VOA标准英语2010年-Grammy Award-Winning Producer, Directo

A music producer, engineer and filmmaker from California is taking the message of peace through music to communities around the world, using the latest innovations in mobile recording¹ technology.   In this week's edition of Making a Difference, we introduce you to Mark Johnson, who is uniting people through music.

Grammy award-winning producer and film director Mark Johnson has dedicated² his life to connecting people through music.  He and his crew have recorded musicians around the world in their natural settings, and he has compiled these recordings³ into a top-selling CD and DVD.

Johnson recently finished his first concert tour of North America and Spain, featuring some of these performers.

"One thing about making peace is that it is not necessarily one day when the whole world stops fighting.  It is more of a state of mind and the consciousness of all the people on the planet," he explained. "What I think music can do is go from one heart to another heart.  And it can really express the sentiment behind the words." 

Johnson says that growing up in New York City helped shape his vision of helping⁴ humanity.  And as an interpersonal communications major at the University of New Hampshire, he learned how people create meaning in the world. "Great music and art are moments in time.  They exist everywhere," he said. "But in these, you can harness the energy to inspire everybody to believe more in each other and make a difference in a limited time we have in this world."  

Mark Johnson won a Grammy award in 2005 for his work on an album by American blues⁵ musician Keb' Mo'.  That same year, he started Playing for Change -- a multimedia⁶ project that seeks to bring peace to the world through music.

Johnson and his crew have traveled to some of the most remote areas on Earth to record music for the project -- from small African towns to Himalayan mountain villages.

"Fortunately for all of us, there is great music everywhere.  This first round of traveling the world was just to open the door.  There are always more cultures and more musicians to have involved in this project.  So people can actually see the power of cultures from all over the world, uniting together for a common purpose," he said.

Mark Johnson's team has traveled to regions devastated⁷ by war, poverty and natural disasters.  He says that everywhere they have been, they have found people who are surviving, in part, by playing music.  He says there are too many divisions in the world and that people must find ways to overcome them.

"Religion and politics can be beautiful.  But they inherently divide people," he stated. "Music inherently connects people.  That's why it is the most likely way to inspire people to care more about the world around them.  Once they do that, they will care more about themselves and that's the only way we are going to make great change.  The world wants to come together.  And music is the best way to make that happen."

Mark Johnson's goal is to continue recording music, and inspiring people to come together and forget about their differences.
 

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

6 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

7 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。