By Marcelina Vergara:

As Daniel Pearl World Music Day approaches, the music teacher, musicians and choir prepare for the annual tribute to journalist Daniel Pearl.

Students of Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) celebrate Daniel Pearl World Music Day in honor of Pearl’s legacy and his love for music. The month-long celebration held in October, Pearl’s birthday month, is to advocate commitment of tolerance and humanity. Since 2002, more than 129 countries have participated in World Music Days, organized by the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

“I’m excited and looking forward to it … there will be a lot more student direction and students are more involved in choosing music,” Daniel Pearl World Music Day’s musical director Jackie Gorski said.

Daniel Pearl World Music Days will be held on Oct. 24. The DPMHS choir will perform two songs in Hebrew, “Shir l’Shalom” and “Shalom Aleichem” as well as “Next to You” by Emeli Sandé.

“I think we are going to do well because we are constantly practicing the songs and making sure that everything runs smoothly,” freshman Giselle Rizo said.

The choir is practicing its Hebrew pronunciations constantly and singing the songs to fix any mistakes.

“Practicing singing the Hebrew songs is hard but I’m sure that at the end it will all pay off. We rehearse them so much that eventually the songs are stuck in my head,” sophomore Jennifer Sahakian said.