Meklit Hadero

Enrique Kiki Valera is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, sound engineer and producer. He’s best known as one of the world’s greatest players of the Cuban cuatro, a mid-size guitar with eight strings grouped in sets of two.

Kiki Valera on Son cubano and how he developed a unique musical perspective

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At the age of 16, Valera started to salvage radio and TV parts out of discarded electronics to build his own shortwave receiver and transmitter, connecting him to a wider world of musical trends.

Black and white cover of composer Arooj Aftab

The ‘strange grace’ of singer Arooj Aftab

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Sabha Aminikia immigrated to the US as a refugee and began studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. But even as he launched his career in America, his music was often focused on Iran.

Iranian American composer Sahba Aminikia: Music transforms like raindrops that ‘wash this part of humanity’

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Ethiopian American Musician Meklit Hadero hosts an ongoing series at The World about stories of music and migration.

Ethiopian American musician Meklit Hadero: ‘We use music to talk about the things that are hard to talk about’

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(Clockwise from top left) Meklit Hadero in red lighting, Sinkane stsnding in front of wooden wall, Diana Gameros standing in front of a brick wall and Hello Psychaleppo looking down at a keyboard.

Four musicians grapple with the same question: What is home?

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