Raffi Interview

Raffi Cavoukian Singer, Author, Founder of Child Honouring He is known to millions simply as Raffi: a renowned Canadian songwriter and performer, author and entrepreneur, once called “the most popular children’s entertainer in the western world” (Washington Post). Spoofed by the Simpsons, featured in a NY Times editorial cartoon, Raffi’s career has provided the soundtrack for a growing generation, and now for their children. His CDs, books and videos have sold over 15 million copies in Canada and the US. A generation saw him perform Down by the Bay and his signature song, Baby Beluga. “Beluga grads” often tell him that they are now raising their own children with his music. In his three-decade career, Raffi has refused all commercial endorsement offers, and Troubadour Music, his own triple-bottom-line company, has never directly advertised or marketed to children. He is a passionate advocate for a child’s right to live free of commercial exploitation. Raffi’s most recent works for adults and youth: * The anthology Child Honouring: How to Turn This World Around (co-edited with psychologist Dr. Sharna Olfman) * its companion CD, Resisto Dancing: Songs of Compassionate Revolution. * A new DVD, Raffi Renaissance, shows Raffi’s evolution into a leading thinker and global troubadour. A “global troubadour.” With two honorary degrees, the Order of Canada, and the UN’s Earth Achievement award, Raffi is a respected international figure, a global troubadour. He is a member of the Council of Human Development, and the Club of Budapest. He is a keynote presenter, lecturing and networking to help create a viable future: a sustainable, child-friendly world for ourselves and for those to come. His original philosophy, Child Honouring, is gaining support among eminent thinkers as a holistic organizing principle for a culture of peace. Raffi Cavoukian comes to the world stage as a catalyst for change. www.raffinews.com