The Roads to You Tour
The four-week long tour, "Roads to You: Celebration of One World," exists to bring world cultures closer together through youth cultural exchange in musical concerts and workshops throughout the World beginning in May of 2006.
Members of the Roads to You Tour - known as the International Musicians Assembly are selected based on their musical merit and leadership potential, as the project seeks to demonstrate cooperation and communication between cultures lost in political polarization. The assembly includes participants from war-torn regions coming together and working in an atmosphere of trust and team spirit. As such, participants are able to share their talent and heritage with those who have been stranded on the other side of the conflict. The Roads to You Tour thus seeks to promote dialogue with "the other side."
During the week long stay in each city, the musicians are given the opportunity to participate in additional cultural avenues such as guest presentations at various educational institutions, as well as community and civic functions and free concerts. They are also encouraged to share their touring experience in their home countries upon their return. Furthermore, local youth choirs and orchestras in each community will cultivate their energy and talent to enrich the performance by joining the assembly for select performances.
The final performance in each city will enhance the cultural exchange experience between the local choir members and the touring assembly and members of the community at large. This effort will bolster the traditional role of music and musicians across the globe as active peace builders and future community leaders. Proceeds from concerts are allocated to support local causes and charities as advised by community partners.
The final concert in each city is the anchor performance around which all education and cultural activities (lectures, workshops, in-store performances, house concerts, etc.) will be built. The concert itself will provide a unique experience where each song is transformed into a higher medium that communicates human emotions ranging from war and starvation, to melancholy and sadness and ultimately, conflict resolution and peace.
The Roads to You Tour launched its inaugural tour in May of 2006 under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Noor and in partnership with Berklee College of Music and Seeds of Peace, with major performances and over 100 educational workshops in Washington, DC, Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, CA.
The events were attended by thousands, foremost amongst them Her Majesty Queen Noor, Her Majesty Queen Rania, and Mrs. Laura Bush.
With the initial 2006 tour, we have established the general parameters and set the general framework that will allow travel of the International Musicians Assembly to any city in the world.
Over the next five years, we hope to present the Roads to You Tour in thirty cities around the world thus enabling the largest number of musicians to experience the Roads to You Tour.
