THE WASHINGTON POST • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010


18 DC


District


L OCAL LIVING community news IN BRIEF


Eunice Shriver Challenge is Saturday on Mall


The Eunice Kennedy Shriver


Challenge, at 10 a.m. Saturday on the Mall, will commemorate her legacy of work with Special Olympics and Best Buddies on behalf of the developmentally disabled. The event will feature a 20-mile bicycle course led by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) with Tour de France cyclists Bobby Julich and Christian Vande Velde, starting at the Washington Monument, proceeding up Pennsylvania Avenue, past the Capitol and through the city. Other activities include a 5K run and 3K walk, led by Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, a celebrity youth fun run, several friendship and family races, lunch and a performance by pop singer David Archuleta. For information or to donate, volunteer or register, go to www.eks challenge.org.


Song aims for awareness about homelessness


Upper Marlboro singer-songwriter Azim Al-Salam spent a lot of time volunteering with his father before he died last year. The University of Maryland graduate was moved to merge his passion for music with his passion for giving back by composing “DC Street.” The song aims to raise awareness about homelessness in the Washington area. Ten percent of each 99-cent download will be donated to So Others Might Eat, a nonprofit group that helps the homeless. “My father was my best friend and


a minister. He wasn’t my biological father, but he raised me,” the D.C. native said. “I saw him give counsel to people; I saw him give clothes to people. I’m still dealing with the loss, but he was such an example to me and taught me to not just preach giving but to practice it.” Al-Salam also runs Consider Someone Else, a social network focused on giving and volunteering. For information, visit www.consider someoneelse.com.


briefs continued on 19 PHOTOS BY JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST Safaafir, an Iraqi folk ensemble, opens the Embassy Series season with a concert at the Iraqi Cultural Center in Dupont Circle. Concerts promote cultural understanding


Embassy Series aims to build bridges through music


by Megan Buerger Jerome Barry wanted to


shake up the District’s music scene. After a 20-year career


traveling the world as an accomplished baritone, he thought music had the power to cross cultural boundaries and unite people. In 1994, Barry founded the Embassy Series, a collection of concerts from October to June at cultural centers throughout the District. His belief was that music, as a universal language, could facilitate peace through


“This is a historic opening night,” Jerome Barry said.


“musical diplomacy.” In its 17th year, the series has collaborated with 57 embassies and nearly 1,000 musicians. Barry said he never dreamed it would be this successful. He was born into a musical family in Dorchester, Mass., and his passion for singing began when he was 7.


“I remember singing ‘Ave


Maria’ in the Boston Common and getting paid $60,” he said. “Back then, that was a good chunk of money.” Barry got a bachelor’s degree in modern languages from Northeastern University and a master’s from Tufts University, while also studying at the Boston Conservatory. Now, at 70, he can speak 11 languages fluently and sing in 27. Shortly after college, Barry


met his wife, Lisette, and the two quickly uprooted for Europe. Over the next 10 years, Barry studied and performed in Rome, Germany and Israel, where he taught at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem and sang with the Israel National Opera. Along the way, they had two daughters, Monique and Daniella.


Upon returning to the United


States in 1974, Barry and his family settled in the District. He got a job at a temple in Silver Spring but missed the joy his musical career had brought him. In 1981, he formed the


Washington Music Ensemble, which performed contemporary music around the District and was well-received for nearly 13 years. But Barry wanted to do more.


According to Barry, embassy


concerts were not always hot ticket events. Ambassadors, reluctant to open their doors to the public, typically only extended invitations to D.C. heavyweights such as congressmen or White House officials.


concerts continued on 19


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