Maestro Joseph Caulkins, artistic director of Sarasota’s Key Chorale, is known for his creativity and a knack for finding unknown musical masterpieces.

On the opening day of the 50th anniversary Folklife Festival, Los Texmaniacs took the stage in the Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert.

See a video of this super group team playing Irish American music of the Mid-Atlantic region at the 2017 Folklife Festival.

This sound collage includes a banjo rendition of the National Anthem, an origin country role call, and remarks from a Citizenship Ceremony conducted at the Festival.

Capping off the first night of Reunion Weekend, son huasteco musician Artemio Posadas brought the spirit of northeastern Mexico to the National Mall.

D.L. Menard performed twice at the Folklife Festival, in 1976 for the bicentennial celebration and in 1985 for the Louisiana program.

“A beautiful thing happens when I get the opportunity to bring genres and communities together around music,” says Washington, D.C., hi-hop artist Christylez Bacon.

As people migrate, they take their music with them. The sound of the accordion, a traditional European instrument, has traveled the world and been incorporated into the Cajun music of BeauSoleil and conjunto music of Los Texmaniacs.

When I think of Hawaiian music, I first think of the ukulele, but slack-key guitar is just as uniquely Hawaiian. Ledward “Led” Kaapana is a ukulele virtuoso, but to my ear, he shines brightest when playing slack-key guitar.

Family is central to Sheila Kay Adams’s music and identity. She is, after all, a seventh-generation Appalachian ballad singer.