World music and folk in Palo Alto

Palo Alto has no world music club and no folk coffeehouse with a nightly stage. Yet you can hear an Uzbek frame drum at Bing Concert Hall, klezmer at the JCC on a weekday afternoon and old-time fiddle tunes in a church hall on a Monday night. The scene runs through presenters, community centers and volunteer-run jams more than through bars. That makes it easy to join as a player or singer, not just as a listener.

This guide covers concerts, series, jams and sings confirmed on organizers' own pages or on the San Francisco Folk Music Club's community calendar as of November 1, 2026. For the wider concert scene, see our live music guide. Community jams change often, so contact organizers before your first visit.

The calendar at a glance

Global music at Stanford Live

Stanford Live's 2026 to 2027 season theme is America at 250, with a focus on performers who came to the United States from elsewhere. That brings a strong thread of global and roots music into Bing Concert Hall and The Studio below it.

Aga Khan Master Musicians

The season's biggest world music night is Saturday, April 17, 2027 at 7:30 p.m. The Aga Khan Master Musicians collective spans traditions from the Mediterranean to Asia. The lineup lists Wu Man on pipa, the Chinese lute, Syrian-born saxophonist Basel Rajoub, Feras Charestan on qanun, Yurdal Tokcan on oud and Abbos Kosimov on the Uzbek doira frame drum. French accordionist Vincent Peirani and cellist and bassist Vincent Ségal join them.

More global and roots shows

• Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World, with Duane Forrest, runs November 11 to 15, 2026 in The Studio.
• Don Ross and Julie Malía, Saturday, January 16, 2027 at 7 and 9 p.m. in The Studio. Ross, raised in Montreal by a Mi'kmaw mother and a Scottish immigrant father, is a past US National Fingerpick Guitar champion. Malía is a German acoustic guitarist and songwriter.
• Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale: Vivaldi and the Oud, Sunday, February 7, 2027 at 2:30 p.m. at Bing.
• International Guitar Night, February 21, 2027 at Bing, a touring showcase of guitarists from several countries.
• The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Sunday, April 25, 2027 at 2:30 p.m. at Bing.

The fall already brought son jarocho from Los Vega and country blues from Jontavious Willis to The Studio and bluegrass star Molly Tuttle to Bing, a sign that roots music is now a regular part of the season. Our Stanford Live guide explains tickets and member presales.

World music ensembles at Stanford

Stanford's Department of Music lists several ensembles rooted in traditions outside Western classical music. They include Stanford Taiko, the Japanese drumming group directed by Linda Uyechi, the Cardinal Calypso steel band and the Ottoman Music Ensemble. The department says some of its ensembles are open to community members, with auditions required. Watch its events calendar for their concerts. The student group Ballet Folklórico de Stanford also stages a free spring concert of Mexican regional dance.

Afternoon concerts at the Oshman Family JCC

The Oshman Family JCC at 3921 Fabian Way runs Music in the Afternoon, hour-long concerts at 1 p.m. on selected Tuesdays. The world and folk picks this season are:

• Tango and Beyond, November 17, 2026, with Orquesta Típica Tarareando tracing tango from its golden age to today.
• Klezmer and Friends, December 15, with clarinetist Asaf Ophir, bassist Dan Fabricant and accordionist Dan Cantrell.
• Fire and Grace and Ash, February 9, 2027, guitarist William Coulter, violinist Edwin Huizinga and mandolinist Ashley Hoyer blending classical, folk and contemporary traditions from around the world.

Registration runs through the JCC's online calendar. The JCC also hosts the Israeli Cultural Connection, which books Israeli music through the year.

Jams and sings you can join

Palo Alto's busiest folk address is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto at 505 East Charleston Road. Several groups meet there:

• Bay Area Sacred Harp, open shape-note singings on second and fourth Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m., usually in the Fireside Room. No experience is needed and loaner books are almost always available. The group also runs an annual Palo Alto All-Day Singing. Our choral music guide explains how a singing works.
• World Harmony Chorus, fall session rehearsals on Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the main sanctuary, led by Daniel Steinberg.
• Old-time jam on Mondays at 7 p.m. and bluegrass jam on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Both appear on the San Francisco Folk Music Club's community calendar with an email contact for the organizer. We could not find a separate site for either jam, so write before you bring an instrument.

Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association

For a bigger jam, the Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association holds its First Sunday Jam at Hoover Middle School, 1470 Naglee Avenue in San Jose, from 1:15 to 5 p.m. Old-time and bluegrass circles run at the same time and players can pick any genre. The suggested donation is $5. The association says it has close to 200 members from Gilroy to Berkeley and covers old-time, bluegrass, western swing, Celtic, Scandinavian and other fiddle traditions. If you need gear first, see our guide to music stores.

Folk dancing

The live bands at Palo Alto's contra and English country dances play Irish, English and American folk tunes. The Bay Area Country Dance Society runs contras at First United Methodist Church on Hamilton Avenue on second, fourth and fifth Saturdays. Our dance guide has the full schedule.

Concerts a short drive away

Kitka in Menlo Park

Kitka, the Bay Area women's vocal ensemble, brings Wintersongs to St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Menlo Park on Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 4 p.m. The program draws on songs for the winter season from Balkan, Baltic, Caucasian and Slavic lands. The 2025 Menlo Park concert sold out, so book early. Our Menlo Park guide helps with dinner nearby.

Montalvo Arts Center

Montalvo in Saratoga mixes Celtic music into its concert season. The Irish-American band Solas plays on Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. The folk club's calendar also lists Irish Christmas in America there on December 10. See our Montalvo guide for directions.

More listings

The same community calendar lists Lissie on November 12 and Molly Tuttle on December 22 at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, plus a flamenco juerga by the Flamenco Society of San Jose on December 12 at the Hoover Theater in San Jose. Confirm each show on the venue's own site before you buy.

Planning a folk weekend

Start with a Sunday afternoon at the Sacred Harp singing or the San Jose fiddle jam on the first Sunday of the month. Add a Stanford Live show or a JCC afternoon concert midweek. For Montalvo, plan a car, since the hillside venue is hard to reach by transit. If you flew in, compare car rentals before the trip. Visitors who want to stay close to campus concerts can look for hotels near Stanford.

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