Michael Fitzpatrick is recipient of the Prince Charles Award for Outstanding Musicianship bestowed by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. The Los Angeles based virtuoso cellist and 5-string electric cellist, described as a "(rebel) marching to (his) own tunes" by The New York Times, Fitzpatrick comes from a family of musicians and artists of Irish, Catalonian, French, Ukrainian and Polish descent including Bronislaw Huberman, founder of The Israel Philharmonic and Rose Bein Lerman, pianist with The Louisville Orchestra under its founder Robert Whitney. At the forefront of using music as a vehicle for creating feelings of peace and global peace, Fitzpatrick conceived and produced the groundbreaking Compassion recording and film project inspired by the friendship between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the late Thomas Merton. Recorded and filmed inside Mammoth Cave, the largest cave in the world, at the Abbey of Gethsemani, and the Furnace Mountain Zen Temple, Compassion features a Special Message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the multiphonic chant of the world-renowned Drepung Loseling Monks, the Abbey of Gethsemani Monks, the musicians of Millenia Music, and climaxes with the voice of the late Thomas Merton from his final talk in Bangkok.

Equally at home on the world's concert stage, Fitzpatrick has performed as soloist, chamber musician and in orchestra at Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, Town Hall, the Smithsonian Institution, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, at the Aspen and Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, across the United States, Canada, the former Soviet Union, Romania, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Jordan and most recently for concerts in Southern India. Fitzpatrick provided the sacred music for the historic six-day Gethsemani Encounter led by His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, performances featured on television on PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and on NPR/National Public Radio. He subsequently performed for the Closing Ceremony of the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit of Religious & Spiritual Leaders and for the Global Summit on Peace hosted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which included performances at the Site of Christ's Baptism, the Dead Sea, and at the Royal Palace for King Abdullah II. Fitzpatrick performed for the opening ceremony of the Parliament of World's Religions in Barcelona and again for its closing ceremony. He was instrumental in bringing together and peforming for Nobel Peace laureate His Holiness the Dalai Lama and United Nations Messenger of Peace Muhammad Ali for the historic Blessing of the Chamtse Ling Temple.

Founder and Executive Director of Millenia Music which produces concerts, recordings and films for the global audience while bringing healing music to hospice, hospitals and centers for the elderly, Fitzpatrick served as Musical Advisor to the late Academy Award winning filmmaker Robert Snyder during the completion of his final masterpiece, Casal: A Cry for Peace. His music is featured on the soundtracks of the recent film One and the recent film Earthlings narrated by Golden Globe winner Joaquin Phoenix. His thoughts on music's role in increasing global peace are detailed in Zoe Sallis' new book, Ten Eternal Questions along with thoughts from The Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Bono, Paolo Coelho, Anjelica Huston, and many others. and at .

Information on Michael Fitzpatrick and the Compassion Project
Information on Voices of Compassion
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