HERNDON, VA – Greek-American Peter Douskalis spoke at this year’s TEDxHerndon, in the metropolitan area of Washington DC. Douskalis, who is a musician and educator, spoke previously at TEDxHerndon about systematic inequality in American education and how music can be the means for innovative change towards multicultural education.

This year, he brought his band Sounds of Cyprus to TEDxHerndon to perform and show in practice the philosophies he explained in last year’s talk.

Sounds of Cyprus performed the traditional Cypriot folk song Tillirkotissa-Dillirga in both the Greek and Turkish languages and made a passionate case for bridging intercultural relations through music. Members of the Sounds of Cyprus band featured in the video are Elena Christou (voice), Renos Efthymiou (percussion), and Alex Tasopoulos (viola).

According to the TED website, “TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.”

More information on Peter Douskalis and Sounds of Cyprus is available on Facebook and Instagram at @peterdguitar and @SoundsofCyprus.

Douskalis performs and records professionally as well as teaches music in the New York City Department of Education. Besides authoring the Hal Leonard Essential Elements for Guitar series book Multicultural Songs, he has published his philosophy on multicultural music education curriculum design in the 30th World Conference Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) and has further presented his philosophies in Thessaloniki at the 30th ISME World Conference, a TEDx Talk, and the 32nd ISME World Conference in Glasgow.

He currently performs in New York City, primarily working as Assistant Director and Guitarist for Pericles Kanaris and Synolon. He also volunteers as the President of the New York City Chapter of the charity Guitars Not Guns and also partakes in Olympism For Humanity Alliance, Inc. projects. His solo jazz guitar CD The Dance of the Sea has received national and international acclaim in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, Los Angeles Jazz Scene, Jazz Journal (UK), and Cadence Magazine. More information on Peter Douskalis and his work is available online at www.douskalis.com or www.douskalis.gr.