HISTORY
Cultures in Harmony has taught composition to children with no prior
music education. In Zimbabwe in 2006, "Sound of Water, Sound of Hope," taught AIDS orphans in Harare how to write music inspired by water in
order to draw attention to water access issues at their school. In the
Philippines in 2007, CiH worked with the Tala-Andig tribe in Miarayon,
Mindanao to develop compositions that celebrated their heritage. These
workshops, presented with the Cartwheel Foundation, culminated in a
triumphant concert in Cagayan de Oro.
In Konya, Turkey, where the whirling dervish ceremony originated about
700 years ago, CiH musicians became the first female musicians ever in
Konya to join male musicians in accompanying the ceremony, a historic
breakthrough that was greeted warmly by the all-male Turkish audience.
On the same day as the London bombings (July 7, 2005), CiH presented a
concert in Gammart, Tunisia, dedicated to all the victims of terrorism.
Cultures in Harmony has partnered with humanitarian organizations such
as UNICEF in Moldova, with whom it partnered in a benefit concert that
collected 7,000 books for their childhood literacy program. In Zimbabwe,
our benefit concert for the non-profit Eyes for Africa raised enough
funds to restore sight to 145 people, according to Dr. Solomon Guramatunhu, chairman of Eyes for Africa. Dr. Guramatunhu writes that Cultures in Harmony forms the "'beautiful face of America' which the world is yearning for."
Cultures in Harmony has partnered with humanitarian organizations such
as UNICEF in Moldova, with whom it partnered in a benefit concert that
collected 7,000 books for their childhood literacy program. In Zimbabwe,
our benefit concert for the non-profit Eyes for Africa raised enough
funds to restore sight to 145 people, according to Dr. Solomon Guramatunhu, chairman of Eyes for Africa. Dr. Guramatunhu writes that Cultures in Harmony forms the "'beautiful face of America' which the world is yearning for."
Cultures in Harmony workshops for young classical musicians have
benefited hundreds of students in the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Mexico, and
Tunisia. Shar donated a violin to be given to a deserving student in Tunisia. Writing about the Cultures in Harmony benefit concert for the Casa San Miguel, a school in the Philippines that offers low-cost music
instruction for underprivileged children, the Philippine News wrote:
"This is what music was meant to be. Magical. Meaningful. Magnificent."
Founded in 2005 by Juilliard graduate William Harvey under the name
Music for the People, Cultures in Harmony has already achieved
widespread recognition. Harold W. McGraw III awarded William the McGraw-Hill Companies' Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and
Community Outreach, in recognition of his work with CiH. The Juilliard
School gave him the William Schuman Prize, its highest honor for
graduating students.
CiH has been profiled in Music and Vision Daily
(U.K.), The Zimbabwe Herald, La Jornada Michoacán, and in The Juilliard
Journal, as well as on radio in New York, Indianapolis, Bloomington,
Chicago, and Spokane, and on national radio in the U.S. (NPR's
Performance Today), Moldova, Tunisia, and the Philippines. Samanyola TV
in Turkey profiled the successful Cultures in Harmony benefit concert
for the celebrated humanitarian organization Kimse Yok Mu. Cultures in
Harmony is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts
service organization. As Music for the People, CiH received major gifts
from the the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation.
Harold W. McGraw III(center), CEO of the McGraw-Hill Companies,
awards William (left) the Robert Sherman Award in recognition of
his work with Cultures in Harmony;
Dr. Joseph Polisi (right), President of The Juilliard School,
has also been a strong advocate
