Cultures converge on World Music lineup
Artists from Ireland, Africa, Central Asia, Mexico, and China, as well as musicians and dancers from around the United States, will converge on Boston as part of World Music/CRASHarts's fall lineup.
The season begins Sept. 28 with a performance from the Irish supergroup Lúnasa at the Somerville Theatre and concludes with the innovative duo Bridgman/Packer Dance, joined by percussionist Glen Velez and multi-instrumentalist Ken Field, Dec. 7-8 at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Also representing Ireland: the Celtic vocalist Mary Black, who returns to the Berklee Performance Center on Oct. 13. Making its Boston debut Oct. 14 at Sanders Theatre is Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia, a collective featuring artists from six countries performing ancient music and poetry seldom heard outside the region's mountainous countryside. From India, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and santoor player Rahul Sharma perform a concert of north Indian classical music Nov. 16 at Sanders, and the following night Shaolin Warriors, from the People's Republic of China, bring a theatrical display of kung fu to the Orpheum.
A handful of African artists will be featured this year, all performing at the Somerville Theatre. Ethiopia's Mulatu Astatke, Hana Shenkute, Setegn Atanaw, and Minale Dagnew join Boston's idiosyncratic Either/Orchestra Sept. 29, and Zimbabwe's Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi brings his band, Black Spirits, to perform a concert of high-energy Afro-pop Oct 19. Youssou N'Dour and Super Etoile de Dakar make their long-awaited return to Boston Nov. 24.
The season's assortment of American folk and roots musicians spans country-blues (Greg Brown performs Oct. 27 at the Somerville Theatre), neo-bluegrass (Boston's Crooked Still plays Nov. 9 at Sanders Theatre, with the young, black string band Carolina Chocolate Drops opening), and gospel (evergreen vocal group the Blind Boys of Alabama appears in a special Christmas concert Dec. 7 at Berklee Performance Center).
This year's dance program includes performances from Mexico's national dance company, Ballet Folklórico de México, which returns to Boston after a 20-year absence to perform Oct. 20 at the Orpheum, and Maureen Fleming, with the Boston premiere of her multimedia "Waters of Immortality & other works" Nov. 2-4 at the ICA.
For information and tickets, call 617-876-4275 or go to worldmusic.org.
