(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — John Scher's Metro Talent is promoting a Yoko Ono led benefit concert on July 25 at Madison Square Garden as part of an arts initiative called Back to the Garden, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
The concert, which will feature some of the most world-renowned performers, will be broadcast globally on August 6–the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Following the concert, a traveling museum quality art exhibit will open in New York on August 6, and then tour internationally for five years.
Prior to the benefit concert, Ono addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on May 4 regarding the launch of the Back to the Garden arts initiative, a program designed to support the Mayors for Peace "2020 Vision" campaign, which seeks the elimination of nuclear weapons by the year 2020. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Mayors for Peace, an organization that consists of 942 Mayors from 110 countries and led by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, partnered with EPOP International, a company solely dedicated to creating cause-related initiatives, to develop Back to the Garden.
"EPOP is honored to be a part of this campaign and firmly believes that artists from around the world will help Mayor Akiba shine a spotlight on the complex problem of nuclear weapons, and show the public how they can help affect a solution through his '2020 Vision' campaign," stated EPOP CEO David Clark.
The name of the initiative, Back to the Garden, is borrowed from Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock" and refers to the Garden of Eden and a time before weapons of mass destruction existed.
Founded in 2000, EPOP creates and produces unique cause-related events and most recently originated The Anne Frank 75th Birthday Tribute, and "46664," the landmark AIDS initiative in South Africa hosted by Nelson Mandela and supported by Oprah Winfrey, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson and others. The event was globally broadcast on United Nations World AIDS Day on MTV and BCC, and included performances by Bono and The Edge of U2, Beyonce, The Corrs, Queen, Peter Gabriel, and many others. — Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
