Playing for Change: Peace Through Music

• Posted 8 December 2008 16:04 GMT
• Written by Juliana Rincón Parra
• Read this post in Português, македонски, Français, 繁體中文, 简体中文, বাংলা, Malagasy

MeetJohnSong brings to our attention a global collaborative musical project called Playing for Change: Peace through Music. The concept behind it is that music is a common uniting factor between different cultures, ethnicities and regions.The film and music will be available in 2009, and more information on the project can be found on the Playing for Change website.

Playing for Change is not just about making and distributing music, their foundation (PFCF) is building and sustaining a Music School in the township of Gugulethu and an Arts Center in Johannesburg in South Africa as a way to provide opportunities for growth and education to the youth in the community and they are also maintaining a Tibetan refugee center in India and Nepal.

The trailer that features the song Stand by Me performed by musicians from different parts of the globe made its rounds a few months back as a viral video, now it comes back with the complete story of how music can erase borders and frontiers:

You can also view the extended trailer for the documentary:

This project is not the only one of its type, author Suzanne Lehn told us this past week of YouTube's virtual symphony orchestra open to participants from all over the world:

YouTube is orchestrating an exciting new collaborative project: inviting musicians worldwide to be auditioned online for the world's first virtual symphony orchestra. Amateurs as well as professionals, have until January 28, 2009 to download sheet music, and upload videos of their performances.