EMMA for Peace, or the Euro Mediterranean Music Academy, is an international

Nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

for the promotion of peace through music diplomacy and education in Europe, Middle East and the Mediterranean region.

History

EMMA for Peace was founded by Paolo Petrocelli in 2012. In October 2013, EMMA for Peace was officially launched at the 13th

World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates was initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1990s, as a forum in which the Nobel Peace Laureates and the Peace Laureate Organizations could come together to address global issues with a view to encourage a ...

in Warsaw, Poland. Italian conductor

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

has been named Honorary President of EMMA for Peace.

Activities

EMMA for Peace aims to promote music as a tool for diplomacy through collaborations with international institutional partners such as the UN organizations (particularly

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and the

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

) and the

. EMMA is also active in individual partner countries with the support of national institutions, as well as organizing concerts at major venues and festivals throughout the region.

EMMA for Peace and the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

Under the patronage of

and the auspices of the Secretary General of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, EMMA for Peace organized in 2013 the inaugural concert of the 13th

in Warsaw, featuring Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra conducted by

John Axelrod John Neal Axelrod (born March 28, 1966, in Houston, Texas) is a Swiss/American conductor. In 2024, Axelrod was named Music Director and Principal Conductor of the newly created Swiss National Orchestra. Axelrod was elected Principal Conductor of ...

EMMA for Peace and UNESCO

Since 2014, EMMA for Peace is engaged in promoting the

International Jazz Day International Jazz Day is an International Day declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe." It is celebrated ...

, organizing, co-organizing and supporting many editions initiatives and projects in Italy and abroad. In 2015, EMMA for Peace participated at the official program for the celebration of 70th anniversary of

with an institutional concert at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in New York, featuring the Korean Chamber Orchestra, the UNESCO Artist for Peace Ino Mirkovich, the South Korean violinist

Soyoung Yoon Soyoung Yoon (; born October 28, 1984) is a South Korean violinist. She was born in Seoul, South Korea. She started playing the violin at the age of five. She plays on a 1773 ex-Bückeburg J.B. Guadagnini violin. Yoon attended Yewon Middle Scho ...

and the British singer

Carly Paoli Carly Alison Hopkinson(born 28 January 1989), known professionally as Carly Paoli, is a British classically trained singer, born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. History After leaving college, she performed in concerts and for corporate e ...

EMMA for Peace and UNICEF

In 2013, EMMA for Peace joined forces with

designing a music education program conceived to support Syrian children in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey and promoting solidarity benefit concerts in Europe featuring Syrian musicians.

EMMA for Peace and UNHCR

In 2014, EMMA for Peace launched a joint project with

in Malta in support of young refugees of the Mediterranean. Musicians from the Malta Youth Orchestra and young migrants came together for a powerful musical experience participating in a number of workshops where improvisation, collective lyric-writing and musical composition were the building blocks culminating in a public performance. In 2018, EMMA for Peace organized a charity concert for Syrian refugees with

in Milan, as a result of a collaboration between Italian and Syrian artists.

EMMA for Peace and La Scala Theatre Academy

In 2014, EMMA for Peace facilitated a collaboration for the very first time between

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House (, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is ...

and

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

Theatre of Milan organizing an Opera Gala concert in Cairo, featuring the participation of acclaimed young singers of La Scala Theatre Academy. On this occasion, EMMA for Peace presented “Opera for Peace” an educational project with the aim of bringing opera music and its related professions to both conservatoire students and young people in the refugee camps of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine and Turkey.

EMMA for Peace and the European Union Youth Orchestra

In 2019, EMMA for Peace organized the very first concert of the

European Union Youth Orchestra The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is a youth orchestra with members drawn from the 27 members states of the European Union. Since its foundation in 1976, it has connected music colleges and the professional music world for generations ...

(EUYO) in Oman, presenting a special gala concert with Latvian Soprano

Kristine Opolais Kristīne Opolais (born 12 November 1979) is a Latvian operatic soprano. Biography Opolais was born in Rēzekne, Latvia, and studied at the Latvian Academy of Music. Opolais started her career as a member of the chorus with Latvian National Ope ...

, conducted by

Vasily Petrenko Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko (; born 7 July 1976) is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Biography Of Russian and Ukrainian ancestry, Petrenko was born in Leningrad, USSR. He attend ...

at the

Royal Opera House Muscat The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) is Oman's premier venue for musical arts and culture. The opera house is located in Shati Al-Qurm district of Muscat on Sultan Qaboos Street. Built on the royal orders of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, the Royal Opera ...

