Jourdan Urbach Uses Music to Create Harmony Among Youth Living in Regions of Conflict
In 2010, the World of Children presented Jourdan Urbach, Julliard violin virtuoso, with our Youth Award for his dedication to sharing the power of music and medicine to help heal children with neurological disabilities. Through his organization, Concerts for a Cure, he has gathered musicians and entire orchestras to perform music to help raise money for neurological care and research.
Jourdan is excited to share news of his current project, Resolution 242, with World of Children friends and supporters: “One of the ground-breaking programs that I have been able to spearhead as a result of my World of Children, is the completion of the ‘treatment’ for a 6 episode reality series that visits five regions of conflict bringing together in each one, a band of six young musicians, three from each side of the cultural divide, to write lyrics for the music I compose for them and then compete with their bands on the 6th episode,” he said. The winning band will receive a world tour.
“This is far more than just a competition or listening to young musicians from politically hostile areas playing ethnically inspired music together. For the first time, these individuals, originally opposed to one another, will be on the same side of a conflict, competing against the other bands for the win,” he said. “It is canon in the conflict resolution field that reconciliation is most effective when two opposing sides join together for a common goal — whether it be solving childrens’ healthcare issues in their homelands, or making music together.”
The title of the series, Resolution 242, is named after one of the most hotly contended UN Security Council Resolutions, which, in the wake of the six day war, called idealistically for an end to belligerency and a new respect for the sovereignty of every State and its right to exist free from acts of violence. Although the Resolution specifically targets conflict in the Middle East, it has become symbolic of the right of every people in every culture to live in peace. “It is for that reason that we have named our musical conflict resolution experiment in its honor: to live up to the ideals and dreams encapsulated by Resolution 242,” Jourdan said.
Jourdan explains that the theme of Resolution 242 is that from a common love of making music, young individuals from across these deep seeded conflict divides can achieve non-violent conflict resolution—and this means a peaceful future for all of our children.
Jourdan is in the process of presenting Resolution 242 to major Television networks, and the World of Children wants to send our best wishes to Jourdan in his continued efforts to use music as a means of healing the lives of youth in true need, all over the world.