In a partnership between the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the Arab World Institute, and the Make Music Alliance, musicians around the world will unite their music, and their hearts, through a rhythmic relay on June 21 for Make Music Day (also known as the Fête de la Musique).

Starting in New Zealand and traveling throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, this 100% live online broadcast, entitled Pulsations (meaning “heartbeat” in French), will feature musicians in 24 countries performing free public concerts. Taking turns on the broadcast, each band will perform a 10-minute set, ending their last song with a “heartbeat” rhythm composed by renowned French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf. At that moment, like the passing of the Olympic torch, the band in the next country will join the livestream, match the heartbeat rhythm, and seamlessly begin their own set.

This relay continues for 4 hours, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM UK time, with a diverse range of artists and styles all joined by a common rhythm. Finally, the livestream arrives at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, where Ibrahim Maalouf & The Trumpets of Michel-Ange will perform a final, hourlong set.

Support for Pulsations comes from Harman, the global leader in pro audio, whose AKG microphones will be provided to artists around the world to use in the livestream. Additional support comes from the Cheswatyr Foundation. In France, media partners include FIP (Radio France), France Médias Monde, and Konbini.

Just like Make Music Day itself, Pulsations includes both amateur and professional musicians, joining from around the world with a vast range of styles. Superstar composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist A.R. Rahman will perform live from the KM Music Conservatory in India, which he founded in 2008. Funk-pop band TOI of New Zealand will sing “Ain’t Just Dreaming,” a song written with members of the NZ Olympic Team that reached #1 on New Zealand’s Hot Singles Chart. In Los Angeles, a city gearing up to host the Summer Olympics in 2028, jazz singer Dwight Trible will perform with the Fernando Pullum Youth Arts Center Jazz Ensemble in front of the Vision Theater, highlighting the cultural richness of South L.A. In Canada, where June 21 also marks National Indigenous People’s Day, the Indigenous folk-rock duo Twin Flames will perform at Hugh’s Room Live in Toronto. The Ukraine city of Lviv, celebrating Make Music Day without interruption for the last 12 years, will present the poetic Pyrih i Batih. Viewers will discover many more kinds of music, from the South African musical bow to Byzantine sacred music, in the course of the day’s relay.

In a joint statement, Pulsations organizers Dominique Hervieu, director of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, and Jack Lang, president of the Arab World Institute, said: “Since its inception in France in 1982, Make Music Day has transcended borders to become an international event. Originally conceived by Jack Lang, who served as the French Minister of Culture at the time and is now the President of the Arab World Institute, Make Music Day aims to impart a universal dimension to this special day centered around music, widely regarded as the most unifying art form globally. …This international performance is poised to be a flagship event of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the official cultural program of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Pulsations project mirrors our collective values, promoting camaraderie, peace, and mutual respect worldwide.”