MUSICAL EXPLORERS CONCERTS To Return To Carnegie Hall This January

On Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., dynamic artists from around the world perform in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of the Musical Explorers Family Concerts, interactive performances that celebrate unique musical cultures and traditions around the globe. The concerts feature bomba and plena led by father-daughter duo Juan Gutiérrez and Julia Gutiérrez-Rivera, freedom songs with S T A R R Busby, and Indian classical music with Falu Shah. 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, January 13–Friday, January 16, 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, January 16. Please email Meg Boyle (mboyle@carnegiehall.org) for more information.

Over the past six years, Musical Explorers has expanded tremendously with free online classroom resources now available for teachers and students nationwide, including lesson plans; an interactive map; artist-led videos; and digital concert experiences filmed live at Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall is now working to facilitate Musical Explorers directly with 15 partners representing 37 districts across the US, deepening the connection between classrooms across the country and Carnegie Hall.

This program creates new relationships between school districts and Carnegie Hall, providing their teachers with free, high-quality educational resources along with exclusive professional development sessions, ongoing consultation on program implementation, and online “Meet the Artist” sessions with Musical Explorers artists. Through this expansion, participating teachers join a global network of educators participating in Musical Explorers. Last year's pilot program served more than 15,000 students and 60 teachers across the US.

In addition, Carnegie Hall partners with three leading performing arts organizations nationwide to present Musical Explorers concerts on their stages, including the Newman Center at the University of Denver, Omaha Performing Arts Center, and Savannah Music Festival. Together, they bring interactive music experiences and cultural traditions into their communities and classrooms.

The full list of participating partners include:
Chicago Public Schools, Illinois
Duval County Public Schools, Florida
Fayetteville Public Schools, Arkansas
Guilford County Schools, North Carolina
Kentucky Educational Development Corporation (KEDC), Kentucky
Madison Metropolitan School District, Wisconsin
Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Tennessee
Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver (National Partner)
Omaha Performing Arts Center (National Partner)
Santa Cruz County Office of Education, California
Savannah Music Festival (National Partner)
Soquel Union Elementary School District, California
Tulare County Office of Education, California
Vance County Schools, North Carolina
Volusia County Schools, Florida

For more information, please visit: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Musical-Explorers/For-District-Partners.