Music & Public Life

Past Events

Voices of Afghanistan Colloquium
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 4:15pm
CFA Hall
FREE!

Ustad Farida Mahwash, 'the Voice of Kabul', will discuss her music and life as a female vocalist in Afghanistan. Rubâb virtuoso Homayoun Sakhi and members of The Sakhi Ensemble will talk about the group's instrumentation and performance practice.

Voices of Afghanistan
featuring Ustad Farida Mahwash,
Homayoun Sakhi & The Sakhi Ensemble
Friday, September 28, 2012 at 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall 
$22 general public; $18 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students
Pre-performance talk by Wesleyan University Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Mark Slobin at 7:15pm

"The ensemble's music, alive with cyclic tabla rhythms and spiraling rubab phrases, somehow echoed the sounds and intensity of the times."
--The New York Times

Vocalist Ustad Farida Mahwash, the only woman to receive the title of "master" in Central or South Asia, is celebrated around the globe for her exquisite approach to poetic ghazals (folk songs). Artistic Director and rubab (double-chambered lute) virtuoso Homayoun Sakhi creates an acoustically rich crossroads for sawol-jawab (an interplay of questions and answers), exploring traditional and contemporary Afghan melodies on the inaugural tour of Voices of Afghanistan, which includes the musicians of The Sakhi Ensemble: Zmarai Aref on Afghan tabla, Khalil Ragheb on harmonium, Abbos Kosimov on doyra (frame drum), and Pervez Sakhi on tula (flute).

There will be a Voices of Afghanistan Colloquium Wednesday, September 26th in the CFA Hall at 4:15 PM.

Music Department Colloquium and Book Launch: Rob Rosenthal: Pete Seeger--His Life In His Own Words
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 4:15pm
Daltry Room (Music Rehearsal Hall 003)
FREE!

Wesleyan University John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rob Rosenthal will discuss Pete Seeger: His Life In His Own Words, the book he co-edited with his son Sam Rosenthal.

Rachel Mundy '00: Birds, Bytes, and the Natural History of Music
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at 4:15pm

John Troutman: In Honolulu...There is Music Everywhere--Making Meaning of Hawaiian Guitar Culture in the Era of the Overthrow
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 4:15pm
Daltry Room (Music Rehearsal Hall 003)
FREE!

John Troutman, Assistant Professor of U.S., Cultural, Public, & American Indian History at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, will talk about the culture of Hawaiian guitar music.

Los Trovadores de America
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 5pm
Iguanas Ranas, 484 Main Street, Middletown
$30 general public, $20 for Wesleyan students, $10 for children ages 6 to 12, free for children ages 5 and under.

Hartford-based mariachi band Los Trovadores de America will perform in an early celebration of the Mexican holiday, Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This event includes dinner with the concert. Reservations are required - please call 860-983-7963 or email jcormack@wesleyan.edu.

This event is co-sponsored by Iguanas Ranas and the Middletown House Concert Series, a local not-for-profit organization presenting local, nationally-based, and internationally renowned musicians. The event will be family-friendly and will include a dinner made with ingredients that are typically used for the holiday. There will be both meat and vegetarian options. Desserts especially prepared for Dia de los Muertos will be offered, and goodie bags celebrating Halloween will be distributed to attending children. There will also be a raffle to help support the Middletown House Concert Series, which is now in its 10th year. Items will include all things Mexican or Mexico-themed.  


Instrumental Influence: A Discussion of Musical Trends in Political Advertising
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 4:15pm
CFA Hall
FREE!

Using data from the Wesleyan Media Project, this presentation will analyze the content of current political ads and the types of music they contain. The discussion will highlight music's role in political advertising today and the emotions they help convey, and will include numerous audio/visual examples from the 2010 midterm elections and the 2012 presidential election.


Kumori Kagura
Traditional Japanese folk music and dance from Iwate Prefecture
Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
$12 A, $10 B, $5 C
Buy tickets online.

Experience a centuries-old folk music and dance tradition from northern Japan that even the ferocious earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 could not destroy. Hailing from Tohoku, a region often referred to as a "treasure chest" of folk arts, the practice of Kuromori Kagura can be traced back to the 17th century when it began in honor of the divine spirit of the Kuromori Shrine in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture. Designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Asset by the Japanese government, the group will perform a selection of dances from their vast repertoire which includes furious jumps, brisk turns and whimsical moves accompanied by percussion and fue (Japanese fulte), revealing a whole new dimension of Japans's tradtitional performing arts. The four-city North American tour of Kuromori Kagura is produced and organized by Japan Society, New York, and is supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan in the fiscal year 2012, The Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN program, and the Asahi Shimbun Foundation. 

Noah Baerman: Jazz With a Conscience
Friday, November 2, 2012 at 8pm
Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green Street, Middletown
FREE!
While Wesleyan University Jazz Ensemble Coach Noah Baerman is a pianist and composer whose primary medium is instrumental jazz, he has increasingly gravitated towards "message music" in the spirit of artists such as Nina Simone, Charles Mingus and John Coltrane. His award-winning compositions have tackled numerous topics, with entire albums dedicated to self-discovery (Know Thyself), disability (Patch Kit) and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Soul Force). His current projects include a series of compositions inspired by young people in the foster care system and a collaboration with photographer Carla Ten Eyck depicting survivors of serious illness and other traumatic experiences. Mr. Baerman will be joined by his longtime trio partners bassist Henry Lugo and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza.

The 11^th Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns
Keynote Address at 7:30pm by Anthony Seeger—“Can We Safeguard Disappearing Musical Traditions? And if We Can, Should We?”
Performances following the keynote address by Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, and the Cross Street A.M.E. Zion Church's Unity Choir 
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 7:30pm
Crowell Concert Hall
FREE!

