Arts & Entertainment

Daniel Pearl to Be Remembered at Encino Concert

Valley Beth Shalom to host musical tribute Sunday to the journalist, who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in 2002.

This Sunday, , along with the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles, will host a "Concert for World Peace—A Tribute to Journalist Daniel Pearl." The Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble will play pieces by Michael Fitzpatrick, Bohuslav Martinu, Maria Newman, Zigmun Schul and Johannes Brahms.

Pearl, who grew up in Encino, was working for the Wall Street Journal in 2002 when he was abducted and beheaded by al-Qaida terrorists in Pakistan. His parents, Judea and Ruth Pearl, established the Daniel Pearl Foundation and Daniel Pearl World Music Days to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism and music.

Dr. Richard Braun of the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles said that the concert would be a fitting tribute to Pearl and that it's that Valley Beth Shalom has honored the journalist.

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"Daniel Pearl is an Encino boy and a violinist, and always loved music and chamber [music] in particular, so it seemed fitting that we join the World Music Day," said Braun.

Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl's father and a longtime Encino resident, spoke with Patch about how the Foundation's World Music Days event was conceived.

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"It all started after the funeral," said Pearl. "When we came back from the cemetery—it was August of 2002—we were all concerned about what we were going to do on Daniel's birthday, October 10. And his little sister said, 'Let's do it the way he would've liked to have done. Let's have a jam session with his friends who are musicians.' "

Pearl said that he and his family sent messages out to musicians that his son knew around the world, inviting them to play music to commemorate their murdered friend.

"To our surprise, within a week or two we had 123 concerts around the world," said Pearl. "Since then it grew in size, and it spread to over 100 countries. I've just noticed that this year we have them in Afghanistan and Iran for the first time."

Daniel Pearl World Music Days has grown exponentially since 2002; this year, the network of concerts includes more than 1,950 concerts in 69 countries, according to Pearl.

, said Pearl, came about because a  friend and composer, Russell Steinberg, put him in touch with the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles. A violin, piano and reader trio performed a piece that Steinberg had composed in 2004.

"They read four of his [Daniel's] stories," said Pearl. "It was the first classical piece that was inspired by the pages of the Wall Street Journal."

Judea and Ruth Pearl are due to attend the concert Sunday and receive an Honorary Peace Ambassador Award from Love Is the Solution, an organization dedicated to world peace.

"This was a surprise to us," said Pearl of the award, "but we rarely reject awards if people perceive our activity to be along the line of peace, which we believe it is, and we are thankful that people think of us."

A Concert for World Peace—A Tribute to Journalist Daniel Pearl, 7:30 p.m. Sunday at , 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Tickets: $10 in advance (call 818-788-600) or $15 at the door; all proceeds benefit the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

 

 


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