Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS MESSENGER OF PEACE MAESTRO DANIEL BARENBOIM, WEST-EASTERN DIVAN

QUINTET TO PERFORM AT HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CONCERT, 15 DECEMBER

A concert by United Nations Messenger of Peace Maestro Daniel Barenboim on piano, with members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, will be held on Monday, 15 December 2008 at 7 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall.  The musicians will perform Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 114, D. 667 (“Trout”) by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and Fantasiestücke (“Fantasy Pieces”) Op. 73 by Robert Schumann (1810-1856).  The concert will be held in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marks the grand finale to a year-long, worldwide celebration.

World-renowned pianist, Daniel Barenboim, together with the late Palestinian literary scholar, Edward Said, founded the West-Eastern Divan Workshop in 1999 and the Barenboim-Said Foundation in 2004.  Through the study of music, the orchestra unites young musicians from Israel and Arab countries to enable dialogue between cultures and to promote the experience of playing music together.  Through time, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has proven that music is a useful way to break down barriers that may otherwise be insurmountable.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann and the Vice-President of the Government of Spain, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, will make opening remarks.  The concert is sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations and is organized by the Department of Public Information.

Maestro Daniel Barenboim will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, 12 December, in Room 226 to discuss the concert and his work as a Messenger of Peace.

United Nations accredited correspondents can obtain concert tickets through Gary Fowlie in the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, Room S-250A, tel: 212 963 6937.  For further information, please contact Graciela Hall at tel.: 212 963 2300, or e-mail: dhlweb2@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record