World Music Institute - WMI PLUS at Home

Send us a textAdam Robinson and Ralph Samuelson joined us for this WMI Plus At Home session, where they introduced the Japanese flute (shakuhachi). Adam and Ralph spoke about the history of the instrument and the different contexts it was used in as it developed. They discussed how traditional music is taught and how the shakuhachi has grown into a modern, globally connected instrument. During their talk, Ralph and Adam played musical examples of shakuhachi music, performed a traditional duet, “Shika no Tōne” (the distant cry of the deer), and answered questions from attendees.More about Adam RobinsonMore about Ralph SamuelsonSupport the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Send us a textSardinian guitarist, composer, vocalist, and instrument innovator Paolo Angeli recently joined us for a WMI Plus At Home conversation with fellow guitarist and founder and director of the Alternative Guitar Summit Joel Harrison. Paolo treated us to some traditional music and took us through the decades-long process of crafting his unique instrument based on a prepared Sardinian guitar with levers and pedals designed to add percussion and additional instrumentation to his repertoire, transforming him into a one-man band.Support the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Send us a textJen Shyu is a versatile composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Peoria, Illinois to Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrant parents, her instruments include piano, violin, Taiwanese moon lute, Chinese erhu, Japanese biwa, and Korean gayageum. For this WMI Plus At Home, she was joined by Rachel Cooper, Director of Performing Arts and Culture as Diplomacy Initiatives at the Asia Society, as the two mapped Jen's journey through music.More about Jen ShyuJen's Journey Through Music - Related LinksSupport the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Send us a textAriel Ninas has been playing the hurdy-gurdy since 2001, incorporating a unique style based on traditional Galician music. His work blends elements of contemporary avant-garde aesthetics, including electronic, droning, and free improvisation. Here he demonstrates the medieval instrument, shares music, and chats with journalist and fellow hurdy-gurdy enthusiast Devon Léger.Support the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Send us a Text Message.Thandiswa Mazwai sits down with Farima Kone Kito to discuss her upbringing in Apartheid South Africa and shares insights on her latest album Sankofa, created in Soweto, Dakar, and NYC, in which she brings traditional music from across the African continent and archival Xsosa samples into the present in a collection that Songlines magazine praises as "eleven incredibly unique songs". Additionally, she reflects on the encouragement and inspiration she has received from fellow artists including Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, and Salif Keita throughout her career. See Thandiswa in NYC on Nov 14, 2024 at (le) poison rougeSupport the Show.Stay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Send us a Text Message.Pura Fé, an Indigenous activist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller of Tuscarora/Taino descent, is known for her soulful voice. She founded the Native Women's a cappella trio, Ulali, empowering Native women's music. Pura Fé explores Native Blues, where she is known for her lap-steel slide guitar recordings. Her music has been featured in many films including the award-winning documentary “RUMBLE: The Indians that Rocked the World” and she engages in social justice events as a speaker and musician. Gwendolen Cates is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker, photographer, and author.Support the Show.Stay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Send us a Text Message.Ahead of his performance at the New York Guitar Festival, now in its 25th year, producer, guitarist, and composer Yonatan Gat (Stone Tapes) sat down with the Host of WNYC's New Sounds, John Schaefer, joined by two artists who will also perform as a part of Night Two of the festival - Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson of the Eastern Medicine Singers and Gnawa master Maalem Hassan Benjaafar. Rounding out the Night Two lineup will be Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Mamady Kouyaté, and Laraaji, John Schaefer will host both nights - June 14 and 15, 2024 at Kaufman Music Center in Manhattan. Link to Night One - Marc Ribot & Leyla McCalla, Yasmin Williams, Neel Murgai & Kunal PrakashLink to Night Two - The Medicine Singers featuring Yonatan Gat and Lee Ranaldo, Maalem Hassan Benjaafar, Mamady Kouyaté, and LaraajiSupport the Show.Stay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Watch Haleh Liza Gafori and Shahzad Ismaily in a conversation about the timeless and universal appeal of the music and poetry of Rumi. Rumi was a Persian Sufi mystic and dervish from the 13th century whose spiritual writings have inspired people across borders and different faiths, making him one of the most beloved poets around the world. He has amassed a celebrity following including Brad Pitt, Chris Martin, Beyoncé, and Jay Z who are drawn to his eternal message of peace and transformation.Other singers of Rumi's poetry mentioned in the conversation: Homayun Shajarian | Mohammad-Reza Shajarian | Shahram Nazeri | ParisaHaleh Liza Gafori is a translator, vocalist, poet, and composer born in New York City of Persian descent. Her book of translations, "Gold: Poems by Rumi", was published by New York Review Books in 2022. Supported by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, Gafori has created a musical, cross-media performance piece based on the book, weaving translations, original text, and compositions sung in Persian and English which she debuted at the New York Public Library. Shahzad Ismaily is a Brooklyn-based musician, composer, and engineer who founded Figure 8 Recording. Often referred to as the “musician's favorite musician”, he has collaborated with many avant-garde artists and composers including Laurie Anderson, Anthony Coleman, and Marc Ribot. WMI presented Love In Exile, his collaboration with Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer based on their Grammy Award-nominated album, at Town Hall in 2023.More about Haleh Liza Gafori - https://www.halehliza.comMore about Shahzad Ismaily and Figure 8 Recording - https://www.figure8recording.comSupport the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Grammy Award-winning Israeli-born composer, clarinetist, and educator Oran Etkin and Brazilian pianist, arranger, composer, and producer Benjamin Taubkin came together to discuss their passion for and commitment to engaging in a musical dialogue with artists from other cultures to build bridges between people around the globe.  They shared music and chatted about working together on Oran's innovative project Open Arms which will be released in January 2024.More about Oran Etkin and the Open Arms ProjectSupport the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Mehrnam Rastegari is an award-winning score composer, singer, and master kamancheh player. Originally born in Iran, she now lives in NYC. For this WMI Plus At Home session, she is joined in conversation with her friend and fellow composer and kamancheh player Niloufar Shiri. Mehrnam shares music and the two artists discuss their instruments and personal musical journeys, as well as the challenges facing women musicians in Iran today.More about Mehrnam RastegariSupport the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Yasser Tejeda, an award-winning Dominican composer, guitarist, vocalist, and producer, shares music and talks with author and journalist Ed Morales about his third album La Madrugada (Daybreak), the African roots of Dominican traditions,  the influences of life in NYC  on his music,  and the message behind his single "Tu Eres Bonita". More about Yasser TejedaSupport the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Multi-lingual composer, vocalist, and cellist Dom La Nena joins journalist Catalina Maria Johnson (Beat Latino) for a special WMI Plus At Home conversation from Dom's home in Paris. She performs songs from her critically-acclaimed solo album Tempo (Six Degrees Records) and shares stories about her unique career path that took her from her home in Brazil to Argentina and France, as well as the distinct melodies of the three languages - Portuguese, Spanish, and French - that she uses in her music.More about Dom La NenaWMI Plus At Home experiences are supported by a grant from Con Edison and world music lovers like you. We thank you!Support the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

