If you're interested in music from around the globe, the place to be this weekend is New York City. That's where the third edition of Global Fest is taking place. Auktyon is an gonna be there. Auktyon is an "art-rock" band from St. Petersburg Russia. It's just one of the acts scheduled to perform at GlobalFest. The World's Marco Werman is going to be there too -- Marco, you're gonna take your act on stage?

MARCO: No, no, I try to keep it in the audience seats.

LISA: How come Global Fest is such a big deal. You go to music festivals all over the world. Why is this one so special?

MARCO: Well, it's a big deal, Lisa, because it's part of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters otherwise known as APAP which meets annually in New York City. And APAP is this organization of people who present arts performers from all over the country. That includes symphonies, that includes puppeteers that includes even Disney on Ice. And so they all gather in New York City and they talk and they go out and see shows and they see what's on the market that they can bring to their little towns in the Midwest.

LISA: So it's like a mega music trade show...

MARCO: It's more than music, it's all performing arts. It is kind of a mega performing arts trade show. Five, ten years ago there was no Global Fest and you know I think that's a reflection of how much world music has made these inroads into the United States.

LISA: Interesting, though, even with that rise in interest you still have to get the people into the theater, don't you?

MARCO: Yeah, that's absolutely right. Those audiences are growing. And I think the number of people who are interested in booking those artists are growing as well. So, the interest among listeners and music fans as well as the arts presenters are on a parallel track.

LISA: And why do you think that is?

MARCO: Well, I think there are several theories, I mean you could probably ask anybody and they'd give you a different one. My own personal feeling is the world is composed of lyrics people and non-lyrics people. There are a lot of folks who don't really listen to words in music. They go for a different vibe, they go for what's playing on stage, the integrity of the artist and the music and the rhythm. And in times when people go to a concert, they're a hundred rows back, they're watching the artist perform on a Jumbotron up on stage, I think they feel there's a refreshing quality about unfamiliar international musicians who perform pop, in their own language or maybe in English, with an intimacy you might have gotten in the early days of rock & roll.

LISA: So, what is it like then for the musicians who are coming in from all over the world for Global Fest in New York this weekend? Can you assess the climate here for performers of world music?

MARCO: Well, the artists who are coming in obviously have overcome one major hurdle that a lot of international artists have to deal with, and that's the visa issue which has become an acute issue since September 11th, 2001.

LISA: Just getting in here...

MARCO: Just getting in here. It's still a long procedure that it's still although somewhat predictable costs a lot of money if you want to guarantee your visa, and it underscores this underlying tension for all presenters of international artists, how do get these musicians, with a variety of foreign passports into the US, to establish this cultural dialogue, when there are all these bureaucratic barriers being put up, not to prevent them from coming in, but to establish this sense of security and at the same time, you take these words that Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, said when she swore in Dina Habib Powell as assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs last July. Secretary Rice said it's going to be important for us to have a conversation, not a monologue and that means that we need to have people come here and we need Americans to go there around the world, so that we could really get to know each other.

LISA: So Marco how about musically speaking then, what's the state of world music here in the US?

MARCO: Well I think Global Fest this weekend is going to be a really interesting showcase of how things have evolved in terms of world music. I think it's somewhat symbolic that Robert Brown died last November, Robert Brown, a lot of people don't know who he is, was an ethnomusicologist based at Wesleyan University. So already back in the 60s he viewed world music even though it was very traditional roots music at the time, as this bigger thing. That there is music all over the world and it all counts as world music. Now, you come out of that first phase of very traditional routes music, there was a cycle in the music industry when a lot of field recordings were supposed to capture authentic sounds from people's roots music around the globe. Then about 10 years ago western producers began to, some would say force, others would say encourage, local musicians around the globe to use that goat's bladder that they blow through along with some kind of funky disco beat and maybe that would appeal to American audiences. Now things are different, we're seeing performers and we'll see them this weekend at Global Fest who are steeped in their own roots and culture and they also have this natural instinct for kind of picking up elements of sound that are not part of their own roots music. I mean that's what you'll hear this weekend with performers like DJ Dolores who'll be performing at Global Fest. He comes out of this very traditional mangue beat movement in northeastern Brazil. And as you can hear he just totally amps it up for the 21st century in an apparently very natural way.

LISA: That's DJ Dolores who's Brazil's going to be among those performing this weekend at Global Fest in New York. The World's Marco Werman, have fun, nice to have you here.

MARCO: Thanks very much, Lisa.

LISA: And Marco, we can catch some of this online when you get back?

MARCO: Yeah, that's right I'll be gathering some program material, some interviews and that will be coming on the show in the next coming weeks.