'Pulsations' Musical Relay of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad Travels Around the Globe for Make Music Day on June 21

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NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants)

Jun 06, 2024, 09:00 ET

India's A.R. Rahman, Canada's Twin Flames, Ukraine's Pyrih i Batih, and 20 more global artists join a musical journey led by trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf

NEW YORK, June 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a partnership between the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the Arab World Institute, and the Make Music Alliance, musicians around the world will unite their music, and their hearts, through a rhythmic relay on June 21 for Make Music Day (also known as the Fête de la Musique).

Starting in New Zealand and traveling throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, this 100% live online broadcast, entitled Pulsations (meaning "heartbeat" in French), will feature musicians in 24 countries performing free public concerts. Taking turns on the broadcast, each band will perform a 10-minute set, ending their last song with a "heartbeat" rhythm composed by renowned French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf. At that moment, like the passing of the Olympic torch, the band in the next country will join the livestream, match the heartbeat rhythm, and seamlessly begin their own set.

This relay continues for 4 hours, from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM Paris time, with a diverse range of artists and styles all joined by a common rhythm. Finally, the livestream arrives at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, where Ibrahim Maalouf & The Trumpets of Michel-Ange will perform a final, hourlong set.

The full program will be streamed on the homepage of makemusicday.org, and will also be shown live on large public screens in several participating cities, including Paris, Toronto, and Hannover.

Support for Pulsations comes from Harman, the global leader in pro audio, whose AKG microphones will be provided to artists around the world to use in the livestream. Additional support comes from the Cheswatyr Foundation. In France, media partners include FIP (Radio France), France Médias Monde, and Konbini.

Just like Make Music Day itself, Pulsations includes both amateur and professional musicians, joining from around the world with a vast range of styles. Superstar composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist A.R. Rahman will perform live from the KM Music Conservatory in India, which he founded in 2008. Funk-pop band TOI of New Zealand will sing "Ain't Just Dreaming," a song written with members of the NZ Olympic Team that reached #1 on New Zealand's Hot Singles Chart. In Los Angeles, a city gearing up to host the Summer Olympics in 2028, jazz singer Dwight Trible will perform with the Fernando Pullum Youth Arts Center Jazz Ensemble in front of the Vision Theater, highlighting the cultural richness of South L.A. In Canada, where June 21 also marks National Indigenous People's Day, the Indigenous folk-rock duo Twin Flames will perform at Hugh's Room Live in Toronto. The Ukraine city of Lviv, celebrating Make Music Day without interruption for the last 12 years, will present the poetic Pyrih i Batih. Viewers will discover many more kinds of music, from the South African musical bow to Byzantine sacred music, in the course of the day's relay.

In a joint statement, Pulsations organizers Dominique Hervieu, director of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, and Jack Lang, president of the Arab World Institute, said: "Since its inception in France in 1982, Make Music Day has transcended borders to become an international event. Originally conceived by Jack Lang, who served as the French Minister of Culture at the time and is now the President of the Arab World Institute, Make Music Day aims to impart a universal dimension to this special day centered around music, widely regarded as the most unifying art form globally. ...This international performance is poised to be a flagship event of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the official cultural program of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Pulsations project mirrors our collective values, promoting camaraderie, peace, and mutual respect worldwide." (Full statement at makemusicday.org/Lang-Hervieu-Pulsations.)

Pulsations is also the flagship event of 2024's international Make Music Day. Currently celebrated in 120 countries and 29 U.S. states, the annual summer solstice event presents free, participatory music performances of every kind. New global musical traditions include "#MySongIsYourSong," co-organized by Make Music Nigeria, in which songwriters and composers are invited to record a song by another artist, from another part of the world, and hear their original song covered in return; and "Make Music, Make Friends," co-organized by Make Music Day U.K., which this year will connect 60 classes of school children aged 7-13 from Australia, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, U.K., and the U.S., who will exchange musical greeting videos and learn about different regions and cultures in the process.

Over 5,000 concerts and music-making events will take place for Make Music Day in the U.S. Among the highlights are two world premieres commissioned for the day. "Baby You," co-presented by the Prezkrój Foundation of Warsaw, Poland, is an a cappella choral work by Michael Schachter featuring community singers in Milwaukee, to be accompanied by the flying of a 112-foot-long hot air balloon in the shape of a sleeping baby on the shore of Lake Michigan. And "Earthgroove" by Russell Standridge will be played by marching and community bands around the country, brought together by the National Federation of High School Associations.

