Finding the Accent
By emphasizing attitude and open-mindedness, the professional performers purport to show how harmoniously and seamlessly rival cultures and ethnicities can fit into the human landscape.
The peace concert, from the beginning, has been the bouncing baby of the Spanish-born Culver High teacher Jose Montero.
By Reputation
Across the campus and throughout the school community, Sr. Montero is known as both a forceful and effective advocate for the broad cause of peace.
No matter the subject he is discussing at the time, concepts of peace like sparkly gems dot his side of the conversation.
For the past three years, Sr. Monteros third-period Conflict Resolution class has been a year-long laboratory, building toward the peace concert on a Saturday evening in May.
Return Visit
Which circles the storyline back to the estimable Mr. Tafari.
Faultlessly articulate, congenial, insightful and mature beyond his years.
That is how his teachers sum him up.
Who better, they ask, to carry the banner for Peace of Music?
Professional Touch
Mr. Tafari gives interviews with the perfectly pitched assurance and the just-right confidence of someone who has been doing this since a year or two before birth.
Clear-eyed, congenial, admirably self-controlled, he is ice-cube cool.
One morning this week as Sr. Monteros Conflict Resolution class was getting under way, Mr. Tafari led the way to an ante room for privacy.
Hungry to learn, eager to experiment and experience, he says that Culver High provides a welcoming, accepting environment for its students who represent scores of ethnic groups.
Making Plans
As for our faculty, their arms and their doors always are open, he said. It really is like family.
Still a year from graduation, the budding Ivy Leaguer has been mapping out his role for the next plateau of his life.
Last winter, a traveling international exhibit highlighting three 20th century giants of the peace movement spent a week on the Culver High campus.
A Time to Inspire
The exhibit and the program were awe-inspiring, Mr. Tafari said, I know this is the field I want to go into.
He plans to study Constitutional law, and he would love to connect with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Then, says Mr. Tafari, I would like to go forth and run for office. But my top goal is to one day be the U.N. ambassador for the United States.
First Choice
Columbia University is his college of choice because its law school is one of Americas most prestigious. The United Nations is the universitys neighbor in Manhattan, and that is a strong lure.
Gaining a degree in international relations and an internship inside the United Nations are on his shopping list.
Turning to Saturday nights peace concert, Mr. Tafari talked about the lineup.
Students Lead Off
When the doors open at 6, he said, a student band will be playing on stage while people get settled in.
After they play for 30 minutes, it will be the turn of the Nikhil Korula Band, which plays all kinds of music Afro-beats, calypso, Latin grooves, jazz.
If you like the Korula ensemble, thank Mr. Tafari. It was his idea to tap them after seeing the band at World Fest, an ecological festival.
Like a Magnet
When they began playing, he said, I was drawn toward the stage. I wanted to grab them and see if I could get them to play for us.
The Korula band will be opening for an Israeli musician, Yuval Ron, who specializes in contemporary sounds.
Which is not what distinguishes him.
There are Arabs in his group, Mr. Tafari said, because he wants to show that whatever political tensions there are, there is unity there. It really is something beautiful to see.
Why Support the Concert?
Donning his promoters fedora, Mr. Tafari said he would attempt to interest ticket-buyers by appealing to peoples emotions.
Without getting into a description of the entertainers, I would just say its going to be a very enjoyable night, completely done by students.
We are bringing world-class entertainment into our community. We want to put a little peace in our lives, and we want to bring peace to the forefront of our community.
