Arbiter of Cultural Traditions, Inc., a non-profit arts organization, was founded in 2002 as a means to continue the work of the former Arbiter Recording Company in order to save performances by musicians both living and from the past whose work embodies our classical music at its height. The failure of the record industry to have done so makes our efforts all the more critical, as the challenges now faced make what we once took for granted as our cultural heritage into an endangered tradition.
A world music sublabel, World Arbiter, makes available examples of classical and traditional music from other cultures. Today’s world music scene is slipping back into the “International” genre it was before such guiding lights like Teresa Sterne of Nonesuch invented the Explorer series, which took serious music from all over the globe with utmost seriousness. We offer vital examples from genuine traditions backed by scholarly analysis that expands interest rather than dulling curiosity.