World Music Institute Announces Fall/Winter 2022-2023 Season

WMI celebrates its 37th year in NYC with 18 performances featuring artists from over 20 countries, including Botswana, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Korea, Mali, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, and Wales.

See full schedule, with venue, artist, and ticketing info below, or at the WMI website

A Message From WMI Executive Director Gaby Sappington:

"We're excited to announce our 2022-2023 Fall/Winter Season, curated by our new artistic director Brice Rosenbloom, whose artistic vision reflects and expands upon WMI's commitment to presenting the most exciting and relevant voices in world music and dance. The first half of our Season features 18 shows presenting artists from more than 20 countries. Among them are such established artists as Oumou Sangaré -- making her Apollo Theater debut -- Habib Koité, and Zakir Hussain with Niladri Kumar; as well as new talent such as Puuluup from Estonia, Ata Kak from Ghana, and NYC's own Lollise. New this season is a monthly "Let's Dance" series that celebrates the vibrant, modern developments of international music, inviting audiences to dance their way around the world. Our Season Launch event at Central Park SummerStage acknowledges WMI's history with a festival-style line-up titled "Improvisations" spearheaded by longtime WMI friend Adam Rudolph, bringing together a variety of International Artists celebrating our motto MANY CULTURES - ONE WORLD. We look forward to seeing you often throughout the Season and to sharing great music and dance from around the globe with you.?

WMI Fall/Winter 2022-2023 Season Events

IMPROVISATIONS SERIES

Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra

Featuring Hassan Hakmoun, Dave Liebman, Marcus Gilmore, Graham Haynes,
and Brooklyn Raga Massive
Gift of Gnawa honoring Don Cherry / Brandee Younger and Joel Ross
Music Composed and Conducted by Adam Rudolph
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Doors 6 PM | Show 7 PM
Central Park SummerStage
Free Event

Hearkening back to our early years curating music in NYC, WMI revives the Improvisations Series. Rooted in the city's fertile jazz and improvised international music scene, the series brought together musicians from various backgrounds and cultures -- many who had never performed together before. A core member of those shows was drummer, percussionist, and sometime Acting Music Director Adam Rudolph. He performed on over a dozen 'Improvisations' shows, and his later projects, 'Moving Pictures' and 'Go: Organic Orchestra' (featured at this event) were partly inspired by these unique WMI events.

COUNTERPOINT SERIES

Black String (rescheduled show)

Friday, September 9, 2022
Doors: 6PM | Show: 7PM
Chelsea Table + Stage
152 W 26th St, Manhattan
Tickets: $30 | $40 | $45 | $50 | $65

Presented in Partnership with the Korean Cultural Center NY and Chelsea Table + Stage

This edgy and improvisational Korean foursome is led by Yoon Jeong Heo, an educator, Artistic Director of Seoul's Bukchon Changwoo Theater, and one of the few female masters of the geomungo (a traditional Korean zither and inspiration for the band's name). Black String, made up of Yoon Jeong Heo (geomungo), Jean Oh (electric guitar), Aram Lee (daegeum, sogeum, yanggeum), and Min Wang Hwang (janggu, vocal), mix centuries-old instruments with electric guitar and beats, creating a unique and timeless sound.

COUNTERPOINT SERIES

Puuluup

Thursday, September 22, 2022
Doors: 6 PM | Show: 7 PM
Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette Street, Manhattan
Tickets: $25 Advance | $30 Day of Show

The Estonian nu-folk duo Puuluup, made up of Ramo Teder and Marko Veisson describe their work as surrealism and modern folklore mixed with talharpa -- a bowed lyre popular in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages. The two playfully combine these traditional instruments with loops and modern electronic effects, otherworldly harmonies, and quirky lyrics inspired by unlikely subjects including Polish TV heroes, zombies, old Estonian punk, and even a hypothetical run-in with a neighbor's dog.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

Ata Kak and Lollise

Friday, September 30, 2022
Doors: 6.30 PM | Show: 7:30 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn
Tickets: $26 - Advance | $30 - Day of Show
Co-presented with Elsewhere

