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World Music Institute is a not-for-profit concert presenting organization dedicated to the research and presentation of the finest in traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world. WMI supports and encourages musicians from immigrant communities and collaborates with universities, cultural organizations, and other presenting organizations that have similar goals.

Description:
WMI presents 60 to 70 concerts per year in New York City, and arranges national tours by visiting musicians from abroad as well as U.S.-based artists. WMI is recognized throughout the U.S. as the major presenter of music from the many traditions of the world. We have built a network of presenters which include World Music (Boston), Williams College (MA), UCLA, UC Berkeley, and the University of Texas (Austin) to present artists we are touring. This consortium, World Music America, has been funded regularly by the NEA.

We have built a solid body of knowledge of many of the world's musical traditions, and we receive additional input from our board of advisors, which includes ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, senior musicians, and other experts. We have gained a reputation for presenting many of the finest traditional artists of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. Our concerts take place at venues throughout the city including Symphony Space, Town Hall, Lincoln Center, City Center and Carnegie Hall. We curate Zankel Hall / Carnegie Hall's world music series "World Views," and present concerts with Lincoln Center. Other collaborative partners have included Aaron Davis Hall, the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, City Lore, and Summerstage.

World Music Institute hosts over 40,000 audience members at its New York City concerts every year, including residents of the five NYC boroughs and the greater tri-state area. With one of the most diverse artists rosters as well as audiences, WMI plays an important role in presenting under-recognized dance and music traditions from around the world, supporting and promoting both US-resident artists from these traditions as well as international masters. In this way WMI reinforces the cultural values of immigrant communities to new generations here in New York, while promoting appreciation for various art forms across cultures.

History:
World Music Institute is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1985. Since its founding, World Music Institute has built the most comprehensive concert series of traditional music and dance in the United States. Through its concerts WMI seeks to entertain, educate and to provide spiritual nourishment. Music and dance in their myriad forms are both a means to communicate social values and a measure of a society's aspirations. WMI's programs of traditional music and dance are intended to reinforce the cultural values of the communities and to communicate to outsiders the unique power of each individual culture. Growing out of the concert program developed at New York's Alternative Museum between 1976 and 1985, the series has included music from more than 70 countries and ethnic minorities in Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, The Americas and the Middle East as well as regional music from throughout North America. In addition, WMI has presented innovative programs of contemporary music by American composers. WMI presents more than 60 concerts a year in New York City at locations varying from the 250-seat Washington Square Church to such formal concert venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and City Center. WMI pioneered the presenting of world music at The Borough of Manhattan Community College's Triplex Theater and New York's Symphony Space, an 850-seat theater on Manhattan's upper west side, for which we have received numerous praises. In the 1980's WMI administered and co-presented with the Society of Asian Music, a concert series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. WMI works extensively with community groups and organizations including Indian, Iranian, Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern, Latin American, Hungarian, Irish, and Central Asian. This has enabled us to be at the forefront of planning and presenting the finest ensembles from these countries, as well as the opportunity to do direct outreach to the communities whose music we are presenting.

Contact person: Marisa Clementi, Volunteer Coordinator, (212) 545-7536, (email)
Office fax number: (212) 889-2771

Address:

49 West 27th Street, Suite 930 New York, NY 10001 (See a map)