Communication among people who live far away from one another and have different cultural experiences can be rewarding. It can both help individuals to feel connected to the global community and allow them to learn about other people. Over the past decade and a half, the Internet has enabled people who live thousands of kilometers apart to contact one another with relative ease and thereby has facilitated communication over these long distances. This type of communication is particularly attractive because people who cannot easily meet face to face can both inexpensively and rapidly communicate over the Internet through emails and in chat rooms.
Unfortunately, even with the increased availability of the Internet there remains at least one significant limitation on the ability of people from different countries to communicate. There is a lack of a common language.
Music, which may be appreciated by speakers of any language, has the potential to bridge the gap between persons who cannot communicate directly with one another. For example, audience members at an opera often do not speak the language in which the opera was written yet thoroughly enjoy the performances. Similarly, it is not uncommon for a symphony to play to an audience that is comprised of members, some of whom, because of a language barrier, cannot communicate directly with one another.
However, other than the actors and musicians who are performing, the people at an opera or symphony passively experience the music. Moreover, audience members rarely communicate directly with one another. Thus, to date, music has been underutilized as a tool for bringing together speakers of different languages to communicate and to collaborate.