A celebration of 130 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and France launches next year. A host of cultural programs will be held in both Korea and France for a year from Sept. this year to the end of next year. It is being called “The Year of France in Korea” and “The Year of Korea in France” events.

It began a quarter of a century ago with two men and one lofty goal: to unite the region through music and to create an all-Asian youth orchestra. Today, the award-winning Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) is one of the biggest success stories on the local cultural scene and will be celebrating its many achievements over the weekend.

This month’s concerts have been made possible thanks to organizer Morten Traavik, a trusted figure in the area of cultural exchange as far as Pyongyang is concerned. He told local news agency Yonhap that the band can draw on the division of their homeland Yugoslavia in understanding sentiment towards the separation of the Koreas at the close of Tokyo’s colonial rule.

One Indian rapper is taking on corporate giant Unilever with an environmental protest song set to the tune of Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda.” Chennai-born rapper Sofia Ashraf partnered with the grassroots organizing campaign Jhatkaa to create the video “Kodaikanal Won't,” calling on the corporate giant to clean up its mess and pay restitution to workers of the thermometer factory that was responsible for a giant toxic waste dump in the Indian city.

Six students from Fryeburg Academy recently returned from "singing their way through Europe" during July. The tour was run through the auspices of the American Music Abroad company, which is based in New Jersey and now in its 40th year running such tours.

On Tuesday, August 4, Canberran Christopher Latham will conduct the premiere of the Gallipoli Symphony in Istanbul. [...] "Essentially, the work brings together the best composers from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. [...] I believe it is the largest piece of cultural diplomacy our country has ever created," he says.