This special WMI Plus At Home Session commemorates Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Join members of the Payadora Tango Ensemble and Lenka Lichtenberg with journalist/music producer Dan Rosenberg  as they present stories and music from Silent Tears: the Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees Records), a project based on poems, testimonies, and writings of women who were subjected to sexual violence and torture during the Holocaust. Some songs are from a project led by Dr. Paula David, a social worker at a Toronto Jewish care home who helped survivors to process their trauma by writing collective poetry. Others are from Molly Applebaum, a Toronto-based author, who, during her adolescent years, was buried underground in a small wooden box in a barn in Poland during the war.More about Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish TangoWMI Plus At Home experiences are supported by a grant from Con Edison and world music lovers like you. We thank you!Support the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Music producer and  journalist Gianluca Tramontana joins Grammy Award-winning composer, pianist, educator, and founder of the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance Arturo O'Farrill, for an exploration of changüí - a rarely documented roots music from the Guantánamo region of Cuba, where Tramontana spent several months capturing the music of the changüiseros. Those recordings have been released in a critically-acclaimed collection on Petaluma Records: https://www.petalumarecords.comChangüí The Music Of Guantánamo Official TrailerMore about Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz AllianceWMI Plus At Home experiences are supported by a grant from Con Edison and world music lovers like you. We thank you!Support the showStay in touch with us! Join our newsletter

