May Newsletter

Dear Friends,

We are excited to share some updates from this past month with you!


You’re Invited: The Future of Cultural Diplomacy

On Wednesday, June 2nd at 12:00pm EDT, please join us in the third installment of the Future of Cultural Diplomacy series, Multilateral Cultural Diplomacy: A Conversation with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. Director General Azoulay will share her unique perspective on cultural diplomacy as the leader of one of the world’s largest multilateral agencies focused on culture. We are especially excited to discuss UNESCO’s current priorities, including education, culture, gender equality, and freedom of expression, and how UNESCO has provided multilateral approaches to crises stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

This event is co-sponsored by the Future of Diplomacy Project of the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, and will be moderated by TCP Founder, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow and Arts Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, Carla Canales and Alison Hillegeist, Deputy Director for the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School. Please RSVP below!


Hear Her Song: New Composers

Hear Her Song continues with 5 new commissions for the 2021-2022 season! Our new composers will include Olivia Rodriguez, Sofía Élan, Manisha Maru, Alida McKeon and Giselle Felice. Be on the lookout for our new Honorees…

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We Are The Children: A Celebration of AAPI Identity Through Music & Intergenerational Storytelling

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In celebration of AAPI Heritage month, we explored the seminal 1973 album ‘A Grain of Sand’, an album often considered as the first musical voice of the Asian American movement of the late 60s and early 70s. We spoke with an original member of the album Nobuko Miyamoto, filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura, composer Faye Chiao and playwright/producer Melisa Tien, exploring diverse perspectives on the role that arts, culture and intergenerational lessons have for activating social change. We are proud to have partnered with The Global Leaders Program, featuring 2021 cohort member Rose Kim as our event facilitator.

We have recorded the event which you can find below, along with a list of resources for more information on our guest artists!


National Arts Action Summit - Facts & Figures To Make The Case For The Arts | Mainstage Session

Each year, the National Arts Action Summit's advocacy is strengthened by high quality research - Join Americans for the Arts’ Vice President of Research, Randy Cohen and CEO of The Canales Project, Carla Canales to learn the latest data from throughout the sector to make your case with decisionmakers on the arts, the creative economy, pandemic repercussions, arts education, and more. Please consider watching the entire National Arts Action Summit on the AFTA website. Click the link here, where you can purchase the full session or even the entire summit.


We hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday weekend, and thank you for being a part of the TCP community as we strive to create meaningful programming that celebrates identity and culture.

Warmest regards,

The Canales Project


Carla Dirlikov