In this week's episode of Cafe International, we visit the home of composer Subhira Rodrigo Cepeda in Santaigo, Chile. He's a pianist, human rights advocate, professor, radio host and director of the Mundovivo music festival. We will learn about all of this - and more

With host Dan Rosenberg

A special live session recorded at Met Radio in Toronto with the Ecuadoran ensemble, Chuskupura - who were in town as part of the 2025 International Indigenous Music Summit

Sara Curruchich joins us for a special live session recorded at Met Radio Studios in Toronto to talk about her album Mujer Indigena, the International Indigenous Music Summit, and - a special treat - she performs live on the show.

With host Dan Rosenberg

A special episode of Cafe International with legendary Malian guitarist, Samba Toure and his band performing live in studio: with Souleymane Kane on calabash and Djime Sissoko on ngoni (and talking drum).

With host Dan Rosenberg

On this week's episode of Cafe International, we revisit an interview with Leonard Nimoy from 1997 about how growing up Jewish shaped his famous Spock character on Star Trek

With host Dan Rosenberg

A visit to the Ethnoport Music Festival in Poznan, Poland. We'll speak with Artistic Director Bozena Szota about the history of Poznan, and hear music from some of the artists performing at Ethnoport this year, including Tęgie Chłopy, Abaim, BCUC and Trio Mandili.

With host Dan Rosenberg

An interview with Eve Sicular about music from the golden age of Yiddish cinema plus Chanukah music and more

With host Dan Rosenberg

This week on Cafe International, we feature an interview with producer Lucas Silva from Bogotá, Colombia about Nigerian highlife music and how it has influenced Champeta music in Colombia

On today’s show, we’ll learn about the ancient Persian instrument, the santur – a 72 stringed dulcimer that dates back to 500 BCE with one of its leading masters – Amir Amiri

His latest CD is called Ajdad – Ancestors, Echoes of Persia. One of the themes the album explores is the connection between Persian and Arabic culture.

Those connections between Persian and Arabic culture were severed in Iran in the 1980s because of the Iraq-Iran war.

This week on Cafe International: our guests are Fran & Flora. They’re a magnificent award-winning string duo (cello & violin) from England, dedicated to klezmer and East European folk music. We’ll hear about their new CD, “Precious Collection” and their trip to Romania to research music for the album.

With host Dan Rosenberg

On this week's program, an interview with Marousia Bouvery, from the group Abaim. They are from the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. On the show, we will learn about how Abaim is using music to fight to preserve the endangered Bhojpuri language, and their work to raise awareness about climate change.

Recorded at the Ethnoport Music Festival in Poznan, Poland

With host Dan Rosenberg

On this week’s Café International, we look back at the incredible career of Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi, who passed away on January 23, 2019 at the age of 66 after being treated for a heart condition. Oliver Mtukudzi was born in 1952 in Harare, in the era of British colonial rule, when it was known as Salisbury, Rhodesia. His music played an important role in Zimbabwe’s fight for independence. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Mtukudzi recorded over 60 albums, and became a giant in the music world. On the program, we look back at how Mtukudzi used music to confront conspiracy theories and educate the public to protect themselves during a pandemic from a prior generation, HIV.

A special episode recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with legendary sambista, Jorge Aragão

Jorge Aragão was the first composer to have his music played on Mars. Here on earth, he has created songs that have become anthems in Brazil, with lyrics that speak about human rights, Black identity and the horrific legacy of slavery

Special thanks to Alan Tigay from World Listening Post who translated this interview

On this week's Cafe International, our guest is Alan Tigay, from the website, World Listening Post. We'll speak about his new project: The 500 Greatest Global Songs of All Time, a remarkable list that he curated. We'll count down the top ten, which includes music from Aretha Franklin, Fela, Miriam Makeba, Juan Luis Guerra, and more!

On this week's episode of Cafe International, recorded in Bern, Switzerland, our guest is award winning singer and yodeler, Christine Lauterburg. In 1994, she became the first woman to win the Bäredräckpris from the City of Bern.

With host Dan Rosenberg

On today’s show, we visit Neuchatel Switzerland, a beautiful lakeside town – that in the middle of every August, is transformed by a remarkable buskers festival. But there aren’t jugglers or acrobats on unicycles, Instead, its pedestrian zone in the centre of the city becomes a huge global music festival – and on our show, we’ll hear music from Georgia, Sardinia, Syria, and Brazil. Our guests include founder of the Neuchatel Buskers Festival Georges Grillon plus members of the Lusophone group Ayom, the Sardinian polyphonic quartet Andhira and more!

On our program this week, our guest is Noam Vazana – or as she’s better known, Nani. She’s one of the very few artists in the world composing new songs in the nearly dead Ladino language – this is the language originally spoken by Sephardic Jews in Spain and Portugal before the time of the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 – and today, it’s spoken rarely, except for some communities in the Sephardic diaspora. Nani’s grandmother was one of those speakers, but Nani’s father prohibited them from speaking the language during Nani’s childhood.

We’ll hear music from Nani’s new album "Ke Haber" ("What's New"), featuring new music – often about contemporary subjects in Ladino – the language she was banned from speaking as a child. Later in the show, we’ll hear how Nani discovered an ancient poem that describes the transformation of a transgender teenage girl who came out to her parents, and wanted to be recognized as a boy. Nani found the poem when she was looking for material in an old library within a synagogue in Leiden, in the Netherlands.

With host Dan Rosenberg

On today's program, we speak with Marko Halaneyvich and Iryna Gorban of the Ukrainian group DakhaBrakha. After Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, DakhaBrakha has performed over 200 concerts around the world in the past 500 days, including six concerts in Ukraine as its cities were being bombed.

We recorded this interview at the Sunfest in London, Ontario – much more than a typical summer arts festival, its mission includes presenting music that is threatened.

With host Dan Rosenberg

Our guest this week is Alfredo Caxaj, founder of the Sunfest in London, Ontario. We’ll learn how Afredo Caxaj came to Canada in 1985 as a refugee from Guatemala, and founded the Sunfest, Canada’s largest free world music festival. We’ll also hear music from some of the performers at the 2023 Sunfest, including Bejuco from Colombia, The Garifuna Collective from Belize, Sara Curruchich from Guatemala, DakhaBrakha from Ukraine, Jupiter and Okwess from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Frander from Sweden.

With host Dan Rosenberg

An interview and samba guitar workshop with Roge: He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and now lives in Los Angeles. We'll hear music from his new album Curyman, learn how to play samba on guitar - and how he created "Samba Funk."

with host Dan Rosenberg