UN Under-Secretary-General Jan Egeland to Address Current Global Humanitarian Challenges at the Washington National Cathedral on 11 September 2004

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, will present a pre-concert talk in the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, 11 September, at 7.15 p.m. Mr. Egeland will address current global humanitarian challenges on the occasion of the U.S. premiere concert of Norwegian composer Ståle Kleibergs Requiem -- for the victims of Nazi persecution.

(PRWEB) August 26, 2004 -- Jan Egeland has more than 25 years of experience in humanitarian affairs, human rights and peace work through the United Nations, the Norwegian government, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and other non-governmental and academic institutions. Before taking up his current post, Mr. Egeland was an active participant in a number of peace processes. He co-initiated and co-organized the Norwegian channel between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1992, which led to the Oslo Accord (Declaration of Principles) of September 1993. He directed the Norwegian facilitation on the UN-led peace talks leading up to ceasefire agreement between Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) guerillas signed in Oslo in 1996. Earlier in his career, he served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990-1997).

Kleibergs Requiem -- for the victims of Nazi persecution, a large-scale choral work for three soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, was commissioned in 2001, in the shadow of 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and the unresolved situation in Yugoslavia. On this significant date in U.S. history, Kleibergs Requiem serves as a reminder that the horrors of terrorism trancend any one time or generation. Whilst dedicated to the memorial of the victims of Holocaust, the Requiem resonates in the present, and is presented not as a commemoration of specific time or race, but of all victims of terrorism throughout the world.

Ståle Kleibergs Requiem -- for the victims of Nazi persecution will be performed at 8 p.m. by the Choirs of Washington Cathedral, the Washington National Cathedral Chamber Orchestra and soloists Diane Atherton, Barbara Hollinshead and Steven Combs under the leadership of conductor Michael McCarthy, Director of Music at the Washington National Cathedral.

For further information, contact Trude L. Paulsson at the Royal Norwegian Embassy, tel. 202-333-6000, e-mail: tpa@mfa.no.

For ticketing information, contact The Washington National Cathedral, tel. 202-537-5757

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