Speech by Mr. Metin Arditi
President of l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President of the General Assembly,
Madame la Conseillère fédérale,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen:

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, of Geneva, Switzerland, is very proud to offer a moment of music to the United Nations. The first piece you will hear will be a world premiere. It is called “Exodes”, Exodus, by Swiss composer William Blank. It was commissioned by our orchestra. We offer it to the United Nations as an expression of gratitude and affection.

We make music. You seek peace. Maybe our two enterprises have something in common.

What is music, but an instant of emotion that the musician must constantly reinvent? It cannot be the same twice, and there is no way one can secure it: At the moment you think you grasp it, gone it is.

Maybe seeking peace is in some ways the same thing, the pursuit of a magical moment that one must constantly and relentlessly recreate, your task, carried out thanks to the exceptional dedication of so many. A symphony, so to speak. The word has a Greek root. Symphony means: agreement.

So making music and making peace do have something in common. In your own way, you are all musicians. And maybe we in turn can dream of being, however modestly, peace contributors.

Finally, we would like to take the opportunity of this concert to extend our thoughts to the memory of those colleagues of yours who on August 19 of this year were killed in Iraq. On of them was Sergio De Mello, a resident of Geneva. They all dedicated their lives to the indispensable pursuit of this magical instant called peace.

Thank you.