{"id":9457,"date":"2025-02-12T17:46:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T17:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/?post_type=update&p=9457"},"modified":"2025-02-12T17:50:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T17:50:34","slug":"spring-2025-world-fest-tours","status":"publish","type":"update","link":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/about\/updates\/spring-2025-world-fest-tours\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch World Fest Artists in Your Community This Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Midwesterners have one more chance to see three incredible artists in communities near them through World Fest<\/a>. World Fest offers Midwestern communities, especially smaller and mid-size communities, an opportunity to experience music, language, and culture from across the world. During each cycle, Arts Midwest partners with one organization in each of the nine states we work with in the region.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Fest, which has been serving small Midwestern communities since 2003, will come to a close following this spring\u2019s tours. Throughout the last 22 years, World Fest programming has reached more than 750,000 people, including 550,000 youth through more than 300 public performances and 3,000+ educational events. We\u2019ll have even more to celebrate in May when tours wrap up \u2013 and we\u2019ll have plenty more reflections to share about World Fest\u2019s decades of impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last year, Farah Siraj, LADAMA, and A Moving Sound have spent time getting to know communities across the Midwest. As this cycle comes to a close, it\u2019s giving us a chance to look back on high points of their tours so far. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Farah Siraj and her band perform onstage at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts with choral students from Shawnee State University, as part of her week-long World Fest residency in Portsmouth, Ohio.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n
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Farah Siraj<\/a><\/h2>\n

In Portsmouth, Ohio during their residency with the Vern Riffe <\/a><\/span>Center for the Arts<\/span>, Farah Siraj and her band had the opportunity to connect with university choir students. <\/span>Singers from <\/span>Shawnee State University, adjoining to the auditorium, <\/span>spent their week rehearsing with Farah<\/span>. <\/span>Farah\u2019s songs,<\/span> fusing Arabic music, flamenco, <\/span>jazz, bossa, and pop, with lyrics in Arabic, Spanish, and English<\/span>, challenged the university singers to sing in new ways. <\/span>Then, the choir<\/span> capped off their exchange by<\/span> join<\/span>ing<\/span> the band onstage for their public concert at the end of the wee<\/span>k, including<\/span> a collaboration on<\/span> Farah\u2019s original song \u201cSee the World.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n LADAMA performs at the Masonic Temple in Freeport, Illinois as part of their week-long World Fest residency.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n
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LADAMA<\/a><\/h2>\n

In Freeport, Illinois, LADAMA worked with our partners at the Freeport Art Museum<\/a> to reach community members. The band, with members from Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil, connected with local Spanish speakers at schools and during other community outreach. At the museum that week of the band\u2019s visit, the \u201cMidwest Lands\u201d exhibition featured \u201cunique visual and literary art \u2026 [that] focuses on farmland, rural landscapes, and the aesthetics, psychological, and emotional content of these themes.\u201d From the Midwest to Latin America, the world felt a little smaller during the week of LADAMA\u2019s visit through shared language, music, and conversation.<\/p>\n

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\n A Moving Sound performs onstage at the Custer Beacon as part of their World Fest residency in Custer, South Dakota.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n
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A Moving Sound<\/a><\/h2>\n

In Custer, South Dakota, A Moving Sound connected with the Custer Area Arts Council<\/a> for their week-long residency. Among their many outreach workshops that took the band through the scenic Black Hills, the group also had the opportunity to sit down and jam with local musicians. After a shared meal, a mix of polka, bluegrass, and Taiwanese musical tradition made for an unforgettable experience for all.<\/p>\n

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Spring World Fest Tour Dates<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Ensemble<\/th>Community<\/th>Community Partner<\/th>Residency Dates<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
A Moving Sound <\/td>Oskaloosa, IA <\/td>George Daily Auditorium\u202f<\/a> <\/td>March 2\u20138, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
A Moving Sound <\/td>Freeport, IL <\/td>Freeport Art Museum<\/a> <\/td>March 9\u201315, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
A Moving Sound <\/td>Marinette, WI <\/td>Rusty Wolfe Studio<\/a> <\/td>March 16\u201322, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
LADAMA <\/td>Portsmouth, OH <\/td>Vern Riffe Center for the Arts<\/a> <\/td>March 30\u2013April 5, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
LADAMA <\/td>Sullivan, IN <\/td>City of Sullivan<\/a> <\/td>April 6\u201312, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
LADAMA <\/td>Albion, MI <\/td>Bohm Theatre<\/a> <\/td>April 13\u201319, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
Farah Siraj <\/td>Minot, ND <\/td>Minot Area Council of the Arts\u202f<\/a> <\/td>April 20\u201326, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
Farah Siraj <\/td>Hot Springs, SD <\/td>Chautauqua Craftsmen & Artisans of the Black Hills<\/a> <\/td>April 28\u2013May 3, 2025 <\/td><\/tr>
Farah Siraj <\/td>Fairmont, MN <\/td>Fairmont Opera House<\/a> <\/td>May 5\u201311, 2025 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Grace Richardson<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Farah Siraj performs at a coffee house in Oskaloosa, Iowa\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Jennifer Robistow<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n LADAMA performs onstage at the public concert during their World Fest residency in Hot Springs, South Dakota.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Katie Dotson<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Mia Hsieh of Taiwanese music ensemble A Moving Sound leads a tai chi workshop at Ascend Wellness in Minot, North Dakota as part of the group’s week-long World Fest residency there.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Val Ihde<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n A crowd of students at Marinette Middle School in Marinette, Wisconsin responds to a World Fest school performance by Farah Siraj.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Suncast Studios<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n A Moving Stage performs onstage at the public concert during their World Fest residency in Sullivan, Indiana.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Janet Eckles<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Students at St John Vianney Catholic School in Fairmont, Minnesota dance as LADAMA plays a school assembly during their World Fest residency.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Cassidy Porter<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n A Moving Sound plays in a workshop for kids and families at the Kids ‘N’ Stuff Children’s Museum in Albion, Michigan as part of their World Fest residency.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n\n
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