An independent peace project, from Hawaii.
Music for Global Peace is an independent, self-funded peace initiative from Hawaii. For 25 years it has gathered people from many countries around one belief: peace is a wish we all share. It was founded by the musician and composer M.I. Behleem.
This is not a platform for any one artist. It is a place where people from many countries, faiths and walks of life share the same wish, and the work belongs to everyone who takes part.
- Independent
- Self-funded
- Free to everyone
- Nonpolitical
- Nonreligious
- Nothing for sale
25 years of music for peace
For 25 years, I have made music for peace. Not because I believed music could stop a war — but because I believed it could reach a heart. One heart at a time. That has been the work.
Together with poets from more than 20 countries, we have made 40 peace songs. I have welcomed 1,888 artist participations from 50 countries — each one a line of prayer for peace — across twelve editions of World Prayer for Peace. I have watched a two-word peace anthem — Peace From East — travel from Pakistan, the UAE, and Thailand to schools in the UK, to festivals before delegates from sixty countries, to the ears of more than forty nations.
And I have learned something simple: people want peace. Not as a slogan. Not as a political position. As a quiet, private wish — a thing they say in their hearts when they raise a hand, or fold a paper crane, or send a prayer across the world by email.
That wish is what these three projects are for.
World Prayer for Peace gathers words. One line from each artist, in any language, woven into a single prayer and set to music. It is the project of the word — the belief that a sentence, written honestly, can carry weight across borders. Because we all pray in some way — whatever faith, or no faith. As we belong, it stands: we all need peace.
World Mail Art for Peace gathers objects. A postcard, a collage, a drawing sent by post. It is the project of the hand — the belief that something made slowly, and sent through many hands, arrives with meaning. Because art has no boundaries, as peace has no boundaries. It should not be judged. All entries welcome.
Peace From East gathers faces. A peace sign raised, anonymously, by ordinary people — like me — across the East. It is the project of the heart — the belief that the realness of an expression, unguarded and unnamed, is enough. Peace From East — a message of peace from the people of the East to the entire world.
Three projects. Three ways for peace to travel. All opening on the first of January. All released on the twenty-first of September — World Peace Day. Every year. For as long as we can.
I do not ask for money. I do not ask for recognition. I do not ask anyone to prove anything. If you are an artist at heart, you are welcome. Send a line. Send an artwork. Raise a sign. Be part of it — or simply watch, and know that somewhere in the East, someone is saying what you are saying too.
Because — “We smile with the same expression. We cry with the same tears. Peace for all.”
Peace is not a destination. It is a practice. These three projects are my practice. You are welcome to join.
— M.I. Behleem
Founder, Music for Global Peace
Pahoa, Hawaii
A quarter century, one heart at a time.
M.I. Behleem is a musician, composer, and peace activist. He was named a Universal Peace Ambassador in Geneva in 2006, and a Love Ambassador — among the first group named, alongside Pete Seeger, Václav Havel, and Ram Dass. The recognition this work has received, with gratitude ↓
Recognition, with gratitude.
Titles and ambassadorships3 entries
Universal Peace Ambassador
Conferred by Jean-Paul Nouchi, Founding President of the Universal Ambassador Peace Circle and the Universal Peace Embassy, Geneva, Switzerland.
Love Ambassador
Conferred by Harold W. Becker of The Love Foundation, Tampa, Florida — among the first group named to the programme, alongside Pete Seeger, Václav Havel and Ram Dass.
WEL Goodwill Ambassador of Joy for Elders
Conferred by Kathy J. Ward, Universal Council of WEL, World Elder Land.
Festival awards3 entries
Commendable Effort — Circle of Peace
Awarded to the album produced and directed by Behleem for StarLight Harmony Music, USA, on the recommendation of a seven-member international jury, before delegates from sixty countries. Presented at the World Peace Film and Music Festival, organized by the World Movement for Global Democracy and held alongside the World Judiciary Summit — the International Conference of Chief Justices of the World, in Lucknow, India.
Special Mention — Peace From East
Recognition for the peace anthem later featured in the United Kingdom Department for Education and Skills anti-bullying film Making the Difference.
Special Mention — World Prayer for Peace 2008
Presented before more than two hundred delegates from eighty-five countries, for a recording gathering 187 artists from 42 countries, coordinated entirely by email.
Campaigns and honours3 entries
United Nations Environment Programme
Plant More Trees was created in direct support of UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign, and featured in the campaign’s audiovisual materials. It was then selected for the French compilation Un arbre pour la paix, un arbre pour la terre, distributed free with classroom kits to more than a thousand schoolchildren. On 20 March 2008 — the first day of spring — several schools planted four thousand trees in a burned-out area and sang the song at the ceremony.
Certificate of Appreciation
Awarded by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the “Expressions of Peace” contest, literary arts category. Presented at the inaugural Peace Day Hawaii ceremony marking the United Nations International Day of Peace, and signed by State Senator Carol Fukunaga and Vice Speaker Jon Riki Karamatsu of the Hawaii House of Representatives.
A Letter From Tokyo
The song Great Hopes sets a poem by Daisaku Ikeda — Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, poet, and founding president of Soka Gakkai International. In March 2005, SGI wrote from Tokyo to convey that President Ikeda had received the song, deeply appreciated the time spent composing music for his poetry, and had sent a gift in thanks.
Peace music works4 entries
Making the Difference
Music composition for the anti-bullying resource film commissioned by the United Kingdom Department for Education and Skills, directed by Andy Hickson and produced by Actionwork Films, featuring the song Peace From East. Launched at the National Film Theatre, London, and used since in UK schools.
