2025 BMF International Music Festival for the Blind at the UNESCO House in Paris, France

2025 BMF Int'l Music Festival for the Blind at the UNESCO House in Paris, France
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 7 PM
Venue: UNESCO House, Room I (Main Auditorium)
Address: 125 avenue de Suffren, Paris 7th, France

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On September 16, 2025, at 7 PM, Bella Music Foundation is honored to present the 2025 BMF International Music Festival for the Blind at the Main Auditorium (Room I) of the UNESCO House in Paris, France. This landmark event will serve as the grand finale of the 2024–2025 BMF Music Festival Series for the Blind—the world’s first classical music festival series dedicated exclusively to blind musicians. The series launched with a highly acclaimed inaugural concert on April 28, 2024, in the United States.

The link to the UNESCO Calendar of Cultural Events at Headquarters: https://www.unesco.org/en/event/bmf-international-music-festival-blind-0?hub=68184

By concluding the festival series at UNESCO House—the cultural heart of the United Nations—we aim to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of blind musicians on a global stage. The program will feature internationally acclaimed blind soloists performing with the BMF International Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Helen Cha-Pyo. Featured soloists include guitarist Ioana Gandrabur (Canada), soprano Valérie Poisson (Canada), and pianist Yerko Difonis (Chile), who also has a hearing impairment. In addition, renowned blind composer Chi Gook Kim, a faculty member at Berklee College of Music, will present a special arrangement of the final movement of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, to be performed as the grand finale with orchestra, choir, and soloists.

The festival will also feature distinguished speakers, including global figures and international leaders from the blind community. As a distinguished act of international collaboration and a significant milestone in uniting nations in support of the blind community, the event will be broadcast live to a global audience and receive coverage from major media outlets. Invitations will be extended to representatives of UNESCO’s 194 Member States and the UNESCO Secretariat, further highlighting the festival’s global relevance and lasting impact.

Join the 2025 BMF Friends & Sponsors Club to support this exceptional festival today by clicking here: Donate - Bella Music Foundation (for the Blind)

The photo slideshow above includes images of the BMF festival poster, a screenshot from the UNESCO website displaying the BMF festival event in their Cultural Events calendar, a photo of the Main Auditorium at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and performance photos from the April 28th festival in Fort Lee, NJ, USA. Below is the highlight video from the 2024 BMF Music Festival for the Blind, held on April 28, 2024, in the U.S.

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