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Lehigh University kicked off its week-long celebration of international education with a special musical performance, a communal Ethiopian dinner event, and a campus flag parade in which more than a dozen countries were represented.

Those were just the first day of Lehigh’s offerings for International Education Week (IEW), a nationwide initiative that promotes the value of international education and exchange. Visit global.lehigh.edu/IEW for the full schedule of events from Nov. 17–21.

The week began with a unique blend of performance and cultural exploration on Nov. 17, as Professor of Music Eugene Albulescu led a piano recital and talk called “The Global Language of Music,” which traced how global traditions shape musical identity.

Later in the afternoon, the Office of International Students & Scholars (OISS) hosted the annual flag parade, which includes more than two dozen students carrying flags representing 16 different countries.

The final event of the IEW’s first day on Nov. 17 was “Injera to Insight: Courage in Connection,” an Ethiopian dinner served Ethiopian-style on injera, which was organized by the Office of Jewish Student Life, the Chaplain’s Office, and the Office of Creative Inquiry.

Flag parade

The flag parade began at Coxe Hall and traveled through campus before ending at the University Center flag pole. The annual event was organized by OISS, which seeks to empower our international community through holistic support and advising in order to create global minded citizens.

The countries represented in this year’s flag parade included Australia, Chile, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

“I’m very happy to represent India at this event celebrating the diversity at Lehigh,” said Nithya Sree Nagarajan, a computer science student from Tamil Nadu, who carried India’s flag in the parade. “I think Lehigh is a great place. At this moment, I’m really feeling like at home.”

Prashant Kafle, a sophomore from southern Nepal, said he was excited for the parade and signed up to carry his nation’s flag “within 10 seconds” of the event announcement. Kafle said he deeply appreciates Lehigh’s international student community and the support the university provides them.

“Representing my country is always a proud moment for me,” he said. “I feel proud whenever I hold my flag. It’s like an amazing experience to be part of this event.”

The global language of music

Dozens attended the performance at the Zoellner Arts Center, where Albulescu deconstructed Bach’s English Suite No. 2 by performing each movement and pausing to explain its international influences. Bach wrote six “English” Suites, though Albulescu said the name was applied after the fact, likely by his son Johann Christian Bach.

Though the title was applied after Bach’s lifetime, Albulescu noted that the suite’s movements travel across Europe—German allemande, Italian courante, Spanish sarabande, French bourees, and Irish gigue—revealing how Baroque composers borrowed and blended styles long before today’s era of global exchange.

“Bach never visited these places, but he still managed to ‘cook’ their musical flavors,” said Albulescu, who was born in Romania and himself was an international student in the United States.

Albulescu said Bach’s suite offers a powerful reminder of how curiosity, travel, and experience shape cultural understanding. He connected this to the goals of International Education Week, emphasizing that some aspects of culture can be studied, but the deepest insights come only from immersion.

Albulescu also performed a tango of his own composition, and a Romanian Doina arranged from a piece by his father, which he described as “as Romanian as it gets.” Both works highlighted the interplay between heritage, imagination, and artistic interpretation.

Albulescu is an award-winning pianist, conductor, and Steinway Artist whose international career has spanned four continents, major orchestras, and historic venues. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, and the White House, and has appeared with orchestras including the Romanian National Philharmonic, the New Zealand Symphony, and the French Chamber Orchestra.