Gere, Glass and the Dalai Lama at Lincoln Center.
If you weren't able to snag a ticket to one of the exclusive seminars with His Holiness, then consider this alternative: Philip Glass, Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama (under the guidance of the Himalayan relief organization Healing the Divide) will host a fundraiser concert at Avery Fisher Hall this Sunday.
The purpose of the concert is a simple one: to bring people of many backgrounds together for a night of music-making that promotes peace and reconciliation around the world. A special address from the Dalai Lama will be accompanied by a United Colors of Benetton-style concert line-up including Hamza El Din (Nubian/Arabic songwriter), Philip Glass (a forefather of American minimalism), the Buddhist Gyuto Tantric Monks (mind-blowing Tibetan throat-singers), Nawang Khechog (Tibetan composer/musician and disciple of the Dalai Lama), Kronos Quartet (a shining light for new string quartet repertoire), R. Carlos Nakai (flutist of Navajo-Ute heritage), Anoushka Shankar (one of Ravi Shankar's talented daughters), Foday Musa Suso (Gambian griot), and Tom Waits (American folkstar).
While the proceeds go to Healing the Divide, which runs a number of aid programs in the Himalayas, the true benefits go to the audience: high-quality music from some of the best classical and folk musicians and composers from the U.S., Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, as well as a sense that there is something in this world that transcends the tangled webs that seem to trap us at every corner.