NEWS RELEASE

9/29/03

Heidi Williams, publicity and programming coordinator, Office for Religious Life: (650) 724-7174, heidi.williams@stanford.edu

Second Annual Daniel Pearl Music Day set for Oct. 9 in Memorial Church

Daniel Pearl, the late Wall Street Journal reporter and Stanford alumnus, was an avid musician who played the violin and mandolin.

"He joined a band, orchestra or chamber group in every town in which he lived and formed connections through his passion for music and friendship," according to a statement on the Daniel Pearl Foundation website.

Islamic terrorists in Pakistan murdered Pearl in February 2002. A concert in his memory, with several of the university's top musical talents, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 ­ the day before he would have turned 40 ­ in Memorial Church.

The Second Annual Daniel Pearl Music Day at Stanford University is free and open to the public. It is part of a worldwide effort, promoted by the foundation, to stage concerts and performances "with a message of tolerance, understanding and global harmony" from Oct. 7 to 19.

The Stanford program features the following pieces and musicians:

• Terzetto, by Antonin Dvorak, performed by Livia Sohn, viola, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet's Geoff Nuttall, violin, and Barry Shiffman, viola. (The quartet is the university's ensemble-in-residence.)
• Sink or Swim, by Associate Professor of Music Jonathan Berger, performed by Livia Sohn, violin.
• Zwei Gesänge, by Johannes Brahms, performed by senior music lecturer and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Lane; Barry Shiffman, viola; and Associate Professor (Teaching) of Music George Barth, piano.
• A jazz solo composed and performed by Assistant Professor of Music Mark Applebaum.

When the first event was organized last October, musicians responded with an outpouring of support. A concert was held at Stanford with performances by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and Applebaum. There also were concerts by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman (in Oklahoma City and Kansas City) and Sir Elton John (in New Jersey), among many others.

As of last month, more than 100 concerts and performances were planned for this year's Pearl Music Day.

Pearl graduated from Stanford in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in communication. He was serving as the South Asia bureau chief for the Journal when he was abducted and killed.

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