Archived Arts & Entertainment

Lake Junaluska Peace Conference begins Nov. 12

art yuvalWorld Music artist, composer and peace activist Yuval Ron will appear in concert with his international ensemble of musicians at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center’s Stuart Auditorium.

The ensemble will also perform throughout the weekend for attendees of the Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, which will be held Nov. 12-15.

The theme of this year’s Peace Conference is “Longing for Peace/Exploring the Heart of God,” and it features speakers from all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ron’s music explores the cultural history of the Middle East, from which all three religions emerged.

“I love being a missionary for peace, for a new vision of the world,” said Ron, who composed the songs and score for the Oscar winning film “West Bank Story” in 2007 and was the featured artist in the Gala Concert for the Dalai Lama’s initiative Seeds of Compassion in the Seattle Opera Hall in 2008. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ron enjoys researching musical traditions and spiritual paths worldwide. His internationally renowned music and dance group, The Yuval Ron Ensemble, creates musical bridges between people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths.

“This is such a crucial time to work toward peace and unity,” said Ron, whose extensive travels have engendered in him a growing concern for the environment. “The Earth is in decline, and we need to work together to heal our planet, but we cannot. Too many people are in survival mode, where their only question is will they live through the day? Will their children?”

Concert tickets are available in advance through the Lake Junaluska registration office at 800.222.4930 for $15 each; children 12 and under are free. 

The Lake Junaluska Peace Conference will be feature three keynote speakers: Rabia Terri Harris, founder of the Muslim Peace Fellowship, the first organization specifically devoted to Islamic active nonviolence; Rabbi Or Rose, founding director of the Center for Global Judaism at Hebrew College and co-director of the Center for Interreligious and Community Leadership Education, a joint venture of Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School; and Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London and former Dean of Duke University Chapel and research professor of Christian ethics at Duke Divinity School. 

Registration for the conference is $145. Students may attend for $60. 

www.lakejunaluska.com/peace or 800.222.4930.

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