By Sophia Skelton
“Many cultures but one world.”
That’s the motto of the World Music Institute (WMI), a Brooklyn based non-profit organization founded in 1985 that brings music and dance from around the world to New York City residents. Gaby Sappington is the Executive Director of WMI and has experience in the promotion and marketing side of the music business and nonprofits.
Sappington is a well-rounded music lover who says that her favorite music genre is “good music.” She happened upon the music industry “by accident” when she worked as an executive assistant to the CEO of Ariola Records, a German record label, during her summer break while attending the University of Vienna in the early 1980s. Ariola Records was a record label under the larger Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), now known as Sony Music Entertainment Inc. After staying in touch with the company, Sappington was offered the role of promotions manager at BMG, later becoming head of the promotions department, where she worked “with everyone from the Chieftains to Blondie,” as well as David Bowie and Prince.
Her role was to promote the artists, interact with journalists and the media and organize interviews and meet and greets. This role requires creativity, as well as the ability to put oneself in other people’s shoes and knowing how to discern the key elements of an artist that people should know about first and foremost.
Sappington moved on from the music industry to put her marketing and promotion skills to a different use as a certified professional coach, specializing in communications, and then working for the Make a Wish Foundation, or as she calls it, “the Mercedes Benz of nonprofits.” As she began missing the music industry, she decided to apply for the role of executive director at the World Music Institute.
Sappington explains that the goal of WMI “is to provide affordable access to the arts, and to build bridges between people and cultures… We want to raise awareness and appreciation for the rich diversity of cultures around the globe.” Music is a healing art form that has the power to bond listeners of all backgrounds and walks of life. This musical nonprofit, run by a small but powerful team of three full-time employees, is putting in the work to provide music lovers with top quality entertainment and a musical education. The WMI season runs from July 1 to June 30, presenting 30 to 35 shows, with most ticket prices ranging from $20 to $40. The performances are held across all of the boroughs and in venues of different sizes so that every New Yorker has the opportunity to experience the joys of global music. They present well established artists like Zakir Hussain, a well known tabla player (an Indian instrument of two small drums that are slightly different in shape and size), in venues like The Town Hall in Manhattan’s theater district and the Skirball Center in Greenwich Village.
WMI also presents lesser known bands like Kardemimmit, a four woman Finish band. They often use venues like Drom in the East Village, Flushing Town Hall in Queens, the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, and the Apollo Theater in Harlem, among others. In addition to the live musical performances, a WMI plus experience is offered once a month through Zoom where people can watch conversations with a musician or ethnomusicologist, someone who studies music and the impact it has on people and cultures, and attendees can ask questions. This began when musical venues were closed due to COVID-19, but has continued because of its popularity. WMI also created two podcasts for similar reasons, one presenting recordings of the WMI plus Zoom presentations, and the other presenting folk tales. Sappington explains that the “international folk tales are being narrated by one of our supporters who is also an award winning storyteller,…[and] we pair him up with an artist or a group that represents the culture of that particular folk tale and then they improvise along to the narration of the folk tale”.
An exciting offering that combines cultural music and a night of dancing at the club is the monthly “Let’s Dance Night.” A live performer from a specific culture and one or two DJs who specialize in that culture play for the night at clubs like Elsewhere in Brooklyn or Nublu in the East Village, a club that even has its own record label.
Music is a gift that everyone should be able to experience. It has the power to inspire emotions, healing, and bonding, and WMI plays a major role in this. To make these experiences more affordable, they offer student and senior discounts. More information about the organization, their current fall/winter season, and their upcoming spring season can be found in their newsletter and on their website at worldmusicinstitute.org.
