October concerts honor murdered journalist

By: Kara Fordyce

Posted: 10/1/08

Four months after Sept. 11, 2001, Wall Street Journal reporter and classical violinist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan.

Seven years later, when Pearl would have celebrated his 45th birthday, the NT College of Music is dedicating all of its October concerts to him.

According to the Web site, the Daniel Pearl Music Days - Oct. 1 to Oct. 31 - represent an international network of concerts using the power of music to reaffirm a commitment to tolerance and humanity.

James Scott, dean of the College of Music, said this event will illustrate the power of music through the variety of concerts and spirit behind them. It will also reveal the meaning of humanity beyond using music by itself.

"The Daniel Pearl Music Days will bring in news services of major media," Scott said. "One of our objectives is to connect our music school to the entire community."

Jennifer Lane of the music faculty said she had participated in the Daniel Pearl Music Days in 2003 to 2005 at Stanford University, where she previously taught and of which Daniel Pearl was an alumnus.

Lane said the idea for NT's concert series came from an exhibit Scott saw at the World Buddhist Revolution in April.

At the event, students from Buddhism for Peace, a faith-based NT club created in 2007, partly sponsored an exhibit titled "Gandhi, King, Ikeda, A Legacy of Creating Peace." The exhibit featured three people from different parts of the world - India, the United States and Japan - and three different religious traditions - Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism - who combined justice work with spirituality in an effort to transform society through the alteration of themselves as individuals.

"After Dean Scott visited this exhibit, he decided the College of Music should participate in Daniel Pearl Music Days," Lane said.

Lane said some of the performances featured this October will include a debut concert of new orchestra conductor David Itkin today , an Early Music Collegium on Daniel Pearl's birthday on Oct. 10, jazz concerts, faculty and student recitals, inauguration events for the new Winspear organ beginning Oct. 20, student concerts and vocal concerts.

According to an NT news release, there will be 100 or more concerts in this series, at least 50 from the College of Music.

In addition, she said Dan's Silverleaf, Hailey's, Rubber Gloves Recording Studios and other live-music clubs will be participating, as well as the Greater Denton Arts Council.

Lee said Denton is growing, and new people are arriving, making it their own.

"Daniel Pearl Music Days makes the importance of music in Denton more evident," Lee said. "It also shows what a tremendous impact a place can have when it leads its social networks through music."

At 6 Oct. 14, the radio, television and film department will screen the documentary "The Journalist and the Jihadi" in the Lyceum of the University Union.

The screening is part of the "EncoUNTers international speakers series."

Lee said this film will help students understand who Daniel Pearl was and remind the rest of the community how Daniel Pearl Music Days came about and why they are significant.

"Our freshmen were 10 or 11 years old when Daniel Pearl was captured and killed," Lee said. "Most of the classes I have spoken with didn't know before this who he even was."

According to the Daniel Pearl Foundation Web site, including a dedication to music concerts will reaffirm people's commitment to international friendship and take a stand against the divisive forces that took Daniel Pearl's life.