June-December 2025 ­­– alumni groups return to the U.S. for independent month-long tours: Khumariyaan (Pakistan), Kurbasy (Ukraine), Mohamed Abozekry (Egypt), and Papermoon Puppet Theatre (Indonesia)

Art plays a vital role in opening avenues for connection and dialogue among diverse audiences. Center Stage centers artists with insights into how we can deepen trust and understanding, renew our sense of community, and build a shared future of peace and prosperity.

For its last planned edition, Center Stage, the landmark cultural exchange program initiated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and produced by New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), has invited four alumni ensembles to engage with people around the U.S. on stage, off stage, and online. This public-private partnership is the largest public diplomacy effort to bring foreign artists to American stages in recent history.

Through in-person engagements and virtual interactions, these ensembles will meet with communities across the U.S. via performances, workshops, talk back sessions, artist jams, shared meals, and other activities that bolster mutual understanding. A new digital education component will virtually link the artists with students throughout the 2025 calendar year. 

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.

Center Stage offers opportunities to arts presenters and artists intent on strengthening understanding and connections between Americans and creative arts makers from countries and cultures which are not often enough directly represented in the U.S.

Meet the Ensembles 

Khumariyaan (Peshawar, Pakistan)
6-7 on tour: 5 musicians and staff; indoors or out in clubs, amphitheaters, concert halls, and festival stages.
Available June-August 2025

Kurbasy (Lviv, Ukraine)
Songs of the Forest
9 on tour; 6 performers; concert halls and theaters with excellent acoustics and with projection capability
Available September-November, 2025

Mohamed Abozekry Sextet (Cairo, Egypt)
8 on tour: 6 musicians, 2 staff; clubs, recital halls, black box and site-specific listening rooms
Available September-October 2025

Papermoon Puppet Theatre (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Puno: Letters to the Sky (50 minutes, non-verbal mixed media puppetry) 
12 on tour: cast and crew of 10; proscenium or black box spaces 100-500 seats
Recommended for children ages 7 and adults
Available September 1-October 15, 2025

sharing stories

Journalists from the ensemble’s home countries will be embedded in the U.S. with each group to share their experiences at home through traditional and social media, deepening the reach and impact of each tour.

U.S. Embassies in Cairo, Jakarta, Islamabad, and Kyiv will support, extend, and amplify these vital conversations and connections. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "Cultural exchanges are a powerful way for people to connect across borders and for countries to build respect for each other."

World Culture in Context

A package of virtual educational materials about each ensemble, tailored to students in upper elementary through high school, will provide a better understanding of the context in which these artists thrive. Produced and distributed by the Center for Cultural Vibrancy (CCV), World Culture in Context digital packages will expand reach in host communities and non-tour sites with virtual class visits.

Join Center Stage! 

Contact Deirdre Valente at LBMI (Lisa Booth Management, Inc). Tel +1-646-271-8765 artslbmi@msn.com