WMI's first club night features Ata Kak - the enigmatic West African dance music icon whose self-released 1994 cassette tape Obaa Sima was an early inspiration for the Awesome Tapes From Africa blog, record label, and DJ project. With its infectious mix of reggae and dancehall, Ghanaian highlife, and hip-hop, the tape became a global hit when it was re-released in 2015. He will be joined by Lollise, a musician, visual artist, and fashion designer from Botswana, currently living in NYC. Lollise shares her own bold Afro-futurist pop sound, rich with analog synths, layers of percussion, and gentle waves of ambient noise.

ORIGINS SERIES

Kardemimmit

Saturday, October 1, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 7.30 PM
Scandinavia House
58 Park Avenue, Manhattan
Tickets: $15 - Advance | $20 - Day of Show
Co-presented with Scandinavia House

Live WMI Folk Tales podcast recording in the afternoon (free event)

Kardemimmit are back after their magical performance with Väsen at Littlefield in 2019, presented by WMI. This time the all-female quartet brings 15 and 38-stringed silvery-toned kanteles (the national instrument of Finland), mesmerizing harmonies, and the sounds of the Finnish forest to Scandinavia House. The concert will be preceded by a free afternoon live recording of an episode of WMI's Folk Tales podcast, in which storyteller Bill Gordh will deliver a Finnish folk tale accompanied by a fully improvised musical performance by Kardemimmit. All ages welcome.

COLLABORATIONS SERIES

Manchester Collective and Abel Selaocoe - 'Sirocco'

Friday, October 7, 2022
Doors: 7:30PM | Show: 8PM
Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street, Manhattan
Tickets: $25 | $35 | $45
Co-presented with Kaufman Music Center

'Sirocco' is a joyful celebration of musical styles from around the globe, presented by UK-based contemporary classical string quartet Manchester Collective, featuring South African cellist and vocalist Abel Selaocoe. Abel Selaocoe also serves as Guest Director and narrator, and will be accompanied by the members of his trio, Sidiki Dembele, and Alan Keary from Chesaba. Manchester Collective is an innovative arts organization known for their experimental programming and daring collaborations. Abel Selaocoe pushes the boundaries of the cello, seamlessly moving across styles, collaborating with classical artists and beatboxers alike.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

Hailu Mergia, Awesome Tapes (DJ set), Nickodemus (DJ set)

Sunday, October 9, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn
Tickets: $30 Advance | $35 Day of Show

Ethiopian jazz keyboardist and arranger Hailu Mergia led the legendary 1970's Addis Ababa "Walias Band" in sweaty all-night sets. His new album Yene Mircha ("My Choice") expertly captures intimate and explosive live experimentation. Whilst on a Fulbright scholarship in Ghana, ethnomusicologist Brian Shimkovitz (Awesome Tapes) got hooked on collecting highlife, African disco, and local pop cassette tapes from street vendors, eventually sharing his discoveries on the blog and label Awesome Tapes From Africa. He will play a full set using only these cassette tapes. Nickodemus is a traveler at heart-a connector of worlds, scenes, and people since the mid-90s. Over his extensive career as a touring DJ and producer he's helped pave the way for an inimitable mix of global fusion and the heavy beats we yearn for in the club.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

Forró In The Dark, Gaspar Muniz (DJ set)

Thursday, October 13, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Nublu
151 Avenue C, NYC
Tickets: $20 Advance | $25 Day of Show

Celebrating their 20th anniversary, NYC-based Brazilian expats Forró in the Dark mix the driving beats of forró - a style of rural party music from Northeastern Brazil - with rock, psychedelia, and more into a unique musical melting pot that has attracted collaborators including David Byrne, Angelique Kidjo, and Gilberto Gil, among others. Gaspar Muniz grew up in an intensely artistic environment. Never attached to a specific genre, he uses his cultural diversity and knowledge in his sets by curating a variety of music styles from different places and eras, and describes himself as a "vibe setter, digger, dancer".