Music Diplomacy - Stories from the World

In 2014, EMMA for Peace launched a global campaign for the promotion of music diplomacy. In 2020, EMMA creates the first blog community dedicated to music diplomacy.

Artists

EMMA for Peace artists include: * Alessio Allegrini *

Hiba Al Kawas Hiba Al Kawas (; born 17 July 1972) is a Lebanese operatic soprano, composer and academic. BIography Hiba Al Kawas was born on 17 July 1972 in Sidon, Lebanon, to a Sunni Muslim family. Career Composer Hiba Al Kawas has recorded 21 works of h ...

* Aeham Ahmad * Nahel Al Halabi *

Maias Alyamani MAias Alyamani, also spelt Mayas Al Yamani, Alyamani Alyamani (, born 21 March 1981 in Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian violinist and composer. Further, he is the founder and leader of the Arabic world music group ''MAqam Ensemble'', and a profession ...

Kinan Azmeh Kinan Azmeh (, born June 10, 1976, in Damascus), is a Syrian clarinet player and composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. Performing with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Ra ...

* Alessio Bax * Elisso Bolkvadze *

Ezio Bosso Ezio Bosso (; 13 September 1971 – 14 May 2020) was an Italian composer, pianist, double bass player, and conductor. He composed film scores such as '' Un amore'' and Gabriele Salvatores' ''Io non ho paura'', and ballets which were performe ...

* Franko Bozac *

Michele Campanella Michele Campanella (born 5 June 1947) is an Italian pianist who specialises in the music of Franz Liszt, and is also a conductor. Campanella was born in Naples in 1947. He won the Alfredo Casella Prize at age 19, after studying with Vincenzo V ...

Gautier Capuçon Gautier Capuçon (born 3 September 1981) is a French cellist. He is the younger brother of violinist Renaud Capuçon. Biography Gautier Capuçon was born in Chambéry, Savoie, the youngest of three siblings. His brother is the violinist Rena ...

* Achref Chargui * Zane Dalal *

Ihab Darwish Ihab Darwish is an Emirati composer, Universal Music Artist, and Recording Academy voting member. Darwish has been playing music since the age of ten and grew up in a family that supported his passion for music and composing. He received his Bache ...

Yousra Dhahbi Yousra ( ; , ; born Sivin Nesim (. ) is an Egyptian actress and singer. She is considered as a glamorous icon for the Middle East and is an influential voice in the region. Career Yousra participated as a main Role actress in almost 81 films, ...

* Armand Diangienda *

Zade Dirani Zade Dirani (Arabic: زيد ديراني, born in 1980), is a Jordanian American pianist, composer, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa, of Damascene descent, whose genre blending songs are inspired by Latin, p ...

Michalis Economou Michalis is a Greek masculine given name. People with the name * Michalis Agrimakis (born 1992), Greek footballer * Michalis Alexandropoulos (born 1972), retired Greek male indoor volleyball and beach volleyball player * Michalis Arkadis, Greek ...

* Charlene Farrugia *

David Fray David Fray (born 24 May 1981) is a French classical pianist. Voted "Newcomer of the Year 2008" by the ''BBC Music Magazine'', He gained attention for his musical interpretation as well as his eccentricities in performance and rehearsal, which we ...

* Andrea Griminelli * Jihae * Ayyub Guliyev *

Malek Jandali Malek Jandali (, ) (born 1972) is a West Germany, West German-born Syrian-Americans, American composer and pianist, whose music integrates Middle-Eastern modes and Arabic maqams into Western structures of classical music. He is the founder of th ...

Ricky Kej Ram Gyan "Ricky" Kej (born 5 August 1981) is an Indian music composer, environmentalist, a three-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner and a four-time Grammy Awards, Grammy nominee. Kej was conferred with a Padma Shri, Padma Shri award in 20 ...

Marcel Khalife Marcel Khalife (; born 10 June 1950 in Amchit) is a Lebanese musical composer, singer, and oud player. Khalife is considered a folk hero in the Arab world, and he has been described as the "Bob Dylan of the Middle East." Biography In 1983 ...

Rami Khalife Rami or Ramy may refer to: People Given name In music *Rami (singer), Japanese singer * Rami El-Kaleh (born 1983), Libyan-Irish musician *Rami Jaffee (born 1969), American keyboardist *Rami Kleinstein (born 1962), Israeli singer and composer *Ram ...

* Zvonimir Hacko * Mohammed Haddad *

Amir Issaa Amir Issaa also known as Amir or Meticcio (born 10 December 1978) is an Italian rapper. He is called ''Meticcio'' (Mestizo) because his father is from Egypt and his mother is Italian. Discography Solo career Albums *2004 - ''Naturale'' (with Mr. ...

