Celebrating Global Music and Dance Locally

Our Mission

The Center for World Music is a San Diego organization fostering intercultural awareness through the world’s performing arts traditions. We create engaging educational and performance opportunities to strengthen the bonds that make us one community.

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Our Vision

A world that values diverse performing arts traditions and embraces intercultural understanding, empathy, and respect.

What We Do

Our programs in San Diego and beyond serve as a model for promoting intercultural communication, awareness, and understanding.

  • Through World Music in the Schools, we engage students in music and dance from around the world.
  • We sponsor concerts and performing arts festivals in San Diego and other major cities in the United States and abroad. These concerts present highly respected musicians that excite and inspire audiences, opening new cultural vistas. The Center also organizes tours of major artists and groups to cities across the United States.
  • We present workshops of music and dance traditions from around the world: India, Indonesia, Mexico, Africa, Spain, and more. We are especially proud of our long-standing Odissi Dance School in North County, San Diego.
  • To help support traditional performing artists, we connect musicians with performance opportunities. If you are interested in a world music performance at your venue or event, please contact us.

Our Supporters: The Center for World Music receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, County of San Diego, City of San Diego Commission for Arts and CultureJacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, Gould Family Foundation, Las Patronas, Arts Education Resource Organization, and The Mockingbird Foundation. Recent Center projects have also been supported by the Jason Mraz Foundation, Macy’s GIVES, Peacemakers Fund through the San Diego Foundation, San Diego County Office of Education, California County Superintendents Arts Initiative, Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Foundation, Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Asian Cultural Council, San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization, PARSA Community Foundation, The Parker Foundation, Union BankWeingart Foundation, and Rising Arts Leaders.

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Link to Our History Page