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Upcoming Events (click here for previous events)

NOW ON OUR ARCHIVES PAGE! We're excited to kickoff Treasures of the CTMD Archive - a new series of ten videos posted weekly in honor of our 45th Anniversary. Featuring rare footage of leading master musicians we've worked with over five decades. Click here to go to the Treasures of the CTMD Archive website and view the series.

Sunday, May 19: FolkCOLOMBIA Música y Danza and CTMD are thrilled to present Un Taller Llanero, a workshop/presentation of llanero music from Colomia's plains region. This event will feature singer/cuatro player Johanna Castaneda, and is part of FolkCOLOMBIA's Tertulia-Taller Series, monthly events presented throughout New York City that celebrate the rich music and dance traditions of Colombia. Admission is free! At Boys Harbor Conservatory, 1 East 104th Street at 5th Avenue (attached to El Museo del Barrio). (4:00PM - 7:00PM)

Tuesday, May 28: Philadelphia Klezmer Program! A special evening featuring the Philadelphia sound of klezmer music with NEA National Heritage Fellow Elaine Hoffman Watts on drums and her daughter Susan Watts on trumpet/vocals. The Hoffman family is a klezmer dynasty that continues to perform music from a rare klezmer manuscript written by Elaine's grandfather, trumpeter Joseph Hoffman, a coronet player who came to Philadelphia in 1904 from a town near Odessa. The program will feature a concert, worksho and a screening of a documentary about Elaine and Susan entitled "Eatala: A Life in Klezmer" produced by our friends at the Philadelphia Folklore Project. The evening will be capped off by a special Philadelphia Tansthoyz led by master dance leader Steve Weintraub. A production of the NY Klezmer Series, which is supported by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture. At the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, 30 W. 68th St., between Columbus and Central Park West on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Admission $15 for event, extra charges apply for pre-event instrumental workshop (a jam session takes place at the end of the evening). There's even a Kidz Klezmer Band workshop at 4PM. For additional information, go to the NY Klezmer Series website. This amazing series curated by Aaron Alexander produces events every Tuesday evening! (concert/Tantshoyz runs from 7:30PM - 10:00PM, instrumental workshops starts at 5:30PM).

Tuesday, June 4: Treasures and Traditions - CTMD's 45th Anniversary Celebration Benefit Dinner & Dance Party. Honoring Rick Luftglass (CTMD Chairman/Executive Director of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund), Sue Yeon Park (Artistic Director of Korean Performing Arts Center and a NEA National Heritage Fellow) and Janette Sadik-Kahn (NYC Commissioner, Department of Transportation). The event will feature performances by the amazing Secret Trio (Ismail Lumanovski, clarinet, Tamer Pinarbasi, kanun, and Ara Dinkjian, oud) and Afro-Colombian sensations Rebolu featuring gaita player/vocalist Ronald Polo. At the Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47th Street in Manhattan.Tickets $250, with tables/sponsorships available at the $10,000, $5000 and $2500 levels. For more information or to reserve tickets/tables click here. (6:30PM-10:00PM)

Saturday, June 15: Ayiti Fasafas, CTMD's Haitian Community Cultural Initiative and the Brooklyn Public Library present Haitian Vodou in New York City. Local Vodou artists and practitioners come together to honor New York City manbos and demonstrate a variety of the Vodou art forms practiced locally. Admission is free. At Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn (2:00PM)

Thursday, July 18: Fiddlers on the Roof. Back for a second year by popular demand! Join klezmer violinist and CTMD Touring Artist Alicia Svigals in the first-ever rooftop fiddle fest at the Manhattan JCC. Bring your fiddle (violin, viola, cello or bass) to a master class at 7PM, and then stay to jam. Not a fiddler? Come at 8:30PM to listen, surrounded by strings and under the stars. Presented by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture and the Manhattan JCC. Register by July 5th to receive a PDF of the tunes we will be playing. More information coming soon! (7:00PM master class, 8:30PM concert)

Sunday, August 4: Our popular Heritage Sunday program is back in partnership with Lincoln Center Out of Doors on the Damrosch Plaza stage. This year's program will feature the exquisite arts of Korea with a focus on this unique country's tradition of dance and drumming. Showcasing both Korean and Korean-American artists, Heritage Sunday will invite audiences into the world of Korea's traditional and contemporary artistic heritage. Sonagi Project is a Korean percussion group consisting of five musicians creates modern, original music based on traditional Korean rhythms and chants. Sonagi is led by Chang Jea Hyo, one of the most celebrated percussion players and traditional vocal singers in Korea. Drawing from Korea's shamanic culture and the vocal art of p'ansori (narrative, story-telling folk opera), Sonagi's performances carry a strong relation to the emotion and energy of Korean traditional music, offering a contemporary link to Korea's past. Concerts are usually built around changgu (two-headed, hour-glass shaped drums), gongs and p'ansori. Sounds of Korea is the premier performance group of Korean traditional arts in the US, founded and directed by Sue Yeon Park, who was recently named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Art. Based at the Korean Performing Arts Center in New York, Sounds of Korea consists of a dance troupe and an instrumental chamber ensemble, which presents a variety of traditional performance styles including theatrical masked dances, popular narrative vocal arts, classical court music and dance traditions, as well as, the percussion music and dances of farmers. (1:00PM - 5:00PM)

