"If I got an invitation to perform from the president of Syria or the prime minister of Lebanon, I would be the first to go," says Idan Raichel, one of Israel's biggest-selling musicians. Right now that seems like a highly unlikely prospect, given the hostile relations between Israel and its neighbours to the north.

They are veteran Mexican pianists but James Demster and Fernando Garcia Torres are just beginning to savour the delights of Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and dance on their maiden tour to India. It has bred in them a desire to collaborate on a fusion project.

The “Africa in Motion” symposium, which took place last Thursday and Friday in the basement of the Northwest Labs, was at once a celebration of Harvard’s recent top-notch scholarship and a sobering reminder of the work that needs to be done to solve the continent’s problems.

In a recent CBS Sunday Morning program on The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton quite rationally asserts, "I think there are certainly times music conveys American values better than a speech."

It’s the season for embassy soirees in the nation’s capital, and the public is invited to attend a series of concerts and receptions — not just for the music, but also as a way to sample the social whirl of the diplomatic set on a trip to Washington.

Three groups from the 25th Infantry Division Band will travel to Russia and China Sept. 3-13 to perform at different events and represent the United States military.