The 2008–09 season of Global Encounters brings the music of the world into New York social studies, English, and music classrooms. The Professional Development Workshops include teaching strategies for integrating musical activities and learning. The lesson-based curriculum is a rich and tested tool for getting students to think about music in a larger cultural context, and student workbooks similarly trace a musical trajectory through records of the students' own responses to music from another culture. In addition, each school in the Citi Global Encounters program receives an in-school concert by a performing ensemble from the region of study. All participating classrooms also attend a final concert in Zankel Hall featuring musicians from the region of study.

The 2008–09 program offers the opportunity to choose between a program focused on the Music of India and a program focused on the Music of Turkey.

Teachers involved in the program can also apply for in-depth musical investigations facilitated by Weill Music Institute Teaching Artists. This feature, new in the 2008–09 program, gives teachers an option to take their study of world music to a deeper level.