Adam and journalist Piotr Orlov chat about Adam's many collaborations with artists including Don Cherry, Hassan Hakmoun, Dave Liebman, and Yusuuf Lateef that were part of the WMI legacy series of the late 1980s / early 1990s called 'Improvisations'.  Adam will reboot that influential series for our 2022-2023 Season launch event with SummerStage in Central Park on Sep 10 featuring some of the original artists from the series along with members of the next generation of improvisational artists.More info about the free event on Sep 10 in NYC Central ParkMore about Adam Rudolph

Award-winning Tibetan singer/songwriter Yungchen Lhamo joins her friend and record producer Jamshied Sharifi to share her beautiful voice along with a conversation about her unusual journey from Tibetan to Australia and the US, fulfilling her commitment to serving others through sound healing, and her collaborations with artists including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Natalie Merchant, and Peter Rowan.More about Yungchen Lhamo

Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist Lokua Kanza sat down with Banning Eyre (Afropop Worldwide, NPR) to share music and talk about his work as a UNICEF ambassador,  developing his unique musical style mixing his conservatory training with Congolese rumba, and the process of recording his first album in 11 years entitled Moko, meaning “one” in Lingala,  which involved 100 musicians and 20 recording studios across 12 countries on 5  continents. 

Grammy Award winner Eileen Ivers, hailed “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin” by The New York Times, shares tunes and chats with Irish Voice columnist Paul Keating about her musical training and upbringing in The Bronx (“the 33rd county of Ireland”), her memories of visiting and playing in Ireland, her experience touring with Riverdance, and the challenges of innovating while honoring musical traditions.More about Eileen Ivers

World renowned Grammy Award-winning tabla artist, composer, and music producer Zakir Hussain shares stories from his life and career beginning with his father, tabla legend  Allah Rakha, the genesis of prolific collaborations with artists including Mickey Hart, George Harrison, and John McLaughlin, and the importance of always staying a student. With David Ellenbogen, Artistic Director of Brooklyn Raga Massive and radio host at WKCR.More about Zakir HussainRavi Shankar and Allah Rakha at Monterey Pop Festival

With her captivating charisma and radiant spirit, Daymé Arocena effortlessly blends traditional Santerían chant, jazz stylings, contemporary R&B influences, and Afro-Cuban rhythmic complexity for audiences worldwide.  For this At Home session, Daymé caught up with award-winning music writer Ned Sublette where she spoke about the challenges of learning folk music in Cuba, the inspiration for her hit "La Rumba Me Llamo Yo",  her musical influences, and getting an unexpected call from the legendary Cuban composer and performer Marta Valdés.Resources: La Rumba Me Llamo Yo (Official Video)More about Daymé Arocena: daymearocena.com Daymé's Bandcamp Page: daymearocena.bandcamp.comCuba and It's Music by Ned Sublette

This At Home session features a conversation between internationally acclaimed musician,  composer, and educator Simon Shaheen with fellow Palestinian musician and educator Wanees Zarour. Shaheen, a virtuoso on both the oud and violin, talks about his extensive musical journey in promoting Arab music in its many forms, and  the joys of bringing down musical walls.More about the Arab Music Retreat: http://arabicmusicretreat.orgSimon Shaheen's Spotify playlist 

An At Home conversation with multi-instrumentalist, composer and co-founder of Irish American super group Sólas, Seamus Egan, who played traditional Irish instruments and chatted with folklorist Steve Winick about the importance of Mick Moloney and the Irish music scenes of Philadelphia and New York throughout his career, as well as the serendipitous genesis of co-writing the soundtrack to "The Brothers McMullen" with Sarah McLachlan.More about Seamus Egan: https://seamuseganproject.comTo rent WMI's Seamus Egan Project Vimeo On Demand concert: https://bit.ly/SeamusEganConcertSeamus Egan's Spotify Playlist

Wu Fei and Abigail Washburn share music from their eponymous collaborative album, demonstrate the banjo and the guzheng, and talk with journalist Jeremy Goldkorn about the joys of weaving together two seemingly different musical traditions.Resources:More about Wu FeiMore about Abigail WashburnMore about their albumWu Fei and Abigail Washburn Spotify Playlist

Israeli songwriter, guitarist and humanitarian David Broza shares music and talks with his longtime friend and fellow humanitarian Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) about creating music for healing and social change, and David's experience of recording his first instrumental album “David Broza en Casa Limón”.Resources:More about David BrozaMore about Peter YarrowTrailer - East Jerusalem, West JerusalemDavid Broza's Spotify Playlist