New Modes of Cooperation
April 2008
Banner photo: Frank Krahmer/Getty Images
Artists for Peace Concert
The International Committee of Artists for Peace (ICAP) presented its first Annual Founder’s Concert on December 16, showcasing jazz legends and multiple Grammy award winners Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and their friends at Royce Hall, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in southern California, U.S.A. Over 1,500 people attended the show, which was dedicated to SGI President Daisaku Ikeda in celebration of his 80th birthday on January 2, 2008.
ICAP was initiated by performing artists of SGI-USA and is a coalition in support of the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-10). Based on its mission to provide peace education through the performing arts, ICAP confers an annual "Humanities in the Arts Peace Award," produces cultural exchange concerts and promotes peace education through music.
Actor Ron Glass served as emcee, introducing Shorter and Hancock (since, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year). Joining Hancock and Shorter on stage were bass-guitarist Nathan East, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and a 28-member ensemble of UCLA music students.
The idea of performing together with the students reflected, said Hancock, Mr. Ikeda’s emphasis on the importance of young people for enabling society to progress.
Hancock introduced a new composition for piano to celebrate the 80th birthday of Mr. Ikeda, whom he said he considers his mentor in life. He remarked that, for all Mr. Ikeda’s significant achievements, it is "the warmth and joy of his humanity [that have] created the greatest impact on my life."
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