Previous Events

Wednesday, May 8: World Wind Wizards! Music and conversation with three virtuosi of wind instruments: HuJianbing, a member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble on sheng (Chinese mouth organ); Andrei Pidkivka, a master of various Eastern European folk flutes, on the nai (Romanian panpipe); and Joel Rubin, a pioneer of improviation and ornamentation in klezmer music, on clarinet (Rubin will be accompanied by CTMD's Pete Rushefsky on tsimbl - the traditional hammered dulcimer of klezmer). CTMD is pleased to be a media sponsor of this World Music Institute Global Salon event curated by Harold Hagopian. At Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, Broadway and 95th Street in Manhattan. Tickets $30 advance, $33 at the door. To reserve or for more information, click here. (7:30PM)

Thursday, May 9: The Klezmer/Romani Connection - Multi-Media Lecture and Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party - Join violinist Jake Shulman-Ment and his band on a multi-media musical journey inspired by his year as a Fulbright scholar with elderly Roma (Gypsy) musicians in Moldavia, exploring the roots that connect Romanian music with both traditional klezmer and his own innovative music. Afterwards, join us for a Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party led by Yiddish dance master Steve Weintraub. At the Manhattan JCC, 76th Street and Amsterdam in Manhattan. $20 JCC non-member, $15 JCC member. For tickets click here. Presented by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture and the Manhattan JCC. (7:00PM)

Monday, May 13: Tsimbl un Fidl: Uncovering the Lost Jewish String Music of Eastern Europe. The tsimbl (cimbalom or hammered dulcimer) is a harp-like instrument played with small mallets like a xylophone. For hundreds of years the tsimbl was one of the main instruments of klezmer ensembles across Eastern Europe, capable of dazzling melodic passages as well as transfixing accompaniment patterns in support of a fiddler. Join CTMD Executive Director Pete Rushefsky and violinist Jake Shulman-Ment as we investigate the rich history of this important Jewish instrument, featuring live performance and a multimedia showcase. Presented by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture. At Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan. Tickets are $15/$10 for CTMD/CJH members, seniors and students. Purchase them online at Smarttix. (7:00PM)

Sunday, April 28: FolkCOLOMBIA Música y Danza and CTMD are thrilled to present Un Taller Vallenato, a workshop/presentation of Colombian vallenato music. This event will feature keyboardist/singer Alejo Zuleto of the renowned Zuleto musical family, and is part of FolkCOLOMBIA's Tertulia-Taller Series, monthly events presented throughout New York City that celebrate the rich music and dance traditions of Colombia. Originating as a rural accordion music around the city of Valledupar in Colombia's Northeast, Vallenato has developed into a hugely successful popular style in Colombia. Admission is free! At El Taller Latino Americano, 2710 Broadway and 104th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side. (4:00PM - 7:00PM)

Thursday, April 25 - Saturday, April 27: Opre Khetanes! (Upward Together!) - Concerts and Symposium on Romani (Gypsy) Musics and Culture

CTMD is proud to work with the Initiative for Romani Music at New York University, World Music Institute and Voice of Roma to present Opre Khetanes! (Upward Together!), a symposium and concerts that explore and showcase Romani music, identity and culture. The program will culminate with a concert/dance party on Saturday, April 27 at Le Poisson Rouge featuring renowned Macedonian brass band Kocani Orkestar and the Bronx-based ensemble Sazet Band. The symposium at NYU is entitled Self-Representations: Romani Music and Culture in Diaspora, and will feature scholars from across North America.

Opre Khetanes! - Thursday, April 25: Pre-symposium Program - Film screening of When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gysy Caravan, directed by Jasmine Dellal (4:00PM); performance by Yale Strom (7:00PM); Film screening of A People Uncounted (7:30PM). Free admission, NYU Silver Center for the Arts, Room 220, 32 Waverly Place or 31 Washington Place on Washington Square Park (wheelchair access) in Manhattan. For more information about the symposium, click here.

Opre Khetanes! - Friday, April 26: Symposium sessions run from 9AM - 4PM, with speakers including Carol Silverman, Alexander Markovich, Laura Prichard, Ari Joskowicz, Yale Strom and Eli Rosenblatt. Film screening of Searching for the Fourth Nail by George Eli (4:00PM). Workshop and performance with NYU's Raklorom ensemble and guest artist Vadim Kolpakov (6:00PM-7:30PM). Free admission, NYU Silver Center for the Arts, Room 220, 32 Waverly Place or 31 Washington Place on Washington Square Park (wheelchair access) in Manhattan. For more information about the symposium, click here.

Opre Khetanes! - Saturday, April 27: Symposium sessions run from 9:30AM - 5:15PM featuring speakers including Lynn Hooker, Barbara Rose Lanage, Esteban Acuna, Marti Marfa i Castan, Ethel Brooks, Melaena Allen-Trottier, Margaret Beissginer, and keynote speaker Angela Kocze. Free admission, NYU Silver Center for the Arts, Room 220, 32 Waverly Place or 31 Washington Place on Washington Square Park (wheelchair access) in Manhattan. For more information about the symposium, click here.

