The September Concert is a charity which organises free public concerts on the anniversaries of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. It was founded by Haruko Smith, following the events of that day in 2001.

History

Following the events of

September 11th 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

, Haruko Smith had the idea to fill the skies of NYC with music, inspired by the words of

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

: The September Concert started out as a local grassroots charity and has grown to have a worldwide presence involving 10,000 volunteers and 15,000 musicians. ROME September Concert

The September Concert Foundation was incorporated in April 2002 as a 501(c)(3) public charity, inspired a small army of volunteers, and on September 11th 2002 the first September Concert was born. To date this organization has functioned solely through the efforts of volunteers. In addition to the board of directors that included artists Jacques d'Amboise and

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

, The September Concert Foundation's advisory board was set up in 2002 with entertainers such as

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

and Christy Turlington Burns. Business leaders such as

Tom Freston Thomas E. Freston (born November 22, 1945) is an American media proprietor, businessman, and financier. Early life and education Freston grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Michael's College and an MBA from ...

also joined in to help the foundation. In 2010, 200 concerts were held all over the world on or near September 11. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

58 concerts were held, joined by another 30 U.S. cities and 45 international cities including

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

(Ghana),

Cap-Haïtien Cap-Haïtien (; ht, Kap Ayisyen; "Haitian Cape"), typically spelled Cape Haitien in English and often locally referred to as or , is a commune of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the department of Nord. Previousl ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Mission and principles

The mission of the September Concert Foundation is to bring communities together, to reaffirm the hope for peace, and to celebrate our universal humanity. The foundation accomplishes this by inviting musicians of every age and genre to bring their gift of music anywhere space is available on the days surrounding the anniversary of September 11. Concerts are held in parks, gardens, schools, libraries, churches, restaurants, cafes, galleries, office buildings, stores, senior centers, community centers. There are three principles behind the September Concert: *''Freedom'' for anyone to organise a concert with any genre and venue; *''Equality'' between the different musicians and styles of music; and *''Accessibility'': all of the concerts are free

Media coverage

More news coverage of The September Concert Video of September 2009 concerts around the world

Organisers

Board of Directors

Haruko Smith, Founder and chair, Taro Patrick Smith, Ph.D., Jacques d'Amboise, Robert Benezra, Ph.D.,

Milagros del Corral Milagros del Corral Beltrán (born 1945, Madrid) is a Spanish librarian. She was Director-General of the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain). In addition to her position as Director-General of the National Library of Spain ( ...

, Ph.D., John Daly Goodwin, Darryl Pottorf, Rebecca Seawright, Sundaram Tagore, Randy Wayne White

In memoriam

Advisory board

Marisa Berenson Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson (born February 15, 1947) is an American actress and model. She appeared on the front covers of ''Vogue'' and ''Time'', and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as ...

, Christy Turlington Burns, John Campi,

, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Milton Moskowitz, David Ng, Todd Oldham, Nancy Ploeger, Howard J. Rubenstein, Susan Rudin, William C. Rudin,

, Steven Spinola, Scott M. Stringer, Dennis Swanson

International Committee

Camilla G. Hellman, Rosario Velasco Lino, Ludovica Rossi Purini, Mayo Shono, Koji Yoshikawa.

Notes

External links

*
WOR interview with Haruko Smith on the radio show Valerie's New York
- 8/31/10

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

audio file (9.6 MB)
The September Concert page of Compagnia per la Music in ItalyThe September Concert page from Japan (in Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:September Concert Music of New York City Memorials for the September 11 attacks Organizations established in 2002 Recurring events established in 2002 September events 2002 establishments in the United States