MUSIC SHARING, founded by UN Messenger of Peace, violinist Midori, travels to Nepal for six-city outreach tour. Midori to lead 20 performances in 11 days, visiting hospitals, United Nations facilities and schools on a cultural exchange mission.

According to a press release issued by United Nations, throughout the second half of December, the nonprofit organization MUSIC SHARING presents its International Community Engagement Program (ICEP) to bridge cultural divides and share the healing, enriching power of music in Nepal. From December 18-28, MUSIC SHARING’s touring string quartet of young musicians, selected through a rigorous audition process, performs and interacts with Nepalese residents, many of them children, during up to four engagements per day.

The cultural exchange mission ventures to the country’s most underserved and difficult-to-reach areas, including Gorkha, the epicenter of the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people and wounded 22,000, devastating the region.

The string quartet, with Midori, includes violinist Jeremías Sergiani-Velázquez (Argentina), violist Wenhong Luo (China), and cellist Michael Katz (Israel/Germany).

Musicians will travel by air, car, and foot to share goodwill and to promote peace through music across the country. In addition to Gorkha, their visit includes the capital, Kathmandu, as well as Pokhara, Bharatpur, Bhaktapur, and Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. Sites were selected to align with MUSIC SHARING’s mission to make classical music accessible to all young people and Midori’s role as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, an appointment also held by luminaries such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, primatologist Jane Goodall, and actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio.

MUSIC SHARING’s founder Midori believes in the transcendent power of music and leads her organization on the ground in Japan and destinations far afield, connecting with civilians and leaders to advance the arts as an impactful diplomatic tool and essential element of educational development and well-being for children. In Nepal, MUSIC SHARING is visiting four children’s hospitals, eight schools, four international aid organizations that care for marginalized children, two DCA (DanChurchAid) Earthquake Project communities, and a United Nations Information Centre.