Overview of Activities

The Center for World Music fulfills its mission through three educational programs

Programs Abroad (hands-on workshops and cultural tours in Africa, Asia, and Latin America)
A Concert Series (20-30 annual concerts of traditional music and dance from Africa, Asia, and Latin America), which includes several multi-day world music festivals
A World Music in the Schools program that has fostered long-term relationships with dozens of K-12 schools across San Diego County over the past decade. For its World Music in the Schools program, the Center currently maintains a roster of 23 native and native-trained artist-teachers (from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and Europe) and 15 world music ensembles-in-residence

Previous Activities

Since 1999 the Center's World Music in the Schools program has connected distinguished artist-teachers, and 1000's of authentic "ethnic" musical instruments, with 1000's of K-12 students from all socio-economic backgrounds. During the past 6 years, this unique program has grown significantly: from 3 artist-teachers to 24, from 3 schools to over 20, and from 200 K-12 students to over 10,000. The Center collaborates with school principals, parent volunteers, and school district personnel to deliver high-quality arts experiences to students. In 2012 the Center introduced a policy requiring all participating classroom teachers to attend hands-on workshops led by the artist-teachers before student instruction begins. This new policy had a profound positive impact on classroom teacher engagement, both with successful instruction and with assessment.

Community/Region/Audience Served

The Center's home of San Diego County has a population of 2.9 million residents, with 1.5 million more in nearby Tijuana, and a large tourist presence (35 million per year). It is the second fastest growing county in California. San Diego boasts a diverse population: 24% Latino, 6% African-Americans, and 9% Asian and other minorities, including strong representation from Southeast Asia and India.

Special Efforts

The Center for World Music coordinates with the Visual and Performing Arts Director of the San Diego Unified School District to facilitate the implementation of a significant portion of the Center's World Music in the Schools program. The Center successfully reaches a broad segment of the community by implementing its programs in a wide variety of socio-economic and geographical settings throughout San Diego County. Most programs are offered for free or at reduced rates to ensure that all schools have access to the Center's high-quality programming and can afford to integrate long-term weekly world music and dance instruction into the standard curriculum.