On July 19th 2004 Kitaro was awarded
"Artist of Peace Award"
Earthdance founder Chris Decker announced
a major new addition to the Festival - the establishment of the
to-be-annual "Artist Of Peace Award," which will honor celebrated
Japanese-born composer and musician Kitaro in this, its inaugural
year.
Bestowed by the Earthdance Foundation, the Artist Of Peace Award
was conceived to recognize a creative force in the global community
whose artistic expression inherently fosters a spirit of harmony
and peace, the overarching mission of Earthdance. "At this point
in our evolution, it seemed the right thing to do, to pay tribute
to those working towards the same goals, and there was no one more
perfect than Kitaro to honor in launching the award. Not just because
his work has always communicated themes of peace, but also because
he is such a pioneer in electronic and ambient music, the art form
with which Earthdance is so closely aligned. We couldn't be more
excited." States Chris Decker
GRAMMY® and Golden Globe-winning Kitaro, who is renowned globally
for his Silk Road series and other instrumental masterpieces, received
the award at an official presentation in Los Angeles on July 19th.
The groundbreaking artist is currently on his 2004 tour of Asia,
during which he'll further spread the Earthdance message to concert
audiences across the region. His whole career has been dedicated
to bringing inner and outer peace to the people of our world. He
has also contributed to the board and of service to many worldwide
environmental organizations
For as long as Kitaro has won worldwide acclaim for his "age old/space
age" blend of traditional eastern musical forms and contemporary
Western idioms, he has also been known for his visionary infusion
of themes of peace, spirituality, and harmony into his work. Kitaro's
latest CD, 2003's GRAMMY-nominated Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai, began
an extended cycle of overtly peace-themed albums inspired by the
events of 9/11 to be released by the artist's longtime label Domo
Records.
On September 28, a few days after EarthDance 2004, Kanpai Records
a division of the Domo Music Group will release two Kitaro influenced
projects; Reinterpretations, a compilation spotlighting remixes
of Kitaro tracks by high-profile and hot underground producers,
all of whom were given the directive of putting their unique spin
on timeless music that "unites, heals, and soothes the human spirit."
Also on September 18th date Kanpai will release Peas.
…filters. A sonic adventure ranging from down tempo to
breakbeat. Each track contains a sample from legendary Japanese
world music pioneer, Kitaro, which Peas seamlessly weaves into his
original beats and melodies.
Peas, a performer at this year's Northern California EarthDance
event provided music for the video you are about to see in tribute
to Kitaro.
At this year's Earthdance on September 18, Kitaro will lead an arena
audience in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia through a live concert version
of the Prayer For Peace,
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