World music is an English phrase for styles of music from non-Western countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in Roots magazine's description of the genre as "local music from out there".
Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 as Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both left the band by mid-1981 with Ellard remaining the sole consistent member for the rest of the band's existence. Throughout the next decade, several musicians joined Severed Heads' ranks, including Garry Bradbury, Simon Knuckey, Stephen Jones and Paul Deering.
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety and size of settings, from private houses and small nightclubs, dedicated concert halls, amphitheatres and parks, to large multipurpose buildings, such as arenas and stadiums. Indoor concerts held in the largest venues are sometimes called arena concerts or amphitheatre concerts. Informal names for a concert include show and gig.
Zdob și Zdub is a Moldovan folk punk band, based in Chișinău. The band represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 21 May 2005, finishing 6th. They also represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 14 May 2011, finishing 12th, and represented Moldova again, in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, on 14 May 2022, finishing 7th. The band is often referred to by its fans as ZSZ. To date, Zdob si Zdub are the only artists to have qualified from a Eurovision Song Contest semi-final three times.
WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.
DDT is a Russian rock band. It was founded in 1980 by its lead singer and only remaining original member, Yuri Shevchuk, in Ufa. The band was named after the pesticide DDT.
Andreas Vollenweider is a Swiss harpist. He is generally categorised as a new-age musician and uses a modified electroacoustic harp of his own design. He has worked with Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon, Luciano Pavarotti and in 1987 received a Grammy Award for the album Down to the Moon. Vollenweider's style has been described by The New York Times as "swirling atmospheric music, which evokes nature, magic and fairy tales".
Prāta Vētra, known internationally as Brainstorm, is a Latvian pop/rock band. The band became popular internationally in 2000 when they finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Star".
Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) is an Italian progressive rock band founded in 1970 which continues to the present day. They were the first Italian group to have success internationally. The group recorded five albums with English lyrics between 1973 and 1977. During this period they entered both the British and American charts. They also had several successful European and American tours, playing at the popular Reading Festival in England and on a very popular national television program in the United States.
The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international folk, roots and world music artists. The festival is produced and promoted by Glasgow Life. Donald Shaw, a founding member of Capercaillie, was appointed Celtic Connections Artistic Director in 2006.
Habib Koité is a Malian musician, singer, songwriter and griot based in Mali. His band, Bamada, was a supergroup of West African musicians, which included Kélétigui Diabaté on balafon.
The Unforgettable Fire Tour was a concert tour by Irish rock band U2 that took place in 1984 and 1985 in support of band's album The Unforgettable Fire. Beginning in August 1984 with the band's first tour to Australia and New Zealand, the tour spanned four further legs which included 43 concerts in Europe and 50 in North America.
Filippa Giordano is an Italian-born Mexican crossover singer.
Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) is the largest non-governmental youth music organisation in the world, created in Brussels, Belgium in 1945, with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries". JMI has established four priority activity fields: Young Musicians, Young Audiences, Youth Empowerment and Youth Orchestras & Ensembles.
The Gathering of Nations is the largest pow-wow in the United States and North America. It is held annually on the fourth weekend in April, on the Powwow Grounds at Expo NM, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over 565 tribes from around the United States and 220 from Canada travel to Albuquerque to participate.
Present is a Belgian progressive rock group formed by guitarist Roger Trigaux in 1979.
Music and Beyond is a Canadian summer music festival, featuring classical music in its varying formations as well as a spectrum of art forms and cultural disciplines. Music and Beyond is also a not-for-profit organization with charitable status. First held in 2010, it has since become an annual event, taking place at local venues in Ottawa, Ontario. The 2018 festival took take place from July 4–17.
Cello Fury is a chamber music rock group, established in October 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Nicole Myers (cello), Simon Cummings (cello), Cecilia Caughman (cello) and David Throckmorton (drums). Cello Fury presents a fusion of progressive rock and classical music styles and performs for a wide range of audiences.
The Piping Live! Festival is an annual bagpiping event held in Glasgow by the National Piping Centre. The festival was created in 2003 and occurs on the run-up to the World Pipe Band Championships. It is estimated that the festival alone adds £12 million to Scotland's tourism revenue and it is the largest bagpipe festival in the world.
Björn Thoroddsen is an Icelandic guitarist. Originally a rock musician, he later focused on jazz.