Opre Khetanes! - Saturday, April 27: Dance Party featuring legends of Balkan brass Kocani Orkestar (Republic of Macedonia) with Bronx-based Romani ensemble Sazet Band. One of the funkiest Balkan brass bands around, Macedonia’s famed multigenerational 12-member Kocani Orkestar has a thunderous trademark style. With a powerful rhythm section (four tubas and a drummer), and passionate solos on sax, trumpet, clarinet, and accordion, they perform music descended from Ottoman Empire army bands. The dance party opens with the intoxicating sounds of New York’s hot Sazet Band headed by the dynamite combination of clarinetist Sal Mamudoski and saxophonist Romeo Kurtali. At Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street in Manhattan. Tickets are $20, $18 for CTMD and WMI members. For more information about the Dance Party or to purchase tickets, click here. (Dance instruction from 6:00PM - 6:30PM, Dance party from 6:30PM - 10:00PM)

Tuesday, April 23: Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party & Workshop. Lace up your dancing shoes for an afternoon of shers, bulgars, freylekhs, horas and more! CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture is pleased to support the NY Klezmer Series in creating the first Tantshoyz of the season, featuring master dance leader Deborah Strauss, and a live klezmer band led by renowned fiddler Jake Shulman-Ment. At the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, 30 W. 68th St., between Columbus and Central Park West on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Admission $15 for event, extra charges apply for pre-Tantshoyz instrumental workshop (a jam session takes place at the end of the evening). There's even a Kidz Klezmer Band workshop at 4PM. For additional information, go to the NY Klezmer Series website. This amazing series curated by Aaron Alexander produces events every Tuesday evening! (Tantshoyz DanceParty runs from 7:30PM - 10:00PM, instrumental workshops starts at 5:30PM, additional dance workshop starts at 6:00PM).

Wednesday, April 17: A special evening with Bahar Movahed, master singer of Persian classical and Kurdish music. Movahed is a singing prodidgy whose roots go back to tthe Kurdish city of Kermanshah. Now living in the US and making her NY debut, she will perform selections from her new CD, Goblet of Eternal Light, a moving and hauntingly beautiful recording she made with tanbur master Ali Akbar Moradi that draws on centuries of Kurdish musical and poetic traditions. The program features music and informal talk featuring Movahed, Ali Samadpour (tar), and Navid Kandelousi (tombak). "Bahar Movahed has placed her Persian classical voice at the service of Kurdish folk repertoire in a way that is remarkable" - Kayhan Kalhor. CTMD is pleased to be a media sponsor of this World Music Institute Global Salon event curated by Harold Hagopian. At Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, Broadway and 95th Street in Manhattan. Tickets $30 advance, $33 at the door. To reserve or for more information, click here. (7:30PM)

Friday April 5 - Tuesday April 9: The Turkish Music Institute. An intensive five-day workshop for instrumentalists and singers featuring CTMD Artist-in-Residence, Ottoman singer Ahmet Erdogdular,Ross Daly (Cretan lyra, tarhu, rabab), Yurdal Tokcan (oud) and Omer Erdogdular (ney - end-blown flute). For more information and registration, click here.

Thursday, April, 4: Sounds of the Bosphorus, a Concert of Ottoman Turkish Makam Music. Featuring CTMD's Spring Artist-in-Residence, singer Ahmet Erdogdular, performing along with three leading masters of makam music - Ross Daly (Cretan lyra, tarhu, rabab), Yurdal Tokcan (oud) and Omer Erdogdular (ney - end-blown flute). Erdogdular is hailed as one of the greatest contemporary vocalists of Ottoman music, and here New Yorkers have a rare opportunity to see him perform with his father Omer, Ross Daly (who runs the Labyrinth Workshop in Crete), and oud-master Tokcan. The concert precedes a five day workshop. Co-presented by Makam New York. Click here to watch a special CTMD-TV interview with Erdogdular and CTMD's Pete Rushefsky. At Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, Broadway and 95th Street in Manhattan. Tickets $30 advance, $33 at the door. To reserve or for more information, click here. (7:30PM)

Sunday, March 31: FolkCOLOMBIA Música y Danza and CTMD are thrilled to present Un Taller Pacifico, a workshop/presentation of marimba music from Colomia's Pacific Coast. This event will feature marimba player/maker/singer Diego Obregon of Grupo Chonta, and is part of FolkCOLOMBIA's Tertulia-Taller Series, monthly events presented throughout New York City that celebrate the rich music and dance traditions of Colombia. Admission is free! At Queens Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (2:30PM - 5:30PM)

Sunday, March 31: CTMD is pleased to be a sponsor of the Mencius Society for the Arts 10th Anniversary Spring Festival - a fundraiser concert celebrating local exponents of Chinese sizhu (literally "Silk and bamboo" - akin to Western chamber music). The program will include CTMD Touring Artists the EastRiver Ensemble, and our Mencius Youth Chinese Orchestra, as well as special guests performing Jewish klezmer music - The Aaron Alexander Trio with Lauren Brody (accordion) and Michael Winograd (clarinet). At the Chinese Community Center, 62 Mott Street in Manhattan's Chinatown. Free admission, and donations to support these wonderful programs are very welcome. For more information call 212-431-7373 or email admin@menciussociety.org. (12:00 noon)

Saturday, March 23: Ayiti Fasafas, CTMD's Haitian Community Cultural Initiative, presents Rasin Ginen: African Roots of Haitian Vodou. Local Vodou priests Deenps "Gran Bwa" Bazile and Oneza Lafontant discuss differing perspectives on Vodou priesthood and leadership, with a dance performance by Erzuli Guillaume. Reception follows. Admission is free. At the Great Room, South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford Street, in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. (3:00PM)

