After a near-return to normality for the school, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School’s (DPMHS) events are looking to do the same. Due to reduced COVID-19 guidelines, World Music Day is able to return to live performances for its 13th year. 

“Last year, it wasn’t actually live,” music teacher Wes Hambright said. “So this is the first year actually– which is kind of crazy to think about, that we’re actually doing a live World Music Day…this is the first one since the pandemic.” 

World Music Day performs annually in October due to that being Daniel Pearl’s birth month, but last year it was delayed until November due to time allocated for planning the production. This was due to the need to piece together multiple performances, to weave into a recorded concert, instead of being straight live. This year, however, it is on-track to be performed twice on Oct. 26, during school hours. The performance will occur once before lunch and once after. An evening concert will be performed on Oct. 27 at 7 pm in the MPR.

“I feel like I am entitled to bring in an epic performance and kind of like an epic environment for all of us,” said junior Arvin Khosravy, who will be singing Elvis Presley’s “Blue Suede Shoes.” “Frankly, I think since it’s my first time, I’m going to have a good time. It’s going to be epic.” 

The theme for this year’s event will be “Live, Laugh, Love” with songs by Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, Elvis Presley and others as part of the performance. Interspersed with music, the musicians hope to use words written by the late journalist Daniel Pearl during their performances, from his books and articles. 

There will be no choir nor piano solos during this year’s World Music Day. However, people singing solo while playing the ukulele will be present. Additionally, the majority of the concert will be duo, trio and full bands. 

“I (have been) learning how to (play the) guitar since (age) 13 and I’ve only recently started to play bass in this class,” said junior Khalel Gillen. “I can name a few songs (I will be playing):… ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ ‘Spice’ by Sam Fender and ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.’”