Music has the power to transcend borders and bring nations together, and what better way to foster cultural understanding than through the timeless elegance of opera. On February 8th, in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Russian Embassy in Washington DC held a joint concert featuring aspiring artists from Russia and the United States.

The hip-hop musical based on the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton got its start with playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2009 performance of the then-in-the-works “Hamilton Mixtape” at the White House and has evolved into a global phenomenon. [...] In a time of uncertain power shifts in a changing global order, Hamilton quietly asserts America’s best qualities without glossing over the worst, sending a message of optimism about the country’s future. It thus has the potential to further American ideological appeal among foreign audiences.

Benin's Angelique Kidjo has won the best world music album of the year at this year's Grammys in Los Angeles. The New York-based singer won the award for her Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg collaboration, Sings. "I want to dedicate this Grammy to all the traditional musicians in Africa, in my country, to all the young generation," Kidjo said.

Huntertones, a Brooklyn-based musical band, is set to tour Zimbabwe next week as part of their 2016 international music tour [...] The cultural diplomacy programme is facilitated by an American non-profit organisation, American Music Abroad (AMA), through a grant from a US Department of State. AMA facilitates people-to-people cultural exchange programmes designed to communicate America's musical contributions and diverse culture to the global music scene

A Syrian orchestra whose members have fled the country's civil war to different parts of the globe is reuniting in London for a rare concert which they say will show people another side of their country. The Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music, which includes musicians from different perspectives of Syria's war, will perform on June 25 with songwriter and producer Damon Albarn, frontman of the band Blur, and other guest performers.

Immigrants from all parts of the world squat in tent camps around the city until authorities demolish them. Some count among the wave of asylum seekers who have poured into Europe over the past year. [...] Band picks over a section of La Rosée du Matin, or Morning Dew, the title track of Ziga’s new album about refugees.

People start bands for all kinds of reasons, but most of those reasons fall under the general heading of “I have musical desire/skill/wherewithal and time to kill/a rehearsal space/likeminded friends.” Such reasoning generally does not include considering what music the world needs to hear, and tends to be focused squarely on more self-serving considerations.

A Congolese hip-hop artist exiled in a Malawian refugee camp is determined to fight xenophobia with his music.