MEMORIAL TRIBUTE CONCERT BY GILBERTO GIL TO BE HELD AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS

Note to Correspondents

MEMORIAL TRIBUTE CONCERT BY GILBERTO GIL TO BE HELD

AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS

This Friday, 19 September, renowned Brazilian composer, singer and guitarist Gilberto Gil will perform in the General Assembly Hall to honour the memory of those who lost their lives in the attack on the United Nations compound in Baghdad, Iraq, on 19 August 2003 and to mark the occasion of the International Day of Peace (21 September).

Mr. Gil, who is Brazil’s Minister of Culture, accepted an invitation to perform from Secretary-General Kofi Annan.  The hour-long concert will begin at 7 p.m. and Mr. Gil will play the guitar, accompanied by another guitarist and a percussionist.

Gilberto Gil was born in 1942 in Salvador, Bahia.  He is credited with founding the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália in the 1960s, along with fellow Bahia singers and composers like Caetano Veloso.  Today Mr. Gil is recognized as a pioneer in world music.  His music fuses traditional Brazilian genres, like bossa nova, samba and the rhythms of north-eastern Brazil, with elements from pop, rock, reggae, and funk.  The resulting mix, with its rich melodies and strong rhythms, reflects the diversity and vibrancy of Brazil’s culture and people.

In a career spanning four decades, Gilberto Gil has to his credit 64 albums, 12 gold records and five platinum singles and has recorded or performed with artists such as João Gilberto, Sting, Pink Floyd, Yes, the Wailers, Stevie Wonder, and Jimmy Cliff.  Just last week, Mr. Gil was honoured with the 2003 Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Person of the Year award in recognition of his professional, cultural and social accomplishments.

In recent years, he has been actively involved in social and environmental projects through a non-governmental organization he created, the Onda Azul Foundation.  Mr. Gil has been Minister of Culture in the cabinet of President Luis Ignácio Lula da Silva of Brazil since January 2003.

Mr. Gil will hold a press conference at United Nations Headquarters on Thursday, 18 September at 12:30 p.m. in Room S-226.

For Media Accreditation, call (212) 963-6934, e-mail: kabbaja@un.org.  For further information, call (212) 963-1072, e-mail: schuler-uluc@un.org.

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