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Zade reaches out through music
Jordanian composer and pianist Zade and nearly 35 other musicians from 18 countries will perform Saturday at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium
Date published: 5/11/2006
By EMILY GILMORE Jordanian composer and pianist Zade was scheduled to perform a house concert for friends in Maine the day of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Needless to say, the concert was postponed. Zade, an Arab and a Muslim, was a bit nervous when he fulfilled his obligation shortly thereafter, but he was so heartily welcomed that he was inspired to embark on a house-concert tour of the United States to promote cultural understanding. "That experience [in Maine] was so overwhelming," Zade said last week in a phone interview from Los Angeles. He had been in Washington the day before to make a presentation at St. John's Episcopal Church Lafayette Square, and he was to return to the city the next day to make the final preparations for this stop on his Roads to You: Celebration of One World Tour, an extension of the house-concert tour with the same goal of building cultural bridges through music. Zade and nearly 35 other musicians from 18 countries will perform Saturday at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium. The Carpe Diem Community Choir also will perform. The show will anchor a week of workshops and house concerts, presentations and discussion forums, all conducted by the performers in an effort to connect with each other and the community. The musicians--who were chosen for their leadership ability, as well as for their musical talents--have been busy since Tuesday, and they will remain in D.C. until May 16. Zade said he feels musicians have a responsibility to facilitate communication because they speak a language that "doesn't understand religious or political boundaries." "A lot of people from different countries respond to music no matter where it's coming from. It goes directly to the heart." Queen Noor of Jordan, who has been one of Zade's supporters since he studied at the country's National Music Conservatory, is a patron of the tour. Berklee College of Music in Boston, where Zade also studied, and Seeds of Peace, an organization that empowers young people in conflicted regions to further peace, are sponsors.
Date published: 5/11/2006
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