Sunday March 3: CTMD Touring Artist Abdoulaye Diabate will be featured in concert at Downtown Music at Grace in White Plains (33 Church Street). With his passionate voice and boundless energy, Adboulaye Diabate sings traditional West African tales that recount history, genealogy, and praise of patrons. Traditional African instruments including kora, ngoni, djembe, and balafon are featured in this program which explores the musical territory of West Africa, including the nations of Mali, Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Admission is $25 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, $10 for youth 12 years and under. A reception will follow the concert. For more information, go to the venue's website. (4:00PM)

Tuesday, February 26: Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party & Workshop. Lace up your dancing shoes for an afternoon of shers, bulgars, freylekhs, horas and more! CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture is pleased to support the NY Klezmer Series in creating the first Tantshoyz of the season, featuring master dance leader Steve Weintraub, and a live klezmer band led by renowned fiddler Deborah Strauss. At the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, 30 W. 68th St., between Columbus and Central Park West on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Admission $15 for event, extra charges apply for pre-Tantshoyz dance masterclass and instrumental workshop (a jam session takes place at the end of the evening). There's even a Kidz Klezmer Band workshop at 4PM. For additional information, go to the NY Klezmer Series website. This amazing series curated by Aaron Alexander produces events every Tuesday evening! (Tantshoyz DanceParty runs from 7:30PM - 10:00PM, instrumental workshops starts at 5:30PM, additional dance workshop starts at 6:00PM).

Sunday, February 24: FolkCOLOMBIA Música y Danza and CTMD are thrilled to present Un Taller San Basilio de Palenque, a workshop/presentation of music and dance from Colombia's Palenquero region - a unique cultural area established in the 17th century by runaway African slaves who established fortress-villages where they could create their own society using Palenquero, a creole language combining Spanish and African languages. This event will feature percussionist Moris Cañate, and is part of FolkCOLOMBIA's Tertulia-Taller Series, monthly events presented throughout New York City that celebrate the rich music and dance traditions of Colombia. Admission is free! At El Taller Latino Americano, 2710 Broadway and 104th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side (4:00PM - 7:00PM)

Sunday, January 20: Ayiti Fasafas, CTMD's Haitian Community Cultural Initiative, invites you to Verite Sou Tanbou: The Truth about Haitian Vodou a three-part series of educational workshops on Haitian Vodou practice and performance in New York City. The first workshop, Vodou Lakay: The Roots of Haitian Vodou takes place on at The Great Room, South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford Street, in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. Oungan (Vodou priest) Dieudonné Jean-Jacques presents the roots and history of Haitian Vodou, followed by a question-and-answer period with the audience, and a performance of Vodou songs by traditional singer Rozna Zila, and her drummers. Admission is free. (3:00PM)

Sunday, January 20: FolkCOLOMBIA Música y Danza and CTMD are thrilled to present Un Taller Andino, a workshop of Andean music and danc. This event will explore the diversity of genres and dance movements associated with the Andean regions of Colombia. From the highlands, valleys and savannahs that extend through the heart of the nation, the members of FolkCOLOMBIA will develop a family-friendly program before your eyes, one that encourages audience members to participate, sing, and dance! Led by Rubén Dario, Daniel Fetecua, and Pablo Mayor, the company delves into aires de pubenza, chirimía, bambuco, torbellino, guabina, pasillo, Sanjuanero and more. Do not miss this interactive demonstration of the artistic and cultural richness and variety of Colombia's Andean folklore! This event is part of FolkCOLOMBIA's Tertulia-Taller Series, monthly events presented throughout New York City that celebrate the rich music and dance traditions of Colombia. Admission is free! At El Taller Latino Americano, 2710 Broadway and 104th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side (4:00PM - 7:00PM)

Friday, January 18 and Saturday, January 19: CTMD is pleased to be a media sponsor of Golden Fest, New York's biggest Balkan music event and showcase, back in Brooklyn for its 28th anniversary at Grand Prospect Hall, a spectacularly restored historic landmark in Park Slope. The festival, which is sponsored by the Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, runs from 7:30PM - 12:30AM on Friday and then 6:00PM on Saturday until early Sunday morning. Last year's festival boasted 71 separate performances, Saturday on 4 concurrent stages. Groups played and sang Albanian, Bulgarian, Romany (Gypsy), Macedonian, Serbian, Greek, Turkish, Norwegian, Klezmer, Ukrainian, Georgian music, and more. Admisson to the festival at the door is $30 for Friday and $55 for Saturday, but you can save by buying your combo tickets and advance tickets. All the musicians volunteer their time. Profits are donated to charitable or educational organizations serving Balkan cultures and communities. Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band (www.zlatneuste.org) founded the Golden Festival in 1986 and has sponsored it ever since. Grand Prospect Hall, 263 Prospect Avenue, between 5th and 6th Avenues in Brooklyn. Complimentary Balkan & Middle Eastern Snacks/Cash Bar. For tickets and more information go to the festival website.

