Carnegie Hall

Three-time Grammy Award winner Kalani Pe’a is a singer, songwriter, and producer of Hawaiian contemporary and soul music. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawai‘i and now living on Maui, he is a proud Hawaiian immersion graduate. His musical range runs from traditional chant to Hawaiian classics and original songs from showtunes to R&B, and he was honored as Hawai‘i’s 2022 Male Vocalist of the Year. He spent 10 years of his life teaching Hawaiian language, music, and culture, and creating project-based learning and STEM curriculum for preschool through high school at Kamehameha Schools, private schools established by the beloved Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Kalani conducted teacher training programs for Hawaiian community education programs from the Big Island of Hawai‘i, Maui, and Kaua‘i. As a full-time touring musician, he conducts Hawaiian music workshops worldwide and he continues to share his passion through music. He believes his music is his medicine; Hawaiian music is essential; and Hawaiian music recognizes the indigenous peoples and the landscapes of Hawai‘i. E ola ka hā (Long live the breath of our people).

Browse Unit: Mele Hawai‘i with Kalani

Layth Sidiq is a Grammy Award–nominated violinist, composer, and educator, and artistic director of the New York Arabic Orchestra. He has toured the world and shared the stage with such major artists as Simon Shaheen, Danilo Pérez, and Jack DeJohnette, as well as performing in prestigious venues like the London Jazz Festival, Boston Symphony Hall, WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo), Panama Jazz Festival, and more. He is featured on multiple award-winning albums, and his first record Son of Tigris debuted at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2016. Among Layth’s awards are second place at the Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition in 2018 (where he was the first Arab to participate) and Best International Artist at the 2020 Boston Music Awards. He also directs the Center for Arabic Culture’s Youth Orchestra Program in Boston and has been invited to teach at Carnegie Hall’s Music Educators Workshop as part of its expert faculty. He is the lead vocalist and violinist for Assassin’s Creed: Mirage (Fall 2023).

Browse Unit: Iraqi Folk with Layth

Yasser Tejeda is an award-winning Dominican composer, guitarist, vocalist, and producer based in Brooklyn. According to Chicago Reader, his “elegantly polished compositions contain a fascinating, delicate interplay of past and present … underlined by raw, ancestral music meant to move bodies and bring about communion.” Juan Luis Guerra praised Yasser’s mission, calling it the “marvelous example of what’s happening with Dominican music.”

He has released two commercial albums, Kijombo and Mezclansa, with his group Palotré. Mezclansa was dubbed one of the “100 essential recordings of Dominican music” by the Dominican National Association of Art Writers (Acroarte) and his second album Kijombo received six awards from Dominican Republic’s Premios Indie Dominicano, including Best Album. In 2021, he surprised audiences by releasing his first solo EP called Interior, which features some of his most acclaimed compositions in a raw, intimate setting performed acoustically. His third studio album La Madrugá, which features the single “Tú Ere’ Bonita,” released in 2023. A versatile guitarist, Yasser performs with Vicente García, Flor de Toloache featuring Miguel Sotomayor, Alex Ferreira, and Latin Grammy winner Prince Royce.

Browse Unit: Dominican Roots with Yasser

Michael Daves has been called “a leading light of the New York bluegrass scene” by The New York Times. He has worked with Chris Thile, Steve Martin, Tony Trischka, and Rosanne Cash in addition to performing solo and with a band of roots-music innovators. Michael’s 2011 debut album with Thile, Sleep with One Eye Open, received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. His album Orchids and Violence features 12 bluegrass tunes, each recorded in two versions: acoustic and electric.

Browse Unit: Bluegrass with Michael

Sylvester Makobi hails from Nairobi, Kenya. His musical journey began at the Kenya Music Festival, where he won first prize in three categories for university students and professors at the national competition in 2010. His professional engagements began with the Kenyan Boys Choir as a tenor, soloist, and later an assistant choir trainer. Later, he co-founded the a cappella group Taifa Mziki and served as director. He has performed throughout East Africa as well as the UK, France, China, and US. In Kenya, he performed with the Ravenna Festival Chorus with conductor Riccardo Muti. He has performed as soloist with the Kenya Conservatoire of Music Orchestra during state events at State House, Nairobi, for the Kenyan president and his guests; and during the celebrations for the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

He has continued to serve communities both in Nairobi and in Bloomington, Indiana. He was the 2019 recipient of the Carlton Hodge Prize, which is awarded by the African Studies Program to an Indiana University doctoral student, for their commitment to excellence in African Studies, in outreach, and in other activities directed to the wider public. Currently, Makobi is completing a doctorate and teaches as an adjunct lecturer at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

Browse Unit: Kenyan Songs with Makobi

Zulal, which means “clear water,” is an a cappella trio that transforms Armenia’s village folk melodies into arrangements that pay tribute to the music’s ancient roots while allowing it new possibilities. Zulal celebrates the trials and joys of old Armenian village life, from the echoes of loss to the enduring vibrations of dance and celebration. The trio has performed at the esteemed stages of the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Berklee College of Music, and the Kennedy Center. Zulal has four critically acclaimed albums to its credit.

Browse Unit: Armenian Folk with Zulal