On May 24th 1993 Jean Michel Jarre was awarded the honour of UNESCO Ambassador for Tolerance and Youth at UNESCO's headquaters in the centre of Paris.
Just before he embarked on his triumphant Europe in Concert
tour, Jean Michel Jarre declared that he was ready to meet the
challenge set by UNESCO during their Year of Tolerance in
1995,to perform concerts around the world to highlight the
need for tolerance around the world.
He said in Paris,"I am aiming to coordinate public bodies such
as local authorities,private entrepreneurs and musicians to
give what neither power nor money can buy.We aim to be cultu-
ral commandos."
Widely travelled and sensitive to the voices of different ethic groups, Jean Michel Jarre has always felt a deep,lasting compassion for people and their cultural history. As a defender of human right and the environment (trough his work with Jacques Cousteau), his Concerts for Tolerance will be given across the five continents,throughout 1995-1996.
The Concerts for Tolerance are designed to create a universal cultural event of unique world-wide impact, involving audiences of millions, attracting the attention of both local and global media with extensive reader-and viewership figures.
These are unique events. The opportunity to participate in them
and thereby contribute to them should be grasped in order to
be part of what will certainly be rated as one of the most
significant and valuable celebrations of the century.
Each concert, a one-off performance,will be a vast,out-
door,free community event,enhanced with the integration of
local musical traditions and the use of local graphic artists
andperformers.
Using the latest state-of-the-art technology,the surrounding architecture of each location will become the backdrop for an extraordinary concert with synchronised lights,lasers,giant image projections and pyrotechnics.This total music and vision experience will be sensually stunning and will last for over two hours.
Everywhere,the concerts will be the culmination of a full week dedicated to the theme of tolerance.Seminars and other rele- vent activities,organised by UNESCO,will be held in local schools and universities.
Universal harmony is the spirit of UNESCO. Co-operations between nations in the fields of education,science and culture helps the organisation achieve its twin aims:to study the problems of the world and take action to solve them.
UNESCO's objective is to encourage the application of social scienes to such important issues as education,development,urban planning,birth contol,youth,human rights,protection of the environment and of the world's natural and cultural heritage, while advocating an overall philosophy of peace and tolerance.
By declaring 1995 Year for Tolerance,UNESCO is seeking to
promote mutual understanding and respect among nations and
people.
To help achieve its goals,the Organisation has secured the
active and gracious support of Jean Michel Jarre,whose unique
style of music and unsurpassed performances symbolise the
principles it so strongly proclaims.UNESCO has honoured Jean
Michel Jarre by making him Goodwill Ambassador for Tolerance
and Youth.
At the heart of all UNESCO's aclivities lies the promotion and
protection of human rights.The Organisation constantly battles
against all forms of prejudice and promote the principles of
equality and tolerance regardless of race,sex, language,or
religion. It distributes scientific data to dispel racial
discrimination and raises the standards of woman by allowing
them access to better education,and by encouraging equality
between men and woman.
In addition to his role as Goodwill Ambassador, Jean Michel
Jarre has been asked by UNESCO to undertake a series of concerts
around the world.By performing one concert in each of
the world's contnents,Jean Michel Jarre and UNESCO hope to
bring attention to the Year of Tolerance and as such are
preparing the concerts under the banner of Concerts for Tolerance.
Some of the Concerts are very much in the initial stages of planning but the first show is to take place in Paris, the home of UNESCO, on Bastille Day this year. A concert in Atlanta has also been given the date of May 6th 1996, when the entire world's media are focussed on the city for the Olympic Games. As the year of 1995 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations as well as the end of World War II,the celebration promises to be one of the most ambitious and memorable cultural multimedia events ever to take place on this planet.
Thanks to Conductor of the Masses