It’s been 50 years since the British invaded America. Today marks the half-century anniversary of The Beatle’s first visit to the United States, sparking Beatlemania on this side of the pond.

A host of musicians, journalists, even an airport are paying tribute to the band this week—and so is an association.

The International Association of Music Colleges and Universities is marking the anniversary with a special re-creation of the band’s second album “With the Beatles.” The tribute album, titled “Without the Beatles,” is part of IAMCU’s Virtual Exchange program, which allows students of the association’s member institutions to collaborate across borders and prepare to work in professional settings.

“This worldwide friendship and alliance allowed students to create and communicate the language of music across different continents with student artists, producers, and engineers who otherwise would have never had the chance to collaborate together,” the association said in a statement. “IAMCU wanted to create a ‘global village’ for students to expand their learning experience far beyond their classrooms.”

Formed in May of last year with the focus of allowing students to collaborate on innovative projects, IAMCU currently has three member institutions: the Los Angeles College of Music, the Fermatta Music Academy of Mexico City, and the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London.

The album, produced in partnership with UNICEF, is meant to pay tribute to a band that helped change the landscape for professional musicians, IAMCU stated in a video announcing the album’s release. Each of the album’s songs features at least one contribution from all of the member schools.

“Students were allowed to be involved in productions much like they’d see in today’s music industry and which will prepare them for success in a professional, yet creative, environments,” IAMCU said.

All proceeds from the album, which is available on iTunes, will go to UNICEF and to help support international education programs. IAMCU plans to produce more collaborative projects involving other 50th-anniversary albums annually.

(United States Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)