WORLD OF PERCUSSION RE-IMAGINED to Return for World Music Institute's 40th Anniversary
Pedrito Martinez, Cyro Baptista, and Glen Velez headline the free Bryant Park outdoor event.
World of Percussion Re-Imagined, 40th Anniversary Legacy Series, will be presented on Friday, June 12th, 2026 at Bryant Park from 7 PM - 9 PM.
The World of Percussion series was created in 1989 by WMI Founder Robert Browning to celebrate rhythms from around the globe featuring luminaries including Zakir Hussain, Don Cherry, Shankar, Foday Musa Suso, and Adam Rudolph. The series ended in 2009, having presented artists from Brazil, Cuba, Gambia, India, Japan, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uzbekistan. In WMI's 40th year, we're reimagining the series with some of today's most sought after percussionists.
This year's event includes Grammy-nominated Cuban-born, NYC-based percussionist, singer, bandleader and master of the Afro-Cuban batá drum tradition Pedrito Martinez; Brazilian-born percussionist, composer, and bandleader Cyro Baptista; and four time Grammy Award winner Glen Velez, who's considered the founding father of the modern frame drum movement.
Composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe's work is rooted in traditional Japanese performing arts and infused with experimental and improvisational elements. Sunny Jain is an innovative Indian American drummer, dhol player, composer, and bandleader, fusing bhangra and other South Asian musical traditions with jazz and funk with his various bands including Red Baraat and Wild Wild East. Suphala is a tabla player, composer, and producer who performs worldwide, trained and mentored by the legendary Ustad Allarakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain, Suphala carries forward their legacy as a musician and educator. Batalá New York is the premier all-women, Black-led, Brazilian percussion ensemble performing high-energy Afro-Brazilian music and dance.
NYC-based composer, improviser and master percussionist Adam Rudolph is a founding veteran of WMI's World of Percussion series and is recognized as "a pioneer in world music" by the New York Times. Rudolph has released over 25 recordings under his own name, and composes for his ensembles Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures, Hu: Vibrational percussion group, and Go: Organic Orchestra.
WMI's 40TH ANNIVERSARY LEGACY series features artists who have played an integral role in the 40-year history of World Music Institute, have been frequently presented by WMI throughout the years, and have significantly contributed to the organization's standing in New York's cultural landscape.
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