Cultures in Harmony

On February 2, 2022, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, our Executive Director William Harvey and Adrian Meléndez, Executive Director of Proyecto Habesha, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring Afghan musicians to Mexico, where they will be on track to become Mexican citizens. Proyecto Habesha has seven years’ experience bringing to Mexico refugees from countries ranging from […]

Cultures in Harmony is pleased to report that of the 326 Afghan musicians we are helping, one is now in the USA! Ms. F (name withheld to protect her family) arrived in New York City last night, where she was welcomed by Dr. Marta Bedkowska-Reilly, the professor at Nyack College School of Music who also […]

The pandemic emphasized for all the promises and perils of human connection. Through empathizing with people on the other side of the planet, we can better fight shared challenges like pandemics…but in-person connections transmit this often deadly disease. How can cultural diplomacy organizations adapt to the COVID era? Afghanistan On August 15, 2021, we faced […]

We are grateful to many prominent musicians in Berlin for joining forces for this concert on October 18, 2021 in support of our efforts to protect Afghan musicians!

By our founder William Harvey Twenty years ago today, I performed for members of the Fighting Sixty-Ninth regiment as they returned from a long day of clean-up work at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center in New York City. The letter I wrote about this experience went viral, and inspired me to want a life […]

Cultures in Harmony will also be raising funds to ensure the safety and security of Afghan musicians who are not already included in evacuation plans organized by other institutions. To support this effort, please donate to Cultures in Harmony and put “Afghanistan” in the memo line of your check or your PayPal donation.

Since Sunday, many of you have asked me how to donate to support the safety and security of musicians in Afghanistan. The best way to do so is through the website of Afghanistan National Institute of Music, my employer from 2010 to 2014 and winner of the 2018 Polar Music Prize. This institution will ensure […]

Cultures in Harmony is very sorry to learn of the passing of Ruth Pearl, whom our founder William Harvey had the honor of the meeting on April 13, 2016. In this book excerpt published in the Forward, she writes movingly of the challenges of confronting anti-Semitism throughout her long life. Her example reminds us of the importance of […]

Cultures in Harmony will launch a new community building initiative, “Imperfect Resolution,” aimed at encouraging past and current participants, collaborators, donors, and fans to support one another as some ease out of the pandemic and others continue to cope with the isolation it has imposed. Our work brings people together through music, and when people […]