documents.
Accompanying Andrea will be Steve Hubback from Barry, South Wales who learnt drumming from legendary Tony Oxley. In 1982, Steve left for Paris, playing in Rock n Roll and Rock groups, Theatre and Jazz.
Later, in 1990, he ventured into metal craft, first with gong making, then cymbals, and soon had great musicians like Marilyn Mazur (ex Miles Davis and at the time playing with Jan Garbarek), Paolo Vinaccia, many Norwegian Jazz and classical percussionists playing on instruments crafted by him.
Furthermore, Vihaan Pant who will also be on stage on Friday, 25 October 2024 is the youngest musician of the performing group. He finished his schooling from the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi in 2024 and commenced his undergraduate studies from Hansraj College, University of Delhi which is also the alma mater of famous Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan.
The World Music Peace Concert on the UN Day’s weekend is facilitated by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S., a former diplomat and Special Adviser, ALCAP, who was also the key facilitator for Living Memories World COVID Tribute by artist Marcos Lutyens that as part of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Healing Arts programme was inaugurated by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, WHO along with Thomas Bach, President, International Olympic Committee in the presence of other officials and dignitaries during the 78th UN General Assembly on 17 September 2023 in New York.
*Dr. Mohan Bhulanie, Editor, News Trust of India (NTI)
Image source: UN