Tetsuji Honna Tetsuji (written: 哲二, 哲治, 鉄二, 鉄史, 轍次 or 徹治) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer and manager *, Japanese golfer *, Japanese mixed martial artist *, Japanese lexico ...

*Miina Järvi ( :et) * The Khoury Project *

Katia and Marielle Labèque The Labèque sisters, Katia (born 11 March 1950) and Marielle (born 6 March 1952), are an internationally recognised French piano duo. Biography Education and first performances Katia and Marielle Labèque were born in Bayonne, on the southwest ...

Tasmin Little Tasmin Elizabeth Little (born 13 May 1965) is an English classical music, classical violinist. She is a concerto solo (music), soloist and also performs as a Concert#Recital, recitalist and chamber musician. She has released numerous albums, winn ...

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized as Malta’s foremost musical institution. Founded in 1968 as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra, in September 1997 it became an independent body and was officially named as Malta's national orchestra. In ...

(music organization) *

Gianluca Marcianò Gianluca is an Italian masculine given name. Its English translation is "John Luke" and it is often a shorter form of "Giovanni Luca". * Gianluca Alfenoni (born 1996), Argentine footballer *Gianluca Arrighi (born 1972), Italian writer *Gianluca ...

Cristian Marcia Cristian is the Romanian, Spanish and Italian form of the male given name Christian. In Romanian, it is also a surname. Cristian may refer to: People * Cristian (footballer, born 1994), Brazilian footballer * Cristian Adomniței (born 1975), Ro ...

Antoine Marguier Antoine Marguier is a Swiss-French orchestra conductor and pedagogue. Biography Antoine Marguier was born in 1969 in Switzerland and started his career as solo clarinet under the direction of Claudio Abbado in the European Union Youth Orchest ...

* Aleksandar Markovic * Ino Mirkovic *

Andrea Morricone Andrea Morricone (born 10 October 1964) is an Italian composer and conductor, known for his film scores. He is the third child, and second son, of late composer and Academy Award winner Ennio Morricone. He composed the film scores for the Ameri ...

Nayer Nagui Nayer Nagui (born 1970) is an Egyptian composer, conductor, musical director and pianist. Educated in Egypt, London and Paris, he has led orchestras internationally and frequently conducts the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, among the youngest orchestral ...

Jamal Ouassini Jamaal ( ''/'') is an Arabic given name and surname meaning "beauty."Jamaal
at BehindTheName.com It is popular in th ...

* Oliver Poole *

Quartetto d’Archi della Scala In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

* Alexander Romanovsky *

Ksenija Sidorova Ksenija Sidorova (born on 18 May 1988 in Riga) is a Latvian accordionist. In 2016, she signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Her first album on the label, ''Carmen'', is a recreation of Georges Bizet's ''Carmen ''Ca ...

Vladimir Spivakov Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov (; born 12 September 1944) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra. Spivakov was born in Ufa. He was taught by Yuri Yankelevic ...

Markus Stockhausen Markus Stockhausen (born 2 May 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz St ...

Luis Szarán Luis Szarán (born 24 September 1953) is a Paraguayan musician, orchestra director, composer and musical researcher; since 2002, founder and director of the social and community integration program "'Sounds of the Earth''", which created the sc ...

Pejman Tadayon Pejman () is a masculine Iranian given name or surname. It may refer to: Given name * Pejman Akbarzadeh, Iranian musician * Pejman Bazeghi, Iranian actor * Pejman Hadadi, Iranian musician * Pejman Montazeri, Iranian footballer * Pejman Rohanifar, ...

United Nations Orchestra United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(music organization) *

Miran Vaupotić Miran may refer to: Places *Miran (Xinjiang), an ancient oasis town in Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, southeastern Xinjiang, western China *Miran fort, a ruined defensive structure built by the Tibetan Empire, located in ...

Karim Wasfi Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim, Kerim or Karem) () is a given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honourable". It is also one of the Names of God. Given name Karim * Karim Abdel Aziz (born 1975), Egyptian acto ...

Hirofumi Yoshida is a Japanese orchestral conductor. He resides in Italy, but grew up in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. Education Yoshida's parents, his father Toru from Tokyo and his mother Ayako from Hokkaido, send their son to the “Kōnodai High School”. L ...

Ruben Zahra Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on the ...

Artists who believe in our mission
EMMA for Peace Gadget, Retrieved 3 March 2015

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.emmaforpeace.org Music organisations based in Italy 2013 establishments in Italy Non-profit organisations based in Italy Cultural diplomacy International cultural organizations Arts organizations established in 2013