Cultures in Harmony

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 […]

Where is a violin defined as happiness? Where does it look like the mountains go down instead of up? To find out, please enjoy our fascinating, funny, spectacular, deeply moving documentary about our project (funded by the US Consulate in Ciudad Juárez) donating musical and medical supplies to the Rarámuri in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains […]

Cultures in Harmony is thrilled to see this ringing endorsement of cultural diplomacy by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Over the years, as we bring people together through music, we have been thrilled to receive funding, publicity, and logistical support from US Embassies in Mexico, Tunisia, Egypt, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, the Philippines, and […]

On March 10, 2021, the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan announced a ban on girls 12 years and older from singing in public arenas — this would include being able to participate in singing their National Anthem. To call attention to this shameful action, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, Founder and Director of Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), started the […]

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Cultures in Harmony launched “Connecting Cultures through Counterpoint,” a platform that offers musicians, students, and audience members around the world the opportunity to forge virtual musical connections across borders and cultures. “Connect 4” videos bring together four musicians from far-flung countries to collaborate on a piece of music.  In […]

Cultures in Harmony is very proud of Souhayl Guesmi, also known as Ratchopper, for his mention in the New York Times’ article about how to imagine that you’re taking a vacation to Tunisia. Souhayl has been a frequent student at our annual workshop in Beni M’tir. Here is the track recommended by the New York […]

Please check out the new video on C3 (Connecting Cultures through Counterpoint), our platform launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. We profile Mexico’s only trumpet school and the challenges it has faced to remain open:

One of the best friends that Cultures in Harmony projects has given me, Ebere Valentine, passed away of kidney failure in Nigeria on November 5, 2020. Ebere, trained as a minister in his native Nigeria, was living in Cameroon when he contacted me in 2008 after hearing a podcast about Cultures in Harmony. At the […]