Our story, year by year

The first public programmes, and WMS Porto

WMS put its music as a language approach into practice in Helsinki. The first British and Kurdish folk music and dance event brought 105 attendees together on 25 September; Swedish and Russian music followed with 93 attendees in November. In October, the WMS Porto launch in Guimarães gathered 56 attendees for presentations, live music and a jam session.

WMS also appeared at Helsinki Design Week and presented its approach at WOMEX 2016.

A decade of WMS

Seven events, five workshops, an international teaching network

The annual report records seven major events and five workshops across folk music, dance, singing, instrument making and family learning. The programme connected traditions including Sámi, Brazilian, Indian, Peruvian, Senegalese and Ukrainian Klezmer music.

WMS was included in the Finland 100 programme through Lönnrot 2.0, and the report records an EtnoGala nomination. Its teaching network at the time comprised 61 teachers, 23 countries and 42 instruments. These are 2017 figures, not present day totals.

Lönnrot 2.0  ·  India & Peru folk event

New workshops and international traditions

WMS continued staging music as shared practice rather than a conventional classroom lesson. The 2018 programme featured folk music and dance from the USA and Turkey, together with workshops involving music from African countries, Nepalese music and flamenco. The organisation also developed its international network and explored a longer term model for its teaching and cultural activities.

Hyrsylän Koulu, Erasmus+ and Shanghai

WMS moved its Finnish base to Hyrsylän Koulu, where it hosted a concert with musicians from Bangalore and an international project meeting. It joined the EU funded ImMusic Erasmus+ consortium, bringing partners from Hungary, Italy and Scotland together in Finland.

The annual report also documents a WMS Shanghai collaboration with FabLab O at Tongji University. The period included developmental work towards a possible school in Grand-Popo, Benin; that initiative is not represented as a completed permanent school.

Explore Hyrsylän Koulu

Live folk events and the beginning of OpenMic

Despite COVID restrictions, WMS presented folk music and dance programmes at Kulttuurikeskus Caisa, including Palestinian and Argentinian, French and Mexican, Polish and Portuguese, and Jordanian and Norwegian traditions.

In October, WMS began its multilingual OpenMic radio programme with Helsinki Open Waves and Caisa. The first guest was Gian Majidi, opening a lasting archive of musician conversations and performances.

Listen to OpenMic

Folk dance events and music publications

WMS continued bringing different musical communities into the same room. Helsinki hosted Greek and Latvian folk dances with live music, followed by Lithuanian and Hungarian folk events. The school also hosted a launch event for Takilka, a publication concerning Andean music and musical heritage.

Greek and Latvian event  ·  Lithuanian and Hungarian event

A peer reviewed paper and music at the National Museum

WMS published a peer reviewed research article examining its work as a social ecological system for community connection and resilience. Its annual report records eight new teachers and ongoing OpenMic conversations with international musicians.

Invited by the City of Helsinki to contribute to its revitalisation programme, WMS brought traditions from Ivory Coast, Yiddish culture and Nicaragua to the Finnish National Museum. WMS also took part in discussions about European music export at the MENT festival in Ljubljana.

Research article  ·  Helsinki city programme

OpenMic voices and folk music at Caisa

The OpenMic series continued with musicians from different traditions, including French Tunisian musician Sami Karkar, Ricardo Coelho, Maija Kauhanen and others. WMS also returned to its familiar public folk dance format at Kulttuurikeskus Caisa, including a programme drawing on Chilean and Spanish traditions.

OpenMic with Sami Karkar

World Music School AIR opens in Oulu

On 21 August 2024, WMS opened a permanent base for air guitar and air music in Oulu, developed with Gamified Cohousing. The project extends the school’s approach to learning, performance and creative confidence through an instrument that needs no physical object.

OpenMic continued to present international musicians and their stories.

WMS AIR opening  ·  Visit WMS AIR online

More than 100 people at Airientation

Airientation 2025 brought more than 100 local and international participants to WMS AIR in Oulu ahead of the Air Guitar World Championships. Airlympics, a peace flag workshop, a shared dinner, music, sauna and a documentary preview connected visitors from different places and cultures.

The event established another chapter in an international air guitar tradition grounded in creativity and the spirit of Make Air Not War.

Airientation 2025 report

A published educational toolkit and new WMS spaces

A decade after its first public programmes in 2016, WMS highlighted Playful Music Exercises for Youth Professionals, a practical music education toolkit developed through the European ImMusic collaboration. The existing book and research archives make the work accessible beyond individual events.

WMS AIR continues in Oulu, while the association develops further cultural bases in Kannus and Lalitpur. These are developing spaces, not claims of fully operational public music schools. The WMS story continues through its musicians, programmes and places.

Read about the book  ·  Schools & Spaces