US Embassy hosts Yalla concert for 10th Daniel Pearl World Music Days

10/14/2011

Yalla performs at the 10th annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days concert on October 7.

Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Sevara Nazarkhan sings at the Daniel Pearl World Music Days concert.

The U.S. Embassy observed the 10th annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days with a concert featuring the legendary Uzbek group Yalla on October 7. U.S. Ambassador George Krol opened the concert with remarks in both English and Uzbek, welcoming the crowd and thanking and introducing Yalla.

Keeping the intent of the Daniel Pearl World Music Days concept in mind, Ambassador Krol told the crowd: “Your presence here this afternoon is witness to the fact that music has the power to create channels of communication and connections between people of different cultures.”

As a journalist, Pearl committed his life to investigating and uncovering the unbiased facts behind stories. As a musician, he sought to use music unite humanity against violence. Thousands of concerts have been held around the world each October since the founding of the Daniel Pearl World Music Days 10 years ago, all advocating tolerance and celebrating a shared human existence.

This was U.S. Embassy Tashkent’s second year participating in World Music Days. Last year, a crowd of 600 enjoyed an energetic performance by pop singer Yulduz Usmonova. This year’s concert proved to be even more popular with more than 900 people in attendance at the embassy. The audience was comprised of people of all ages, from grandparents to babies and everyone in between.

As was evident by the singing and dancing crowd present, Yalla appeals to multiple generations of Uzbeks. In fact, this year marks the band’s 40th anniversary, which made their performance even more memorable.

Yalla was a very appropriate choice for this year’s concert due to their great popularity throughout Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia and their role as cultural icons. Over the past four decades, the members of Yalla have served as cultural ambassadors to meetings and festivals across the globe, thus demonstrating the unique property of music that brings people together despite differences.

A number of other artists performed at this year’s show, as well, to honor Yalla for their years of hard work and their subsequent success and inspiration. Other entertainers at the concert included the People’s Artists of Uzbekistan Mansur Toshmatov and Roshana Sultonova, the Honored Artists of Uzbekistan Shuhrat Vohidov and Sevara Nazarkhan, Jasur Mirsagatov and the Sanam Dance Ensemble.

You can also see the photo gallery of the concert by clicking here.