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"Peace Oratorio came into my mind starting in 2005
because I wanted to create a bigger work than a rock album or a folk album.
So the idea was to research three giant figures for Peace in the 20th century,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela
and finally I chose Martin Luther King. MLK because I'm American
but also because out of these three voices, his was the voice of a great poet.
Also, because I am a classical musician as well as a rock and folk artist,
my idea was to use the context of an Oratorio to create
something built around the kinds of music that I love
for example Reggae, Pop,
High Life music from Ghana
and to inject the classical form of the Oratorio with the sounds of our era.
I chose King's writings to inspire me and also the facts of his life,
the arc of his life to construct my work.
Martin Luther King followed very clearly
the path of non-violence
laid out by Gandhi.
There was a certain part of the movement in the United States
that wanted things to change faster
Martin Luther King always preached non-violence.
What he constructed
has a very important echo
for all of the conflicts in today's world.
In 1998 I had 600 kids
from 27 countries from around the world
in the Unesco auditorium
for the 5th Children's Summit sing my song "Brother, Brother",
and this experience gave me the belief
that "Brother, Brother, Sister, Sister, We can find a way to live in Peace"
could work in the Oratorio
could work in the Oratorio
I worked with the
local school districts (DASCO) of the city of Paris
with 200 children from the
10th, 18th, 19th and 20th quarters
10th, 18th, 19th and 20th quarters
to work on rhythm
singing in English
and also talking about the life of Martin Luther King.
and also talking about the life of Martin Luther King.
and also talking about the life of Martin Luther King.
There are three stages in my work with children.
First, I go to their school with my guitar, there are about twenty kids for each session
After, we had 200 children together in the Town Hall of the 20th quarter for a big rehearsal all together
After, we had 200 children together in the Town Hall of the 20th quarter for a big rehearsal all together
and then the following week on October 17th
we put together 500 children and we put on the show with
70 singers and 15 musicians for the kids.
70 singers and 15 musicians for the kids.
At a specific moment
they stood up from their seats in the audience and sang their two songs with all of us.
So there is a progression that I find really interesting which is very enriching musically and humanly as well.
So there is a progression that I find really interesting which is very enriching musically and humanly as well.
So there is a progression that I find really interesting which is very enriching musically and humanly as well.