Saturday, January 12: CTMD Touring Artists Oyu Oro Afro-Cuban Dance Ensemble are featured in a special presentation, Afro-Caribbean Currents. Oyu Oro, led by Danys “La Mora” Perez, presents fiery, ritualistic music and dance form Santiago de Cuba. The ensemble's name in the Yoruba Lukumi language means “a water lily that serves as a crown.” With this in mind, Oyu Oro's repertoire demonstrates and honors the African heritage that serves as the foundation of its work, exploring traditional dance forms that derive from the Yoruba, Congo, Carabali, Arara, and Dahomeyan cultures of West Africa; the rich Haitian influences that remain in Cuba of tumba francesa, vodu, gaga, tajona, Haitian bembe; along with popular dances of Cuban heritage, including rumba, conga, chancletas and son. At Alvin Ailey Studios, 405 West 55th Street (at 9th Ave.) in Manhattan. A question and answer session with Perez will precede the perfomance at 7:30PM. Open to the public, but only registered APAP attendees with a conference badge and RSVP will be admitted free and receive priority seating - click here to RSVP or visit Rhinelander Gallery booth #107 at the APAP conference. (8:30PM)

Friday, January 11: CTMD is delighted to once again partner with Alwan for the Arts in presenting Maqam Fest, an annual showcase of leading New York-based masters of a variety of Maqam-based musical traditions. Featuring performances by CTMD Touring Artists Eva Salina (re-imagined songs of Balkan Romani legends) and Ahmet Erdogdular (Sufi and Ottoman classical music from Turkey). Additionally on the bill are sets by Salaam, New Andalucia, Amino Belyamani's SSAHHA and the Alwan Arab Music Ensemble. Tickets are $35 ($30 for students/seniors). Free for APAP Conference badge holders, but RSVPs are advised - click here to RSVP or visit Rhinelander Gallery booth #107 at the APAP conference. (program starts at 7:30PM sharp)

Monday, January 7: Multi-media lecture: A Vanishing Sound: Jewish Musical Resonance in Traditional Moldavian Dance 1800-1950. For almost a century and a half a unique musical relationship developed between Jews and Gentiles in the territory of historical Bessarabia, comprising much of the Republic of Moldova and the Bucovinian territory of modern Ukraine. While the influence of Moldavian lautar ("Gypsy") music on Jewish klezmer music is well-known, the corresponding Jewish influence upon Moldavian dance and wedding music is only beginning to be researched. Ethnomusicologist Walter Zev Feldman (NYU in Abu Dhabi) and past Fulbright scholar Christina Crowder share the results of their expeditions to Moldova, which included interviews with elderly musicians and research with rare musical collections, to unearth evidence of this formerly shared musical heritage. A reception will follow the lecture. Presented by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture. At Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan. Tickets are $15/$10 for CTMD/CJH members. Purchase them online at Smarttix. (7:00PM)

Friday, December 7: An Evening with Wu Man. A master pipa (Chinese lute dating back over 2000 years) player, Wu Man has performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and throughout the world as a soloist and in ensembles of both Eastern and Western music. A frequent collaborator with Kronos Quartet, she is considered the leading interpreter of contemporary pipa music by today's most prominent composers such as Tan Dun, Philip Glass, the late Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi and many others. Wu Man Discusses her new Documentary "Return to China," multiple new music projects, performs select repertoire from her new recordings, and discusses her passion for traditional Chinese music and the future of this ancient art. At Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, Broadway and 95th Street in Manhattan. Tickets: $30 in advance (a 15% discount), available at the Symphony Space box office, or call 212-864-5400. CTMD is proud to be a media sponsor of this event presented by Harold Hagopian of Traditional Crossroads/Direct Cultural Access. (8:00PM)

Thursday, November 8 - Friday, November 9: CTMD @ Wesleyan: CTMD Artistic Director and Co-Founder Ethel Raim and Project Director Jorge Arevalo Mateus will be at Wesleyan University to participate in the 11th Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, an educational forum for Wesleyan alumni, parents, students, faculty and friends that provides an opportunity to explore issues of global concern in a small seminar environment. And they will be bringing along two of our favorite Touring Artists ensembles, La Cumbiamba eNeYe (Afro-Colombian) and Merita Halili and the Raif Hyseni Orchestrat (Albanian). For more information click here.

Saturday, November 3: Chinese Student Concert: Members of the Mencius Youth Orchestra - both Junior & Senior ensembles along with adult musicians (teachers and elders) will present a concert of traditional Chinese folk music & songs of Cantonese opera. By bringing together performers of all walks and ages, this concert celebrates Chinese folk music and songs as a local heritage in the making. At the Chinese Community Center, 62 Mott St (between Canal & Bayard St.) (1:00PM - 4:00PM)

Sunday, October 28: Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party & Workshop. This special program will be filmed for an upcoming documentary film on diasporic Jewish music traditions entitled "The Wandering Muse." Our first Tantshoyz of the season will be a special all-star program featuring three major Yiddish dance leaders - Michael Alpert, Walter Zev Feldman, and Steve Weintraub! The klezmer band will feature Christina Crowder (accordion), Margot Leverett (clarinet), Jake Shulman-Ment (violin), Jeff Warschauer (mandolin/guitar) and Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl/hammered dulcimer). Lace up your dancing shoes for an afternoon of shers, bulgars, freylekhs, horas and more! And stick around to enjoy the restaurant's wonderful kitchen. A presentation of CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture. At the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue (between 8th & 9th Streets in Manhattan's East Village). Admission $5. (2:00PM - 4:00PM).