ORIGINS SERIES

Green Fields of America and Calan

Friday, October 21, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Peter Norton Symphony Space
2537 Broadway (at 95th Street), Manhattan
Tickets: $30 | $40 | $55
Presented in partnership with Irish Arts Center

For over 40 years Green Fields of America has been performing traditional Irish music and dance around the world. Founded by decorated musician and folklorist Mick Moloney, this supergroup has included such Celtic luminaries as the late Dennis Cahill, Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, Joanie Madden, and dancer Michael Flatley, among others. The current lineup of talented musicians will be joined by Calan, who have emerged over the last decade as the most accomplished and exciting group of young artists - an "un-traditionally traditional" Welsh band. Not in recent memory have these two great celtic traditions been presented together in New York City.

MASTERS OF INDIAN MUSIC SERIES

Purbayan Chatterjee with Rakesh Chaurasia and Ojas Adhiya

Sunday, October 23, 2022
Doors: 7:30 PM | Show: 8 PM
Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street, Manhattan
Tickets: $25 | $35 | $45

A special evening of Indian classical music featuring three of the most exciting and celebrated talents of the Hindustani tradition: Purbayan Chatterjee is a gifted sitar player, and the vibrancy of his playing, deeply inspired by the late legendary sitarist Nikhil Banerjee, has attracted artists including Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, and Pat Metheny to seek him out for collaborations. He will be accompanied by bansuri master Rakesh Chaurasia (nephew and child prodigy of flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia), and tabla virtuoso Ojas Adhiya, also a former child prodigy, who has collaborated with Hariprasad Chaurasia and Anoushka Shankar, among other notable stars.

WOMEN'S VOICES SERIES

Oumou Sangaré

Saturday, October 29, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
The Apollo Theater Debut
253 West 125th Street, Manhattan
Tickets: $30 | $40 | $45 | $50 | $75

World Music Institute in association with The Apollo present Malian musician and GRAMMY Award-winner Oumou Sangaré for an incredible one-night-only performance at the world famous Apollo in Harlem, New York. One of West Africa's most celebrated vocalists, Sangaré infuses her music with traditional African percussion, distinctive vocals, and progressive social criticism, creating a unique sound that has propelled her onto the international stage. In her Apollo debut, Sangaré, "The Songbird of Wassoulou," will perform music that spans traditional Wassoulou music to contemporary sounds coming out of Africa as well as songs from her recent critically acclaimed album, Timbuktu.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

Underground System, Locobeach, Cheo Pardo (DJ Set)

Thursday, November 10, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Nublu
151 Avenue C, Manhattan
Tickets: $20 | $25 Day of Show

Brooklyn-based Underground System are rooted in the Afrobeat style of Fela Kuti and have blossomed into a highly energetic global indie dance music ensemble with an undeniably unique infectious sound. Locobeach is the musical moniker of the NYC-based dynamic supergroup forging a sound blending cumbia pop and Latin disco with a psychedelic edge. From classic cumbias, Latin dance music, and psychedelic grooves, Locobeach is a well-oiled dance machine. José Luís ("Cheo") Pardo is a Latin GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist, songwriter, DJ, and music producer, as well as the founder, director, and former member of dance/funk band Los Amigos Invisibles. Originally from Venezuela, now based in Brooklyn, Cheo is considered one of the best lead guitarists coming out of Latin America, and has released remixes for a variety of artists including the Beastie Boys, David Byrne, and Julieta Venegas, among others.

MASTERS OF AFRICAN MUSIC SERIES

Habib Koité

Sunday, November 13, 2022
Doors: 6 PM | Show: 8 PM
City Winery NYC
25 11th Avenue at 15th Street, Manhattan
Tickets: $30 | $35 | $45

Malian guitarist and composer Habib Koité is one of his country's biggest pop stars, and a modern-day troubadour descended from a noble line of griots. His grandfather played the kamele n'goni - a traditional string instrument associated with the legendary hunters from the Wassoulou region. Koité is perhaps best known for his danssa doso, a unique blend of local rhythms with traditional hunter's music, and often plays his guitar on open strings in the style of a n'goni. His latest studio album Kharifa, released in 2019, was recorded in Bamako and is rich with the musical traditions and instruments of his country.

