Cultures in Harmony Blog

From 9/11 to the silent rubab

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 […]

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A new way to support Afghans

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.

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Supporting Afghans

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 […]

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Ruth Pearl (1935-1921)

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 […]

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Imperfect Resolution

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 […]

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Shoshana Gottesman on board!

We are pleased to welcome Shoshana Gottesman to our board of directors! For many years, she has built our Tunisia project into our most regular, successful, and profoundly impactful project.

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Where the violin is happiness

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 […]

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April is Cultural Diplomacy Month

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 […]

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#IAmMySong

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 […]

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First #Connect4 video

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 […]

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