On October 9, 2025, Venerable Master Shi Wule—revered Zen Buddhist leader and Honorary President of the World Peace and Love Federation—attended the official press conference for the "World Peace Culture & Arts Festival 2025 Milan" at Palazzo Marino, the seat of Milan's municipal government in Italy. The event was held upon the invitation of the Milan Municipal Government and received strong support from numerous political figures in Milan and the Lombardy region.
Distinguished guests present at the conference included:
Tommaso Sacchi, Councillor for Culture of Milan Municipality and Deputy Mayor
Carmine Pacente, President of the EU PNRR Foundation and Representative of Milan Municipality
Alessandro Patelli, Councilor of the Lombardy Regional Council
Fede Pellone, Director of Commerce of Monza
Renowned Italian singer Giovanni Caccamo
The press conference brought together representatives from cultural, artistic, religious, and social sectors to witness the launch of this international event centered on the core principles of "peace, compassion, and cultural dialogue." Notably, Plácido Domingo, one of the world’s Three Tenors, and Italian football legend Andrea Pirlo sent video messages expressing warm congratulations and heartfelt support for the festival. They praised the event for using music and art as a bridge to convey the noble ideals of peace, understanding, and friendship.
In his address, Master Shi Wule stated, “Music and art are the most borderless languages in the world, capable of making people of different beliefs and cultures resonate with one another. Peace is not a slogan, but an action—an awakening from within.”
The "World Peace Culture & Arts Festival Milan" is a key component of the broader "World Peace Culture & Arts Festival 2025." Under the theme “Let Cultural Luminosity Illuminate the Path to Peace,” the festival will facilitate a groundbreaking collaboration between the Wule Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Plácido Domingo.
Composed of over 70 Chinese monastics, the Wule Symphony Orchestra has performed across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa since 2011. It has graced prestigious global stages, including an invitation to perform at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in 2024, followed by a successful ten-city European tour. The orchestra has developed a unique artistic style that blends Eastern traditional Zen music with Western classical symphonic traditions. It holds a Guinness World Record for being the “Largest Zen Music Performance Ensemble Composed Entirely of Monastics”—the first Guinness record ever awarded within the Buddhist community.
This festival not only exemplifies the deep cultural integration between China and Italy in the new era but also highlights Milan’s inclusivity and creativity as a European cultural capital. Through the medium of art, it seeks to awaken humanity’s innate yearning for peace and inject lasting spiritual energy into global cultural exchange.
Let us look forward to this grand East-West artistic celebration, where Zen melodies and symphonic harmonies will resonate together, filling the continents with sounds of compassion and harmony—painting a global vision of mutual understanding, interconnected hearts, and enduring peace.
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