This summer, Cultures in Harmony is undertaking two projects, spanning from where the notes of a violin echo off the mountains of northern Mexico…to the silence of the mountains of Kabul, Afghanistan, where the music sounds no more.
One week from today, Cultures in Harmony will undertake its fifth visit to the Sierra Tarahumara mountains of northern Mexico. A team consisting of CiH founder William Harvey; David Pérez Olmedo, conductor of the orchestra of the main university in Chihuahua; composer and conductor Felipe Pérez Santiago, who has sent music to the moon and whose family is from Chihuahua; and mountaineer and engineer Tomás Gomez Martín will travel from Chihuahua city to Rarámuri communities in the municipality of Batopilas.
While there, we will donate violins and guitars to indigenous Rarámuri. Their culture values music tremendously, as shown in this documentary about our first project there in 2021. Yet they live lives of poverty and isolation. Climate change and cultural change both complicate efforts to conserve traditional Rarámuri culture. We are proud to be able to help in this effort and to stand in solidarity with our amazing host and partner, Romayne Wheeler, who has donated the proceeds from his international piano career to the Rarámuri for over 4 decades now.
On the other side of the world, our three-year-old effort to assist Afghan musicians continues. Many Afghans have made it out of the land where music is once again illegal, but many still remain. Erfan writes us:
“A few years ago, I attended a three months music class held by the Directorate of Information and Culture in Balkh province. This was actually a drumming (Tabla) class and by the end of the course I became interested in playing with Tabla. I had been actively attending music programs with this organization for a while. Since then, I performed Tabla in family or friends parties and it became my passion. I can also play the Piano and Harmonium, but my interest is in playing with Tabla. Now, I am living in Kabul. I was living in Mazar before Taliban came. However, I escaped to Kabul because of safety reasons in my neighborhood. After a few days, I was informed that Taliban had taken my house with its belongings. Besides other things, I had Tabla, Harmonium, and a Piano keyboard in my house. I do not know what they did to these instruments. With the Diversity Visa Lottery, I have the chance to start a new life in the USA. I tried some other ways too but they were unsuccessful. As you know, the current situation of Afghanistan is so unstable, especially for musicians and music lovers. On the other hand, I am also worried about my wife and my only son. My wife used to be an English teacher, but she is unemployed since the Taliban’s administration. My three years old son is also deprived of all infant luxuries. I cannot even go to parks with them because Taliban do not allow women in such public places. So life is somehow difficult for all three of us. However, we can have a normal and safe life in the U.S. through the green card lottery.”
Please donate today to support our work helping musicians from Mexico to Afghanistan.