Saturday, October 27: Memory Songs: A Dialogue of Traditions featuring Julian Kytasty and Papa Susso. A first-ever meeting betweeen two of NY's most unique performers and two of the world's great epic song traditions. Julian Kytasty, born in 1958 in Detroit into a family of professional bandurists (bandura is a traditional harp-lute from Ukraine), has become recognized as one of today's leading performers of the epic and historical repertoire of Ukraine's traditional singer-bandurists, the kobzari. A master instrumentalist and an accomplished singer, he has performed for concert and festival audiences in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Central Asia. Papa Susso, master kora (gourd harp) player and oral historian (griot or jeli) of the Mandinka people was born in 1947 into a jeli family in Gambia. He has been playing kora since the age of five and can trace his lineage as a jeli back through centuries of singers before him. He has performed worldwide as an ambassador of his culture. The London Herald Tribune has called Papa Susso "the one and only most talented kora player of this century." The concert will be introduced by poet Bob Holman, founder of the Bowery Poetry Club and host of the upcoming PBS special, "Word Up! Language Matters with Bob Holman." At the beautiful Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Manhattan's East Village). Admission $15 ($10 for Museum and CTMD members and seniors; $5 for students). Click here to purchase tickets online in advance. A reception follows the concert.Presented by CTMD's Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative in partnership with The Ukrainian Museum and New York Bandura Ensemble/Bandura Downtown. (7:30PM)

Thursday, October 25: Chinese Heritage Workshop: Members of the Mencius Youth Orchestra will come together to present a mini-concert in an interactive workshop to share with families and elders in the community how they experience Chinese music as young Americans growing up in New York City. This event is to be held at the Chinese Musical Theatre Association - the oldest of its kind in Chinatown - in honor of the theme of rootedness and continuity that is central to this project. In a Q&A format, performers will address with the audience such questions as "How widely known is Chinese music in New York?", "Can this continue to be part of my life as I grow older?", "What is American music and how can these instruments contribute to American music?" This workshop will kick off our next recruitment of students under the Chinese music award program for youth to commence lessons in the 1st week of November. Presented in partnership with the Mencius Society for the Arts. At the Chinese Musical Theatre Association, 24 Pell St. #2F (between Bowery and Mott Street in Manhattan's Chinatown). (6:00PM)

Friday, September 28: Back to Pachamama / De Regreso a Pachamama: The wonderful Pachamama Peruvian Arts program founded by CTMD holds their annual Open House and Registration at (note new location) PS 145 Joseph Pulitzer School, 33-34 80th St. in Jackson Heights, Queens. Enjoy an evening of diverse Peruvian music and dance performed by the program's world-class faculty. Suggested donation is $5. (7:30PM)

Friday, September 21: Special CD Release Party & Concert featuring The Secret Trio! The Secret Trio - Ara Dinkjian (oud), Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet) and Tamer Pinarbasi (kanun) - is made up of three outstanding musicians who came together to create a new type of chamber music. Not bound to a single tradition, they perform a collection of original pieces and traditional melodies that fuse the microtonal modes and improvization of the Middle East, dance beats of the Balkans and elements from other traditions. The delicate harmonies, rapid-fire synchrony and intricate counterpoint developed by the musicians with separate roots in Turkish, Armenian and Macedonian Roma music is an astonishing innovation, full of rhythm and drive. CTMD is proud to be a media sponsor of this event, which will celebrate the release of the Secret Trio's first CD, Soundscapes, on the Traditional Crossroads label. At Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater. Get a special advance ticket price of $30 by purchasing tickets now - click here or call the Symphony Space box office at 212-864-5400. (8:00PM)

Sunday, August 5: Heritage Sunday: Ayiti Rasanble! at Lincoln Center Out of Doors's Hearst Plaza, featuring some of the U.S.'s leading Haitian performers: Feet of Rhythm, Kongo featuring Peniel Guerrier, La Troupe Makandal, and the rara ensemble Raram. More information coming soon - event is free! At Hearst Plaza, Lincoln Center, 65th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. (1:00PM - 6:00PM).

Thursday, July 26: Balkan Brass Up on the Roof! Dance under the stars to the infectious beats of this internationally-acclaimed 12-piece New York City brass band Zlatne Uste, playing music from Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, and Romany (Gypsy) traditions. Includes on-the-spot and on-the-roof dance lessons with band member and expert Balkan dancer Michael Ginsburg. On The JCC in Manhattan's fabulous rooftop (334 Amsterdam at 76th Street), $10 JCC/CTMD members / $12 non-members. Click here for tickets! Use the code "CTMDFIDDLE" when purchasing for the member discount. (8:00PM)

