About the Author: Dr. Esther Brimmer serves as Assistant Secretary of State for theBureau of International Organization Affairs.

On an unseasonably cold and rainy Sunday, the action inside the Smithsonian’s new Warner Bros Theatre was anything but dreary. The afternoon’s celebration of jazz featured a roundtable discussion with jazz experts followed by musical performances before a crowd of diplomats and other invited guests.

I was thrilled to co-host our inaugural Embassy Jazz Day, Bridging Cultures Crossing Divides, with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History this past weekend. This occasion provided the opportunity to mark the role jazz plays in creating linkages between peoples, communities, and cultures while also enabling the next generation of jazz innovators to perform including Howard University’s Afro Blue and Lena Seikaly. This event also represented a first: a partnership… more »