The Smith Opera House's annual "Passport World Music Series" returns for a third extraordinary season bringing some of the globe's best world beat musicians to Geneva.

The critically-acclaimed Dya Singh World Music Group from Australia kick off the series on Saturday, Oct. 11. Playing an exciting acoustic blend of Sikh traditional music, blues, jazz, folk, country western, Australian bush music, Dya Singh fully embraces world music. 

Greatly influenced by the sounds of India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Singh’s fabulous band uses the tabla, harmonium, didgeridoo, violin, guitar, and bodhran to convey the universal messages of peace, truth, love, harmony, equality, and justice -- mixed with a little bit of India’s Bollywood dancing, too.

Rousing and raucous, Scythian (sith-ee-yin) plays kicked-up Celtic and world music with hints of Gypsy and Klezmer, all infused with a touch of punk-rock sensibility on Saturday, Nov. 15. Take a pair of classically trained dueling fiddlers, toss in a rhythm guitar and the occasional funky accordion, then power it with the driving rhythm of a jazz percussionist, and you've got the ingredients for a show you won't soon forget. Their high-energy, adrenaline-peddling, interactive brand of music has one goal in mind; to get people on their feet and dancing. Their repertoire ranges from traditional and contemporary Celtic and folk music to the alluring and dramatic strains of Gypsy and Eastern European tunes, and then crosses back over the border to pick up some good old-fashioned bluegrass licks. Americana/indie rock band Oneside opens the show.

The Stephane Wrembel Trio brings its French jazz guitar sounds to The Smith on Friday, January 30. Few have been up to the challenge, but Paris-born Stephane Wrembel has proven to be an artist who can not only tread in the celebrated Django Reinhardt's footsteps with remarkable fidelity, but can cut a fresh new path for Gypsy jazz guitar as well. While few contemporary guitar players sound stronger or more convincing in the jazz Manouche style, Stephane Wrembel has taken this legacy in a new direction with his Brooklyn-based trio. 

While remaining faithful to the dynamics of the Selmer-style acoustic guitar favored by the Romani guitar legend, he has revamped the format to include drums and other percussion instruments -- even a washboard, on occasion.

The heart and soul of American roots music, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, conclude the series on Saturday, Feb. 28. Their performance of the haunting composition "Ashokan Farewell" -- the musical hallmark of Ken Burns' "The Civil War" PBS series -- earned the couple international acclaim. The soundtrack won a Grammy and "Ashokan Farewell" was nominated for an Emmy. Since joining forces in the late 1970s, Jay and Molly have become one of the most celebrated duos on the American acoustic music scene. Listen to the timeless renditions of hard-driving Appalachian, Cajun and Celtic fiddle tunes, stirring Civil War classics, sassy songs from the golden age of swing and country, stunning waltzes, and deeply moving original compositions.  

All shows start at 8 p.m., doors open at 7:30.

Individual tickets and series subscriptions are now on sale. Tickets are $15. Subscriptions are $45 – four shows for the price of three. Series subscribers also enjoy the benefit of the "Passport Ticket Exchange" whereby if you are unable to attend a particular performance, you can use the ticket for another performance, give it to a friend, or invite a guest to a future performance with you.