Composing Global Harmony a Note at a Time
Written by Office of Alumni Affairs Intern Isabella Romine
For American Music Abroad and Arts Envoy ExchangeAlumni Aaron Sperber, music is more than just an art form: it’s about human connection that transcends cultural, language, and geographic barriers. As the founder of the aptly named acapella group The Exchange, Aaron visited over 60 countries, many as part of his exchange programs. His experiences only deepened his passion for music as a universal language, which recently culminated in his latest project: The Harmundi Foundation.
“We might speak different languages, look different, eat different types of food, or worship differently. Our governments might even seem like they're at odds. A room might be tense,” Aaron explains. “But once the beat starts, everybody starts moving to that beat together. Through some of my experiences with the State Department, I got [sic] really blessed to be able to experience it firsthand.”
Last year, supported through funding from the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund (CDAF) and other sponsors, Harmundi Foundation put on the virtual, free of charge Harmundi International Music Summit (IMS) for students worldwide. A group of sixty students from six continents came together to learn from accomplished music professionals around the world. The diverse, multi-genre clinics included vocal production, taught by Latin-Grammy celebrated engineer, Simone Torres; beatboxing, led by Sri Lankan beatbox world champion Julius Mitchell; musical arrangement and harmony, taught by Louisiana jazz pianist, Jacob Dupre; and life as a performing artist, led by Nigerian-Panamanian Grammy-winning member of Pentatonix, Kevin Olusola.
On the third and final day of the summit, the students applied what they’d learned to put on a finale concert that was live-streamed worldwide. Students performed solos, passing the baton globally to one another, and closed the concert with two music videos of songs students had collaboratively arranged, recorded, and filmed over the course of the weekend.
The Harmundi International Music Summit exemplified global collaboration, uniting international speakers and organizers alongside Aaron’s equally passionate CDAF team. The team, comprised of Peace Corps alumna Alice Kahng as Education Director, fellow member of The Exchange and Arts Envoy and American Music Abroad alum Jamal Moore as Vocal Director, Matt Carlin as Music Director, and Arts Envoy alum Paul Kaleka as Production Director, played an integral role in the event’s success.
Through equally multinational support, Aaron achieved one of the crowning accomplishments of the weekend—distributing full studio production equipment to each student before the program began. During the summit, leaders taught students everything from how to set up the equipment to how to arrange, record, edit, and fully produce their own creations.
“Now they have the tools—they don't need to pay to go somewhere or pay to use somebody's equipment. They have it in their bedroom going forward,” Aaron explained. “Money isn’t an issue. They can learn and continue growing as a creator and a person using the tools that we've given them.”
Aaron also shared that, importantly, the students formed connections among themselves, transcending cultural bounds. There were two session blocks to accommodate different time zones. Many students showed up to both sessions, even though the classes would be repeated, because they wanted to deepen connections with their peers.
During a vocal session he and Jamal were scheduled to lead on the last day, Aaron opened the conversation so that students could talk about their experience on the program, not expecting that the conversation would last an entire two hours.
“They’re teenagers, so I expected some bashfulness, maybe. But I was shocked,” Aaron said. “Every hand went up. One girl said, I didn't know if I would ever get a chance to meet anybody not from where I'm from, or that I'd be able to make friends from a different place. I really hope that we can stay friends and start making music together. And everyone was cheering. It was just like, oh my gosh—you have a vision, and then start to see it come true.”
In June, the participants will come together again for a check-in and share what they’ve been working on since Harmundi. Some participants have been working on collaborations together, which was Aaron’s initial hope upon developing the International Music Summit.
“The idea of all of this is that it's not just what takes place that weekend,” he explained. “The hope was that they would walk out of this not just with the tools, but with new friends, new inspirations where they could create cross-cultural fusion music that the world has never heard before, together.”
Tuning in to the Future
In the fall, Aaron and his team plan to expand the program to include even more students across a wider range of countries and genres. He also hopes to include an additional in-person component to the program, though the virtual component will continue reaching and connecting international students from their own homes.
Aaron notes that he’d also like to add more of a musical entrepreneurship component in the future, drawing on his recent Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and experience as the manager of The Exchange.
“As we grow these programs, there will be a focus on giving students all the tools they need, that means the musical training, the skills, the technical equipment, and also the overall understanding and strategy of how to build yourself as a brand and a business,” Aaron said. “And then, of course, the most important part—the global awareness, the connections, and the curiosity that comes from these types of programs.”
Having recently completed an application for another CDAF grant, Aaron is excited about the next iteration of the Harmundi Foundation’s work.
“The State Department’s commitment to music diplomacy as a whole and to us specifically has been life changing,” he said. “Not just for us. Because it’s not just for us—it’s for all the students who are involved and their families.”