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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
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And I'm Steve Myersco. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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It was a normal day in New York. The subway was full of people. They were using these underground trains to travel to work and school. Mark Johnson was on his way to work. As he entered the subway, he heard unusual music. He described the musicians to the Epoch Times newspaper.
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"I heard these two monks playing music. These religious men were painted all white, from head to toe. They were wearing long, flowing robes. One was playing a music instrument, a guitar. The other was singing in a language I did not understand."
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But then Johnson observed the behaviour of the other subway travellers. People gathered around the musicians. In fact, about two hundred [200] travellers stopped to listen. He told the Epoch Times what he thought about this event,
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"I recognized that here is a group of people that would normally run by each other. But instead they are coming together. And it is the music that brought them together."
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For Johnson, this experience was an example. It showed him that music is universal. It goes past the limits of language, race, culture, and place. It unites people in ways that language and tradition cannot.
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Johnson's experience in the subway gave him an idea. His idea was that music could bring peace to the world. So in 2005, he gathered together a few other people who also believed in the power of music. They believed that the power of music is stronger than the differences between people. Together this team of people started the project Playing for Change. Johnson says,
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"Playing for Change was born out of the idea that we have to encourage and influence each other to come together as a human race. And that music is the best way to do this."
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The team members of Playing for Change record and film songs. Some of these songs are new and other songs are old. Each song takes about a year to record. This is because they use voices and instruments from many cultures.
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The first song they recorded was called "Stand By Me." Mark Johnson had heard a street musician singing this song in Santa Monica, a city in California. This musician was named Roger Ridley. Johnson remembers talking to Ridley about the project.
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"I told him I would love to record his performance and take it around the world, with other people adding to his song... He looked at me like I was insane."
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But that is exactly what Johnson did. He and his team members recorded Ridley singing and playing his guitar. Then they travelled around the world to look for other singers and instruments.
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Johnson and his team had a goal. In each song, they wanted to unite many different cultures, instruments, and kinds of music. So, as they travelled, they added new voices and instruments to the song. In South Africa they recorded Sinamuvu, a singing group of men and women. In Russia they added Dimitri playing a large string instrument called the cello. In Italy they added the sound of a saxophone played by Stefano. They also added singing from Clarence Bekker, a Dutch performer.
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When it was finished, the song "Stand By Me" included 37 musicians from around the world. Using travelling sound and film equipment, the Playing for Change team put the whole song together.
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In a short film on the Playing for Change website, Mark Johnson explains why each musician shared in the project.
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"These musicians had never met in person. It was the music that brought them together. And it was the belief that we can do a lot more for this world if we work together, than we ever can separately."
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For the next four years, Playing for Change travelled around the world recording more songs. They combined all the songs on to one music album called Songs Around the World. They also made films of the musicians playing each song. These films are on the Playing for Change website. They are also on film sharing websites like YouTube and Vimeo. Over eighteen million [18,000,000] people have watched the film of "Stand by Me." Millions of people have also watched the films of their songs "One Love" and "Don't Worry."
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In 2007, Playing for Change decided to give something back to the musicians who helped them. So Mark Johnson created the Playing for Change Foundation. This organization works to help the communities of the musicians. It does this by building music schools. These schools continue the cultural traditions of music among a community's children.
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In 2008, Playing for Change released a second film about their work. It is called Playing for Change: Peace through Music. The film included five of the songs and more than one hundred singers and musicians from around the world. It also included discussions with many of the singers and musicians. The musicians talked about how music helped them get through struggles and unite people together.
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Playing for Change has created many good relationships. They continue to share their songs in music performances all around the world. Millions of people from many countries have enjoyed the music, films, and performances by the Playing for Change musicians. In thinking about the large amount of positive reactions to the Playing for Change project, Mark Johnson says,
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"The intense reaction to this project is exciting. It is very satisfying to all the people who have worked to make it happen. It demonstrates the great power of music to bring people together and make the world a better place - something we had faith in all along."
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If you would like hear the Playing for Change songs or see their films, visit the Playing for Change website. You can find a link to their website on the script page of this program.
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