MEDIA NOTE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
November 30, 2007

Transatlantic Concert at Carnegie Hall for 900 Students in New York and Istanbul

The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall will connect 400 students in New York City with 500 students in Istanbul, Turkey, through a distance learning concert and cross-cultural exchange, broadcast live on Wednesday, December 5, at 10:15 a.m. EST.  This event culminates a segment of the Citi Global Encounters exchange between eight high school classrooms in New York City and eight classrooms in Istanbul. Featured world-class musicians include Turkish clarinetist Hüsnü Şenlendirici, who will travel to New York to perform with The New York Gypsy All-Stars, and The Claudia Quintet, led by percussionist John Hollenbeck, who will travel to Istanbul.  They will focus on the shared elements of traditional Turkish music and American jazz.  The students will have an opportunity to ask questions of their transatlantic peers.

Sponsored by Citi Foundation and funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of State, Citi Global Encounters uses music as a window into global history and cultures by integrating curricula focused on the music of various world regions into New York City high school music and social studies classrooms.  This interdisciplinary program focuses on Turkey in 2007–2008.

Throughout fall 2007, eight classrooms in New York City and eight classrooms in Istanbul have linked through an online community of workshops and other activities to learn about each others’ day-to-day lives and music.  By spring 2008, the program will have reached 2,200 students from 40 New York City schools, who will learn about Turkish folk music traditions and culture in preparation for final concerts in Carnegie Hall featuring Turkish singer, composer, and scholar Latif Bolat.