Wed, Feb 15 at 7:30 pm $30; Symphony Space Members, World Music Institute Members $25; Students $20 music World Music Institute

Kevin Burke, one of the grand masters of Irish fiddling, has been at the forefront of Celtic traditional music for over 35 years. Specializing in the intricately ornamental Sligo style, he is well known to international audiences for his work with the seminal Bothy Band, Micheal O Domhnaill, Patrick Street, and the Celtic Fiddle Festival.

Fri, Mar 23 at 8 pm Sat, Mar 24 at 8 pm $40/$30; Symphony Space Members, World Music Institute Members; Students $20 music dance World Music Institute

A daring response to the taboo of women playing djembe in West Africa, Nimbaya! is the first all-women's percussion and dance troupe from Guinea. The group, formerly known as Amazones Women Master Drummers of Guinea, was created in 1998 by Mamoudou Condé of Les Ballets Africains fame.

Wed, Mar 28 at 7:30 pm $30; Symphony Space Members, World Music Institute Members $25; Students $20 music World Music Institute

This fascinating program offers a rare opportunity to hear the kugo angular harp that disappeared from the world stage some 300 years ago. Harpist Tomoko Sugawara performs on a modern rendition that honors the essence of this ancient instrument that was popular along the Silk Road and revered for centuries in Near and Far Eastern religions.

Sun, Apr 22 at 7 pm $40/$30; Symphony Space Members, World Music Institute Members $35/$25; Students $20 music World Music Institute

The legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj is one of the last great masters of classical Indian music from the older generation. Internationally acclaimed for his remarkable 31/2 octave range, he is noted for his rich renditions of khyal, the highly improvised classical style that has become the main form of North Indian vocal music over the past 200 years. 

Wed, Apr 25 at 7:30 pm $30; Symphony Space Members, World Music Institute Members $25; Students $20 music World Music Institute

Pandit Ramesh Misra is one of India's most popular maestros of the sarangi (literally "of a hundred colors"), an ancient bowed lute that evokes the sounds of the human voice and is one of the most difficult of Indian instruments to master. He is the son and disciple of the sarangi virtuoso Pandit Ramnath Misra, and is currently studying with Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Wed, May 16 at 7:30 pm $30; Symphony Space Members, World Music Institute Members $25; Students $20 music World Music Institute

Steeped in Sufi mysticism, the music of Azerbaijan ("land of fire") ranges from the sublime to the ecstatic in both the folk and classical idioms. Imamyar Hasanov, born in Baku, is a virtuoso of the kamancha, a spike fiddle that is the ancestor of the violin and one of the most important instruments in Azeri music.