Opening of Music for Music 2005

Music for Music

Palestine 2005

As I'm sitting here in my squatted house on the west side of Amsterdam, its hard to decide how to open such a documentation of what may transpire in the next few weeks.

As many of you reading this know, last year Robert Smith approached me to organize a project of music in the form of humanitarian relief to the children in the refugee camps in the occupied territories in Palestine. After the powerful impact we felt through the trip, which turned out to be six musicians working closely with Projet Hope (http://www.projecthope.ps/) we realized it was something we need to keep doing.

With the experience behind us, we're trying to allow this year's experience to reach more people and create more of a cultural exchange, allowing a population that has been kept under siege a means of communicating with the outside world. Our means of doing this, as studying musicians, is to bring our music and our love for music to share.

This year we will be leaving in early April with another group of six musicians to make yet another tour through the west bank. At this point I will turn the word over to Robert, who will be making regular updates on this blog to allow everyone an insight into our experiences.