Carnegie Hall

(NEW YORK, NY; April 10, 2025)—On Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., dynamic artists from around the world perform in Zankel Hall as part of the Musical Explorers Family Concerts, interactive performances that celebrate unique musical cultures and traditions around the globe. The performances feature Georgian folk led by Ilusha Tsinadze, son jarocho (Mexico’s “Veracruz sound”) with the Villalobos Brothers, and Zimbabwean Mbira music with Dr. Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa. Free pre-concert activities will be offered one hour prior to each performance, preparing parents, caregivers, and children to sing and dance along with the artists.

Earlier in the week, from Tuesday, May 6–Friday, May 9, thousands of schoolchildren in grades K–2 visit Carnegie Hall to sing and dance in high-energy culminating concerts. Musical Explorers reaches more than 7,000 New York City public school students in classrooms each year through a curriculum that teaches singing, listening, and basic music skills as children study songs from these musical traditions and reflect on their own communities.

TV crews and reporters are invited to cover Musical Explorers school performances at Carnegie Hall at 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. on Friday, May 9. Please email Meg Boyle (mboyle@carnegiehall.org) for more information.  

About the Artists

Singer and guitarist Ilusha Tsinadze was born in Soviet-era Georgia, and at the age of eight, he immigrated with his family to the US, where his musical upbringing consisted of rock and improvised music. After studying jazz in college, he returned to the folk music of his homeland, reimagining Georgian traditional songs on banjo and electric guitar. Based in New York City and collaborating with both American and Georgian artists, Ilusha records and performs music that is a true expression of a contemporary multicultural identity. He has released two albums of original interpretations of Georgian folk music and has performed in renowned venues, including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall.

The Villalobos Brothers (Ernesto, Alberto, and Luis) have been praised as one of today’s leading contemporary Mexican ensembles. Their original compositions and arrangements masterfully fuse and celebrate the richness of Mexican folk music with the intricate harmonies of jazz and classical music. Earning the 2022 Grammy Award for “Best Latin Jazz Album” for their participation in Arturo O’Farrill’s Fandango at the Wall in New York, the three brothers from Veracruz continue to delight audiences throughout the world. They have appeared at historic venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater, Davies Symphony Hall, and The Ford Theatres. They have performed at acclaimed festivals including globalFEST 2024, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, and the Montreal Jazz Festival, and at such major events as the United Nations 60th Anniversary, the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City, and the opening of the Perelman Performing Arts Center in Manhattan.

Dr. Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa Nzou Mambano is a Zimbabwean gwenyambira (mbira player), scholar, composer, and singer whose creative practice centers African healing and self-liberation. Tanyaradzwa’s music is grounded in the ancestral Chivanhu canon taught to her by the generations of svikiro (spirit mediums) and n’anga (healers) in her bloodline. Her internationally performed opera The Dawn of the Rooster tells stories of her family during Zimbabwe's Chimurenga (Struggle for Liberation) from 1965 to 1980. She is the founder and CEO of MUKA!, an online platform connecting children to African cultures through creativity. She is a former Hodder Fellow at Princeton University and has held artistic residencies at National Sawdust and Castle of Our Skins.

About Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute

Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) creates visionary programs that embody Carnegie Hall’s commitment to music education, playing a central role in fulfilling the Hall’s mission of making great music accessible to as many people as possible. With unparalleled access to the world’s greatest artists, WMI’s programs are designed to inspire audiences of all ages, nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and harness the power of music to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. An integral part of Carnegie Hall’s concert season, these programs facilitate creative expression, develop musical skills and capacities at all levels, and encourage participants to make lifelong personal connections to music.

Hundreds of thousands of people each year engage in WMI’s programs through national and international partnerships, in New York City schools and community settings, and at Carnegie Hall. This includes more than 208 orchestras, peer arts organizations, and education and community-based organizations in 46 states as well as internationally in 33 countries on 6 continents. WMI’s hands-on programs tap into the creativity of audiences of all ages, inviting them to make their own music in all genres, express their viewpoints, and raise their voices. WMI shares an extensive range of online music education resources and program materials for free with teachers, families, orchestras, arts organizations, and music lovers worldwide. As a leader in music education, WMI generates new knowledge through original research, which informs Carnegie Hall’s own programs and is also available as a resource to artists, organizations, and peers.

For more information, please visit: carnegiehall.org/education
 

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Lead funding for Musical Explorers has been provided by Fund II Foundation, Linda and Earle S. Altman, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Ralph W. and Leona Kern.

Additional lead funding for Musical Explorers has been graciously provided by JJR Foundation and JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation.

Additional support has been provided by The Edwin Caplin Foundation and Mr. Chretien Risley, Trustee; Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation; KPMG LLP; and John Morning / Turrell Fund.

Musical Explorers is also made possible, in part, by an endowment gift from The Irene Diamond Fund.

Carnegie Hall Family Concerts are made possible, in part, by endowment gifts from Linda and Earle S. Altman, The Irene Diamond Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Lester S. Morse Jr., and the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund.

 

 

Ticket Information

Tickets to Musical Explorers Family Concerts, priced at $15, are general admission and available on the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org, by calling Carnegie Hall at 212-247-780 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street.

For information on discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, dates, and prices are subject to change.

 

Photo: Stefan Cohen