We all have favorite songs, and usually those songs remind us of people, places, and special moments in our lives. Whether classical symphonies, traditional and folk songs or pop tunes, music seems to cross all social and political boundaries. Of all the arts, music is the one that moves the most hearts. It really is the people's art form.

Perhaps most importantly, music has the power to bring people together. Film, theater and television may provide entertainment or, sometimes, provoke reflection and debate, particularly online, but other than getting a lot of strangers together in a cinema for two hours or sitting around in the living room staring at a box, they largely encourage passive activity. Dance is a good communal activity, but many people just have no aptitude for it. And despite its propensity to make people's brains more active, reading is a solitary activity. But music builds bonds between people - and not just between musicians, but anyone who goes out to see live music or even stumbles upon it accidentally. It is the thing that is most often the focus of our leisure activities.

This is why I believe music could be the key to forging greater cultural links between the people of the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to forge greater trade ties between 60 countries in Asia, North Africa and Europe. One of the stated aims is also to foster more people-to-people interactions among the member countries. So what better way to do this than through musical interaction?