April 30 is celebrated is International Jazz Day. International Jazz Day is a yearly event organized by UNESCO to celebrate “the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people.
The Day was proclaimed during the UNESCO General Conference in November 2011. The first annual International Jazz Day was kicked off in Paris by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock.
Armenia will also join the global celebration of the Jazz Day. This year, the concerts will be held at the open area of the Cascade, armenianjazz.am reports.
The concert program will feature the State Jazz Orchestra of Armenia, the Orchestra of the Public Radio and Television, the bands of Khachik Sahakyan and Garik Saribekian and others.
“Jazz makes the most of the world’s diversity, effortlessly crossing borders and bringing people together. From its roots in slavery, this music has raised a passionate voice against all forms of oppression. It speaks a language of freedom that is meaningful to all cultures,” Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, has said.
The objectives of International Jazz Day are to:
- Encourage exchange and understanding between cultures and employ these means to enhance tolerance;
- Offer effective tools at international, regional, subregional and national levels to foster intercultural dialogue;
- Raise public awareness about the role jazz music plays to help spread the universal values of UNESCO’s mandate;
- Promote intercultural dialogue towards the eradication of racial tensions and gender inequality and to reinforce the role of youth for social change;
- Recognize jazz as a universal language of freedom;
- Promote social progress with a special focus on developing countries utilizing new technologies and communications tools such as social networks;
- Contribute to UNESCO’s initiatives to promote mutual understanding among cultures, with a focus on education of young people in marginalized communities.
