May 24, 2012
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World Music Institute
World Music Institute is a not-for-profit concert organization founded in 1985 and dedicated to the research, presentation and documentation of the finest in traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world.
WMI encourages cultural exchange between nations and ethnic groups and collaborates with community organizations and academic institutions in fostering greater understanding of the world’s cultural traditions. WMI works extensively with community groups and organizations including Indian, Iranian, Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern, Latin American, Hungarian, Irish and Central Asian.
WMI presents a full season of concerts each year in New York City, and arranges national tours by visiting musicians from abroad, as well as US-based artists.
Programs take place at venues throughout the city, including Symphony Space, Town Hall, Skirball Performing Arts Center at NYU, New York City Center, the Rose Theater (Jazz at Lincoln Center) and Carnegie Hall.
WMI works closely with culturally specific organizations to promote its events. Many concerts are presented as thematic series. These have included The Musical World of Islam, Masters of Indian Music, Africa in the Americas, Music around the Mediterranean, and National Heritage Masters. Others are presented as festivals such as the New York Blues Festival, Grassroots Gospel Festival, Festival of Indonesia, and Festival of India.
WMI has brought many musical, dance and ritual traditions to the New York stage for the first time, including Laotian sung poetry, folk music of Khorason and Bushehr (Iran), songs of the Yemenite Jews, Bardic divas of Central Asia, trance ceremonies from Morocco, music from Madagascar, and Theyyams (masked dances) of Kerala, South India. Many artists have been given their U.S. or New York debuts via WMI.
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