Little Boy: The Peace Play
Original music for the theatre-dance production by YS Kids Playhouse, directed by John Fleming, marking the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, staged with the Dayton International Peace Museum, the Shirley-Jones Gallery and the Dayton Playhouse. Each performance was accompanied by candle lighting, the folding of origami cranes, and a wish tree for written peace messages.
Children’s Rhyme Album
A nursery-rhyme album created with children between the ages of five and ten around the themes of peace and love, performed by the Children’s Peace Choir. Music and album produced by Behleem.
Peace Theater
An original puppet-theatre project for which Behleem wrote the story and music, designed the characters and directed the performances. A peace-themed soundtrack accompanied shows in fifty schools, emphasizing the importance of helping others, peace and harmony.
Press and broadcast3 entries
SGI Quarterly No. 37
In “Music and the TRANSCEND Method,” Dr. Olivier Urbain profiled Behleem’s work as one of five artists involved in the T:AP Music Project — TRANSCEND: Art and Peace. The article covered his music for Pakistani television and other organizations, the Karachi puppet-theatre project, the children’s nursery-rhyme album, his contributions to Maria Elena Lopez Vinader’s Argentine radio program on music, peace, and Islamic traditions of nonviolence, and their song “War Is a Crime Against Humanity.” Through T:AP he also began working with Indian poet and guitarist Sumeet Grover on reconciliation between India and Pakistan, and with Congolese artist and poet Rais Boneza on a project bringing African and South Asian musical traditions together for peace.
The Hindu — “Pakistani Touch For Peace Poem”
National coverage in India of the musical setting of The World Needs Peace by T. Ashok Chakravarthy, released for World Peace Day.
Radio Transilvania — Sighetu Marmației
First broadcast of May Peace Prevail on Earth at 10:24 in the morning, and played regularly since. The song’s origin — composed from a poem sent by Tatomir Ion-Marius in October 2006 — was carried as a news story in the local press.
Performances and festivals4 entries
A Call to Peace Festival
Première of May Peace Prevail on Earth at the World Peace Sanctuary, Amenia, New York, organized by the World Peace Prayer Society. Lyrics by Tatomir Ion-Marius of Romania.
Humanitarian Art
A song created in collaboration with Iranian-French artist Lida Sherafatmand, who contributed the words. The recording was played at a peace conference at Oxford University, where it was well received and resonated with the attendees.
Peoples Music Network
A remix of Marching in the Light of God created for the Winter Gathering in New York.
Dentelle de Mirages
Poetry in four languages in central Brussels, closing with the CD Salam, Nenuphar Light. Hosted by Liza Leyla.
The journey
- 2001
In Karachi, an original puppet-theatre project for peace: the story, the music, the characters and the performances, in fifty schools.
- 2002
A children’s rhyme album, created in Karachi with children aged five to ten and performed by the Children’s Peace Choir.
- 2004
The peace anthem Peace From East is recorded and filmed across Pakistan, the UAE, and Thailand. In July, SGI Quarterly in Tokyo profiles the work.
- 2005
The first World Prayer for Peace. In November, Making the Difference, the UK Department for Education and Skills anti-bullying film featuring Peace From East, is launched at the National Film Theatre, London, and used since in UK schools.
- 2006
Named a Universal Peace Ambassador in Geneva in March, and a Love Ambassador in October.
- 2007
At the World Peace Film and Music Festival in Lucknow, before delegates from sixty countries, Peace From East receives a Special Mention.
- 2008
Plant More Trees, written for UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign, is sung by French schoolchildren as four thousand trees are planted.
- 2016
The twelfth edition of World Prayer for Peace.
- 2027
Three annual projects, all opening on 1 January and released on World Peace Day, 21 September.
He has collaborated with poets, musicians, and artists from more than 20 countries — from India to Argentina, from Romania to Singapore — building a body of peace music that has travelled further than any single project.
Recognized and heard
- United Nations Environment Programme
- UK Department for Education and Skills
- World Peace Film and Music Festival — delegates from 60 countries
- Universal Peace Embassy, Geneva
- Oxford University
- Radio Transilvania
- SGI Quarterly, Tokyo
- The Hindu, India
Three ways for peace to travel. One release date.
All open on 1 January. All are released on 21 September, World Peace Day. Every year.
World Prayer for Peace
Artists of all faiths send one line of prayer. The lines are woven into a single prayer, set to music in Hawaii, and released with every artist credited.
1st edition · Art travels by postWorld Mail Art for Peace
Mail artists and makers send handmade postcards, collages, and visual poems. Every artwork is collected, scanned, and brought together with music.
Annual since 2027 · Faces raise peace signsPeace From East
A two-word peace anthem, renewed every year with new peace signs from the East. Anonymous by design — no names, no credits, no recognition. Just faces, signs, and the anthem.
Free, and independent
Music for Global Peace is self-funded and independent. Taking part is free, nothing here is for sale, and nothing here asks for money. Nobody has to prove anything. If you are an artist at heart, you are welcome.
Founder: M.I. Behleem · behleem.com
Get in touch
Questions? help@musicforglobalpeace.org
By post: Music for Global Peace, P.O. Box 1029, Pahoa, HI 96778, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
“Behleem is a model artist for peace. The world needs many more people like him.”
Joan Anderson · Editor, SGI Quarterly (Japan) · Read more voices →
Music for Global Peace is self-funded and independent. Nothing here is for sale, and nothing here asks for money.
Founded by M.I. Behleem, Hawaii · behleem.com ↗
Hear when things open.
We’ll write only when something opens: on 1 January when all three calls open, and on 21 September when all three videos are released.
Thank you. You’ll hear from us when the calls open.