Now in its 18th year, the Washington Jewish Music Festival brings the best of the world to the nation’s capital, exploring the intersections of Jewish music and diverse genres from around the world. This year’s lineup pulls from the sounds of Cuba, Israel, Pakistan and Ethiopia, and closer ports of call like Brooklyn and Appalachia.

The Festival’s opening night event will feature the U.S. debut of Israeli Afro-Soul stars, AvevA Music. The group will perform their trademark R&B, funk, and pop sound fused with traditional Ethiopian music in English and Amharic at The Howard Theater.

Headlining the Festival is Israel’s leading singer-songwriter Noa (Achinoam Nini), who has shared the stage with Sting, Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli and performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House and the Vatican. Noa joins forces with Mira Awad, her partner in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, for a reunion concert at The George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium.

Inaugurating WJMF’s Artist-in-Residence program is DC native multi-instrumentalist Yoshie Fruchter, who will perform with his critically-acclaimed band Pitom, Jewish-Pakistani sensation Sandaraa, and Middle Eastern-Americana fusion band Sandcatchers.

The Festival will also kick off a year-long partnership with Levine Music, presenting two classical programs celebrating protest music including Strange Fruit, a program of music from—and inspired by—the American Civil Rights movement.

Closing the Festival on November 5 is Odessa/Havana, a group led by Jewish trumpeter, composer, and cultural inventor David Buchbinder and Grammy-nominated Cuban pianist Hilario Duran featuring a crew of top jazz and world musicians. The unprecedented project explores the intersection of Jewish and Cuban music.

Don’t miss this celebration of international and local music October 26-November 5. Find out more at WJMF.ORG.

This post is brought to you by the Washington Jewish Music Festival.