Sunday, July 22: Colombian Independence Day Celebration! Featuring Colombia's famed Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, as well as special guests Alejandro Zuleta, Danial Fetecua y Pajarillo Pinta'o, Gregorio Uribe, Grupo Chonta, La Cumbiamba eNeYé, Pablo Mayor's Folklore Urbano and Rebolu'. The event is free to the public and will be held at Queens Museum of Art in front of the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park (in case of rain the event will be moved inside the Museum). The program will include presentations of a number of regional music and dance forms as well as dance and music workshops for family members of all ages. Los Gaiteros are musical icons throughout the Caribbean region of Colombia – they carry the torch for the most traditional rhythms and sounds of Cumbia, a mixture of indigenous, Spanish and Afro-Colombian heritage. Members of the Kogi tribe, Los Gaiteros combine indigenous instruments — notably the long-tubed vertical gaita flutes and maracas — with African drums. The music stokes the fire of fast-paced regional dances like the puya, porro and bullerengue. Founded as many as 70 years ago, the group is a crucial link between traditional gaita music and its contemporary renewal. Los Gaiteros’ first album, Un Fuego de Sangre Pura, won the 2007 Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album. Presented by CTMD's FolkCOLOMBIA Música y Danza In conjunction with Queens Museum of Art. We are grateful for the lead sponsorship of the Colombian Consulate of New York. (1:00PM - 5:00PM)

Sunday, July 15: CTMD Touring Artists Grupo Rebolú featuring singer/gaita (long end-blown flute) player Ronald Polo and Afro-Colombian percussionist Moris Canate appear in a free show at the Central Park Conservancy's Harlem Meer Performance Festival. On the plaza of the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center in Central Park's beautiful north end (110th Street between 5th and Lenox Avenues). Some chairs are provided, or bring a blanket and picnic lunch to enjoy the music. Concerts are free! For more information about this event, click here and for more information about CTMD's work in the Colombian community click here. (2:00PM-4:00PM)

Saturday, July 14: Rasin Ginen: The African Roots. Presented in partnership with El Museo del Barrio, in conjunction with their “Caribbean: Crossroads of the World” exhibition (June 12-January 6th). A showcase of New York’s finest Haitian traditional dance groups, coming together to water the ancestral roots of Haitian traditional dance, with a special tribute to Haitian dance educator and elder, Jean Leon Destiné. Suggested donation of $9. El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue (at 104th), Manhattan. (7:30PM)

Thursday, July 12: Fiddlers on the Roof. Join klezmer violinist and CTMD Touring Artist Alicia Svigals in the first-ever rooftop fiddle fest at the Manhattan JCC. Bring your fiddle (violin, viola, cello or bass) to a master class at 7PM, and then stay to jam. Not a fiddler? Come at 8:30PM to listen, surrounded by strings and under the stars. Presented by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture and the Manhattan JCC. Register by July 5th to receive a PDF of the tunes we will be playing. On the rooftop of the Manhattan JCC, 76th Street and Amsterdam in Manhattan. Tickets for the master class are $5 JCC/CTMD members / $7 non-member, while tickets for the concert are $10 JCC/CTMD members / $12 non-members. Click here to register and get tickets - use the code "CTMDFIDDLE" for the member discounts. (7:00PM master class, 8:30PM concert)

Sunday, July 1: The youth Mountain Jewish dance ensemble Lezginka NYC's annual festival. These fabulous youth perform breathtaking dances from the Caucuses - dancing on point, then leaping and spinning on their knees. Great food, great garments - the boys dance with costume daggers and gossamer white hats! The event is an outgrowth of CTMD's Nashi Traditsii Soviet Jewish Community Cultural Initiative. At the splendid Millenium Theater (formerly Atlantic Oceana), 1029 Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn. For information and tickets contact the Millenium Theatre Box Office phone: 718-615-1500. You can also try calling our dear friend and event producer Rita Kagan at 718-344-0602. (2:00PM)

Sunday, June 24: CTMD and the Mencius Society for the Arts are pleased to present our Chinese Youth Ensemble's end of year concert featuring the fabulous students of our after school program on instruments such as yangqin (dulcimer), erhu (fiddle), guzheng (zither), dizi (flute) and pipa (lute). Featuring a special performance by the East River Ensemble and other stars of NY's Chinese-American stage. At MS 131's auditorium, 100 Hester Street by Forsythe in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Friday, June 22: Rele Ountó: Remembering the Life and Legacy of Frisner Augustin. Presented in collaboration with La Troupe Makandal. A great gathering of Haitian dancers, drummers and musicians joining with NEA National Heritage Fellow Frisner Augustin’s family and friends, to celebrate and remember his life (Augustin died tragically in May - (click here to read his obituary in the NY Times). A reception will follow the program– free admission. At Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. (7:00PM)

Sunday, June 3: Rasanble – Come Together! New York’s Haitian traditional singers and drummers come together for an afternoon of song. Reception to follow – Free admission. The Great Room, South Oxford Space. 138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn. (1:30PM)

Friday, June 1: CTMD's Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative, the Ukrainian Museum and New York Bandura Ensemble/Bandura Downtown invite you to A Night in Banduristan. Our 2011-2012 season closes with a concert performance by artistic director Julian Kytasty showcasing his latest solow ork and introducing a series of surprise guests. At the Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Manhattan's East Village). A reception follows the concert. Admission is $15 (museum and CTMD member/student/senior discounts available). (7:00PM)

Friday, June 1: CTMD and Alwan for the Arts are pleased to present SEVDAH SONGS, a collaboration between Merima Kljuco and Eva Salina Primack. Merima is a Bosnian-born contemporary concert accordionist, and Eva is a singer with many years of experience in traditional music, particularly from Eastern Europe. Merima and Eva have recently begun working together, using Merima's song cycle, SEVDAH SONGS, as the foundation, and expanding the repertoire to include source songs from many neighboring Balkan traditions. Their performance will be the US debut of this collaboration. The program consists of arrangements of well-known songs with Kljuco's contemporary approach to accordion playing-- bringing forth elements that have long been hidden deep in the fabric of the songs to the surface. At Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver Street, 4th floor (between Broad and Brodway in Manhattan). Tickets are $20, or $15 for students/seniors. (9:00PM)

Sunday, May 20: The Mariachi Academy of New York (founded by Ramon Ponce, Jr. as part of CTMD's Mexican Community Cultural Initiative in 2001), is celebrating its 10th Annual Mother's Day Festival. A benefit for the Academy, which provides intensive training to 150 youth in Mariachi music. There will be dance, music, raffles, prizes and great Mexican food. At St. Paul's Church, 113 East 117th Street in Harlem. For more information please contact Ramon or Angie at 212-729-7678. (3:00PM - 7:00PM)

Saturday, May 19: CTMD's Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative presents a special CD Release Celebration and Vechornytsi Dance Party featuring the renowned Harmonia Ensemble. Based in Cleveland, Harmonia features some of the US's leading virtuosos of Trans-Carpathian music, including Alexander Fedoriouk (tsymbaly/cimbalom/hammered dulcimer), Walt Mahovlich (accordion/clarinet), Beata Begeniova (vocals), Andrei Pidkivka (sopilka/flutes), Steven Greenman (violin), and New York's very own Slovak bass master Branislav "Brano" Brinarski. Bring your dancing shoes - dance will be demonstrated and led by Roman Lewkowicz, and beginners are welcome! At the family-friendly Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue in Manhattan's East Village between St Mark's and 9th Streets. Stay tuned for more information!

Thursday, May 17: CTMD is pleased to present a book launch party for Squeeze This! A Cultural History of the Accordion, a new book by ethnomusicologist Marion Jacobson. Jacobson's book is being hailed as the first comprehensive book on the accordion in America. The event will feature special performances by accordionists Guy Klucevsek and Dallas Vietty & the Musette Project.Books will be available for purchase (cash or check only) at the discounted price of $25. At the Bowery Poetry Project, 308 Bowery between Bleecker & Houston Streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side. For more information, click here. (6:00PM - 7:30PM)

Monday, May 14: Bay mayn mames shtibele: The Women's Art of Yiddish Folksong. An exploration of the Yiddish folksong tradition as preserved through the remarkable artistry of women singers in Eastern Europe and the United States. Folklorist Itzik Gottesman of the Yiddish Forverts newspaper will lead a panel including renowned folksinger/researcher Michael Alpert, NEA National Heritage Fellow Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and CTMD Artistic Director Ethel Raim as they present and discuss the work of leading folksingers such as Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (Schaechter-Gottesman's mother), Bronya Sakina and other important exponents of the tradition. Presented by CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture, Center for Jewish History and Brooklyn Arts Council’s Half the Sky Festival: Brooklyn Women in Traditional Performance. At Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan (between 5th and 6th Avenues in Manhattan). Admission: $15, $10 for CTMD/CJH members. Reserve tickets through Smarttix. (7:00PM)

Friday, May 11: Pachamama Peruvian Arts is pleased to present a Workshop and Benefit Concert entitled "Mother Moon/Mama Quilla." Featuring the dances Huaylash, Marinera Norteña, Tuntuna and Con su toque del violin. Additionally, Pachamama instructor Guillermo Guerrero will present Andean music and instrumental workshop accompanied by students and master instructors Rosa Carhuallanqui, Peter Apaza, Rosa Maria Lazon, Hector Morales, Marcos Napa and Andres Jimenez. At P.S. 212 in Jackson Heights, Queens, 34-25 82nd Street. Subway 7 to 82nd Street or Bus Q32 to 81st Street and 34th Ave. Suggested donation $5. (7:30PM)

Sunday, April 29: CTMD is proud to be a presenting partner with Alwan for the Arts to present internationally renowned Lebanese oud player/singer Marcel Khalifé, in his new program, Fall of the Moon: An Homage to Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish. Khalifé is one of the most revered cultural icons of the Arab world, with his contributions over the past half-century reaching far beyond the realm of music. Recipient of numerous international awards and declared an Artist for Peace by UNESCO in 2005, Khalifé has aligned his musical vision with a political cause, giving voice to the suffering of people throughout the world living under oppression, and in war-torn homelands. At historic Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street in Manhattan. Click here to purchase tickets. For more information, call 212-840-2824. (7:00PM)

Saturday, April 28: CTMD is pleased to partner with Brooklyn Arts Council’s Half the Sky Festival: Brooklyn Women in Traditional Performance to present The Sweetest Song: Women's Traditional Song Sampler. A special program of leading Brooklyn women folksingers across traditions emceed by CTMD Artistic Director Ethel Raim. At Dweck Auditorium, Brooklyn Central Library at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. An a cappella vocal concert emceed by CTMD co-Founder/Artistic Director Ethel Raim featuring outstanding singers including Eva Primack (Balkan), Irka Mateo (Dominican), Uriye Hanim (Crimean Tatar), Shobana Ram (Indian), Amanda Seigel (Yiddish), Shoshana Tubi (Yemeni) and others. Hear a broad range of women’s music genres including wedding songs, love songs, lullabies and work songs. This event will be sound recorded. Please arrive on time. (4:00PM - 6:00PM)