Center Stage

Artists from Abroad in U.S. Communities

Transcend Borders. Build understanding. Embrace Diversity.

Center Stage is a cultural exchange program that invites performing artists from select countries to tour the United States.

Initiated by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and produced by the New England Foundation for the Arts, it is among the most successful programs to bring contemporary international performing artists into direct contact with people across a wide range of U.S. communities, and to share these experiences globally.

Since the launch of the program in 2012, Center Stage has welcomed important new voices into our national cultural conversations, enlarging our world, and sharing diverse global perspectives.

Center Stage artists are amazing ambassadors who create wide open spaces for communities to connect.

  Helena Presents, Helena, MT

Center Stage Season 8: Four Ensembles Available for 2025

In 2025, four Center Stage alumni ensembles from Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ukraine will return to the U.S. for independent month-long tours, engaging with diverse communities across the U.S. as they transcend borders and build cross-cultural connections.

Tours are being booked now. LBMI (Lisa Booth Management, Inc.), Center Stage’s general manager since the program’s inception in 2012, works with communities to craft and organize the residencies that make up each independent month-long tour. Affordable and accessible, international expenses are largely underwritten; travel, promotion, and logistics from visas to taxes are comprehensively managed by LBMI.

Meet the Artists

• Khumariyaan (Peshawar, Pakistan)
  With its propulsive, furious sound, Khumariyaan, "The Intoxicators," has reawakened the live music scene in Peshawar, the ancient crossroads through the Khyber Pass that links Pakistan and Afghanistan. The lute-like Pashto rubab is the meeting point for this transfixing, hyper-folk jam band that intertwines the djembe-like zerbaghali (clay or wooden goblet drum), sehtar (long-necked lute), and searching vocals. Underpinning these instruments with driving acoustic guitars, Khumariyaan’s rolling pulse and richly layered sound builds to frenzied intensity. It’s an addictive and accessible pleasure that has ushered in a new era for an eclipsed music.
• Kurbasy (Lviv, Ukraine)
  An affirmation in a time of violence and resistance, Kurbasy’s urgent, time bending Songs of the Ukrainian Forest vibrates in tight vocal harmonies, distinctive, textural instrumentation, and phantasmagoric visual imagery, channeling contemporary connections to an archaic past. This song cycle was conceived by Kurbasy’s founders and friends of 24 years, actor-vocalists Natalia Rybka-Parkhomenko and Maria Oneshchak, in a time of pandemic lockdown and then national invasion. The duo is performing the work at home and abroad as a polyphonic vocal piece while building the larger instrumental frame that will surround it on tour to the U.S. in 2025.
• Mohamed Abozekry Sextet (Cairo, Egypt)
  Virtuoso oudist, composer and singer Mohamed Abozekry returns with Roh el Fouad (The Heart’s Soul), his latest exploration of intrinsically improvisational Egyptian music. Diving into the boundless world around him, he leads a cross-continental sextet that fuses oud, bass, drums, keyboard, Egyptian percussion, saxophone, and vocals in tightly crafted tracks that swing, bop, and roll.
• Papermoon Puppet Theatre (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
  How do we experience loss and hold onto what is precious? Words may fail us. Puno: Letters from the Sky is the story of Tala, a young girl who is coping with her father’s passing and learning about life and death. With its universal touchstones, Puno and Tala’s story of separation and grief joins every human being in a shared space of love, longing, and memory in this beautifully rendered non-verbal work for children young and old, and their families.

Since 2012, Center Stage has 

• hosted 308 artists, arts managers and staff in 47 ensembles from 17 nations. 
• visited 101 communities in 37 U.S. states and Washington, DC 
• brought 16 journalists from participating countries to travel with ensembles and report on their tours. 
• reached 169,000+ people directly at 400+ live performances and 800+ activities like jam sessions, panel discussions, and potluck dinners. 
• connected countless more people across the globe digitally via social media, livestreamed events, and on-demand digital content.

Center Stage is a public diplomacy initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. government. It is administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with general management by Lisa Booth Management, Inc.

Connect with Center Stage

For more information about ensembles, tours, and performances, visit CenterStageUS.org. Keep up with Center Stage on Facebook and Instagram.  

Presenters, community organizations, and venues interested in partnering with Center Stage are encouraged to contact Deirdre Valente at Lisa Booth Management, Inc. Tel +1-212-921-2114 artslbmi@msn.com. For general program information, please contact Adrienne Petrillo, Senior Program Director, +1-617-423-1178 apetrillo@nefa.org.