We use music in a variety of ways – to teach, to learn, to inspire, to heal. We can use it to help get through life’s troubles or to delve deeply into them.

Sandy Tolan’s Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land explores many of these dynamics through the story of Ramzi Aburedwan, a West Bank Palestinian who uses his rare musical talent to bring the healing power of music to his community in the West Bank. Tolan, the author of the bestselling book The Lemon Tree, powerfully documents Ramzi’s experiences, from his childhood under Israeli occupation to becoming a master viola player in the concert halls of Europe to his return to Ramallah in order to teach and perform.

Singer and songwriter David Broza has taken a similar musical journey. An Israeli who has lived in multiple countries, Broza combines numerous influences and styles in the songs that flow from his guitar. On his recent album and documentary East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem, Broza goes one step further and brings Israeli and Palestinian musicians together. The result, as described by Vanity Fair, is “a manic burst of creativity . . . extraordinary.”

Follow these journeys and learn how music, even in the midst of conflict and strife, can touch hearts and change minds.

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