MASTERS OF INDIAN MUSIC SERIES

Zakir Hussain with Niladri Kumar

Friday, November 18, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 LaGuardia Place, Manhattan
Tickets: $35 | $45 | $55 | $65 | $85

Zakir Hussain, the acknowledged master of the Indian tabla, and Niladri Kumar, the young star sitarist, are at the very top of their form, and together represent the very essence of music: rhythm and melody. Their every performance is an opportunity for transcendent flights of musical imagination grounded in one of the world's great musical traditions, Northern Indian "Hindustani" classical music -a thousand-year-old tradition of matchless interaction between drummer and melody player-has passed to the best imaginable hands.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

Pierre Kwenders with Uproot Andy

Thursday, December 8, 2022
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Nublu
151 Avenue C, Manhattan
Tickets: $20 Advance | $25 Day of Show

Congolese-born, Montreal-based performer, songwriter, Pierre Kwenders is an architect of modern African music with his unique blend of Afro-inflected electronics mixed with Congolese rumba - the Signature Sound of the Moonshine Collective. This global multi-disciplinary ensemble was founded by Kwenders in 2014 and includes DJ Uproot Andywho will join Kwenders at this event.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

Samir LanGus with DJ Omar Aena

Thursday, January 26, 2023
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Nublu
151 Avenue C, Manhattan
Tickets: $20 Advance | $25 Day of Show

Samir LanGus is a GRAMMY Award-nominated gnawa musician, born and raised in Agadir, Morocco, who adds his own contemporary spin to the traditional spiritual trance music with jazz instrumentation, mixing North African sounds with NYC attitude. Omar Aena is of Iraqi descent and is a DJ, community organizer, and event producer based in NYC. He is the founder of Dance Lab, a Brooklyn-based collective that explores dance as a form of somatic healing. Omar Aena mixes traditional world music and electronic sounds, with a focus on middle-eastern music.

ORIGINS SERIES

Songs For Babyn Yar

Saturday, January 28, 2023
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 7:30 PM
Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan
Tickets: $25 | $35 | $45
Co-presented with 92NY

In 1941, Nazi occupying forces murdered more than 33,000 Jews in the ravine of Babyn Yar in the suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine, in just two days. In the following two years of Nazi occupation, Babyn Yar became the site of over 100,000 deaths. Eight decades later, three Ukrainian musicians - Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish, and Mariana Sadovska - journey deep into their shared history, drawing on survivors' testimonies, traditional Yiddish and Ukrainian folk songs, poetry, and storytelling to present 'Songs for Babyn Yar' - a music theater performance that intimately weaves languages, harmonies, and cultures to reveal the forgotten stories and silenced songs from one of the most devastating periods in Ukraine's past.

LET'S DANCE SERIES

DJ Bembona with Afro Dominicano and Parcha Presents

Saturday, February 25, 2023
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Nublu
151 Avenue C, Manhattan
Tickets: $20 Advance | $25 Day of Show

With her community-oriented and afro-diasporic approach, Puerto Rican-Panamanian DJ Bembona has established herself as a singular voice in the landscape of New York nightlife. In her youth, Bembona's family introduced her to an eclectic collection of sounds, including Fania records, R&B, boleros, and merengue. Bembona developed a deep appreciation for the heyday of Latinx music in the Bronx and Brooklyn, an influence that still shapes her sound today. Afro Dominicano is a Latin Fusion band playing Afro Caribbean soul. Blending traditional folkloric roots music from the Dominican Republic with Afro-beats, reggae, calypso, samba, funk, punk rock and other Caribbean rhythms. Inspired by the sonic collisions that blast from car stereos on the streets of New York and Puerto Rico, Parcha Presents creates spaces for musical discovery and radical joy, celebrating Afro-diasporic artists as our guides.