Make Music Day is presented by The NAMM Foundation.

2024 Pulsations Performance Schedule

3:00 PM in France (1:00 AM local time): TOI
Auckland, New Zealand instagram.com/toimusicnz

3:10 PM in France (11:10 PM local time): The Vampires
Sydney, Australia thevampires.com.au

3:20 PM in France (10:20 PM local time): Miki Kusumoto (soprano), Masaki Yoshida (baritone), and Shiyo Matsuura (piano)
Sakura Studio Kobe in Kobe, Japan mediatv.ne.jp/ongakunosaijitsu

3:30 PM in France (9:30 PM local time): Jazz Lambaux
The Wanch in Hong Kong, China linktr.ee/jazzlambaux

3:40 PM in France (7:10 PM local time): AR Rahman
KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India arrahman.com

3:50 PM in France (4:50 PM local time): Pyrih i Batih
Pidnebesna Tearoom in Lviv, Ukraine fetedelamusique.lviv.ua

4:00 PM in France (5:00 PM local time): Ahmet Beyler
Istanbul, Turkey ahmetbeyler.com

4:10 PM in France (3:10 PM local time): Matthew Nolan
Museum of Literature Ireland in Dublin, Ireland matthewnolanmusic.com

4:20 PM in France (5:20 PM local time): Pandelis Zafiris
Patras, Greece facebook.com/pandelis.zafiris

4:30 PM in France (5:30 PM local time): Shari Afrika
Sarakasi Dome in Nairobi, Kenya linktr.ee/Shari_Afrika

4:40 PM in France (4:40 PM local time): Thandeka Mfinyongo
NWU University in Potchefstroom, South Africa thandekamfinyongo.com

4:50 PM in France (3:50 PM local time): Johnny Drille, The Recurrance, Ikorodu Pleiadians, D'Elite Men, and Rotimikeys makemusiclagos.org.ng
Lagos, Nigeria

5:10 PM in France (3:10 PM local time): West Coast Ebusua
Alliance Française in Accra, Ghana youtube.com/@westcoastebusua

5:20 PM in France (12:20 PM local time): Bateras 100% Brazil
Bateras Beat Music School in São Paulo, Brazil baterasbrasil.com.br

5:30 PM in France (9:30 AM local time): Todd Clouser and Nereidas
La Saladita, Mexico toddclouser.com

5:40 PM in France (8:40 AM local time): Dwight Trible and the Fernando Pullum Youth Arts Center Jazz Ensemble
Vision Theater in Los Angeles, United States dwighttrible.bandcamp.com

5:50 PM in France (11:50 AM local time): Twin Flames
Hugh's Room Live in Toronto, Canada twinflamesmusic.com

6:00 PM in France (5:00 PM local time): Beyond Skin Fusionarium
Belfast, United Kingdom beyondskin.net/fusionarium-mmd

6:10 PM in France (6:10 PM local time): Antono Marchetti (bass), Giovanni Dituri (guitar), Nicola Stefanelli (guitar), and Edoardo Sangiorgio (drums)
CPM Music Institute in Milan, Italy cpm.it

6:20 PM in France (7:20 PM local time): George Vrakas
Faneromeni Square in Nicosia, Cyprus instagram.com/george_vrakas

6:30 PM in France (5:30 PM local time): Afghanistan National Institute of Music
Braga Calouste Gulbenkian Conservatory of Music in Braga, Portugal anim-music.org

6:40 PM in France (6:40 PM local time): Sambějce
České Budějovice, Czech Republic instagram.com/sambejce

6:50 PM in France (6:50 PM local time): Makatumbe and Friends
NDR Stage in Hannover, Germany makatumbe.com

7:00 PM in France (7:00 PM local time): Ibrahim Maalouf
Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France ibrahimmaalouf.com

About Make Music Day

Held annually on June 21 to coincide with the summer solstice, Make Music Day is part of the international Fête de la Musique taking place in thousands of cities across 120 countries. The daylong musical free-for-all celebrates music in all its forms, encouraging people to band together and play in free public concerts. This year, over 150 U.S. cities are organizing Make Music celebrations, encompassing thousands of music making opportunities nationwide. Make Music Day is presented by The NAMM Foundation and coordinated by the nonprofit Make Music Alliance. For more information, please visit makemusicday.org.

SOURCE NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants)