Tickets or RSVPs are not required to attend this FREE performance and admission is first come first serve.

Purchase a Member for a Day pass to skip the line, get complimentary beverages, enjoy great views and more!

With a 36-year curatorial presence in NYC, World Music Institute is mainly known for presenting traditional and contemporary music from around the world. However, in the early years, the programming included a series rooted in the NYC jazz and improvised music scene, ‘Improvisations’. This series brought together musicians from various backgrounds and cultures, many who had never performed together before, and gave them an opportunity to improvise and collaborate.

A core member of many of these dates was drummer, percussionist, and often Acting Music Director Adam Rudolph, who has been hailed as “a pioneer in world music” by The New York Times and “a master percussionist” by Musician Magazine. Rudolph performed on over a dozen of these ‘Improvisations’ shows, many of which led to life-long musical relationships including with Yusef Lateef, Hassan Hakmoun, and Don Cherry, among others. Adam’s later projects, ‘Moving Pictures’ and ‘Go: Organic Orchestra’ (featured at this event) were partly inspired by the unique Improvisation collaborations that he experienced at these WMI shows. Adam Rudolph reboots the ‘Improvisations’ series with an impressive lineup of musicians from many different backgrounds and musical influences at SummerStage.

Abderahim Hakmoun – sintir, oud, vocals
Alexis Marcelo – keyboards
Arun Ramamurthy – carnatic violin
Avram Fefer – tenor saxophone
Brandee Younger – harp
Damon Banks – bass
Dave Liebman – saxophone
Graham Haynes – cornet
Gwen Laster – violin
Harris Eisenstadt – percussion
Hassan Hakmoun – sintir, oud, vocals
Ivan Barenboim – clarinet
Jake Charkey – cello
Jay Gandhi – bansuri
Joel Ross – vibes
Juliane Careny Chung – violin
Kaoru Watanabe – flute
Kenny Wessel – electric guitar
Leco Reis – contrabass
Marco Cappelli – acoustic guitar
Mia Theodoratus – harp
Michel Gentile – flute
Neel Murgai – sitar
Peter Zummo – trombone
Richard Carr – violin
Rogerio Boccaccio – percussion
Samarth Nagarkar – Hindustani vocal
Sameer Gupta – tabla
Sana Nagano – violin
Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon
Sarah Bernstein – violin
Stephanie Griffin – viola
Stephen Haynes – cornet
Sylvain Leroux – flute
Trina Basu – violin
Tripp Dudley – percussion
Ze Luis – flute