Distinguished professor of Ethnomusicology and Director of the Ethnomusicology Archive at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Anthony Seegerhas published numerous articles focused on issues of land and human rights for Brazilian Indians, archiving and intellectual property, and ethnomusicological theory and method. Mr. Seeger was the Executive Producer of all recordings issued on the Smithsonian Folkways label between 1988 and 2000. The effects of neo-liberal capitalism and rapidly changing communications technology are having a profound and transformative effect on the world’s cultural traditions. UNESCO projects and the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage have led many nations to develop plans to “safeguard” cultural traditions considered to be endangered and disappearing. This talk addresses the definitions of “safeguarding” and “intangible heritage” and the more general question of our ability to “safeguard” disappearing traditions, and whether it is appropriate to do so.

Before the keynote address, there will be a welcome by Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rob Rosenthal, as well as a musical invocation by the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble, directed by Professor of Music Sumarsam and Artist in Residence I.M. Harjito.

The keynote address will be followed by performances by two Middletown groups: Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, a gleeful string band featuring Rani Arbo on fiddle and guitar, Andrew Kinsey on bass, banjo, and ukulele, Anand Nayak ’96 on electric and acoustic guitars, and Scott Kessel ’88 on percussion, playing sparkling original songs as well as a repertoire that spans 150 years of American music; and the Cross Street A.M.E. Zion Church's Unity Choir, singing contemporary gospel, praise and worship music under the direction of Wesleyan University Adjunct Professor of Music and vibraphonist Jay Hoggard.

Friday, November 9, 2012 at 8:30pm
Fayerweather Beckham Hall
FREE! Tickets required. Call 860-685-3355 or visit the Wesleyan University Box Office for free tickets.

Ethel Raim, Artistic Director of New York City’s Center for Traditional Music and Dance, curates an evening of performances by Merita Halili & The Raif Hyseni Orchestra and La Cumbiamba eNeYé. Merita Halili is one of Albania's top

performers, renowned for her stunning voice,prodigious range and technique. Raif Hyseni, originally from the Republic of Kosova, leads the most sought-after Albanian music ensemble in the United States. Together their performances thrill with masterful interpretations of instrumentals and urban folk songs from both Albania and the Republic of Kosova. Martin Vejarano is a multi-percussionist and the director of the powerfully rhythmic ensemble La Cumbiamba eNeYé. Taking its name from traditional open-air gatherings, La Cumbiamba explores the Colombian musical styles of cumbia, puya and mapalé with the use of traditional instruments from the African diaspora, as well as those of the Indians of Colombia and the European settlers.



The Sakhioba Ensemble
Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at 8pm
Memorial Chapel, 221 High Street
FREE!
The concert will be preceded by a free masterclass with the Sakhioba Ensemble at 5pm in Memorial Chapel.

The Sakhioba Ensemble is dedicated entirely to the performance and popularization of traditional Georgian folksongs and liturgical hymns. They have performed widely since their founding in 2006, and have recorded five compact disks of previously unreleased traditional material. Their recent tour in England and Scotland (November, 2011), including performances at Cambridge, Oxford, and BBC Radio, received excellent reviews and standing ovations. The Sakhioba ensemble performs all songs as close to their original context as possible, which makes for highly entertaining performances.

Joke songs are sung in a clowning act, dance songs are accompanied by lively martial dances, solo ballad songs are accompanied by the gudistviri bagpipe or the panduri lute, while worksongs are sung in three or four part antiphonal chorus as they would have been sung in the mowing field. Subtle aspects of traditional performance practice that were disregarded in the Soviet era are very important to the Sakhioba ensemble, such as the use of improvisation in the upper solo voice-parts, the refinement of Georgian traditional tuning in its three-voiced harmonic context, and the use of dialectic nuances in the rendering of text. This focus makes the Sakhioba Ensemble one of the leaders in the revival of traditional music in Georgia today.


A Talk by Ben Ratliff of The New York Times
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 4:15pm
Daltry Room (Music Rehearsal Hall 003)
FREE!

Ben Ratliff has been a jazz and pop critic for The New York Times since 1996. He has written three books: The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music (2008); Coltrane: The Story of a Sound (2007) a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Jazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings (2002).


Richard Kostelanetz Lecture
Friday, December 7, 2012 at 4:30pm
CFA Hall
FREE!

Richard Kostelanetz, the noted literary artist and author of over 100 books, including the first biography of John Cage, will discuss the social dimension of John Cage's work.


Etcetera & HPSCHD
Friday, December 7, 2012 at 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
$5 general public, $4 Wesleyan students

The Wesleyan University Orchestra will perform John Cage's Etcetera (1973), which was commissioned by Wesleyan University for the inauguration of the Center for the Arts. Following the performance of Etcetera in Cromwell Concert Hall will be an extended performance of HPSCHD (1969) by the Wesleyan New Music Alliance in Fayerweather Beckham Hall.


Song Books by John Cage 
Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
FREE!

David Barron and Wesleyan Professors of Music Ron Kuivila and Neely Bruce perform Song Books (1970) by John Cage. Vocalist Anne Rhodes MA ’06 will be featured, recreating the role performed by Phyllis Bruce numerous times between 1978 and 1987.


Music at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
Friday, February 1, 2013 at 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
$24 general public; $19 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students
Pre-performance talk at 7:15pm

Curated by violinist Paul Woodiel, the New England premiere of Music at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello features what might have been heard after-hours in the Charlottesville, Virginia home of the third U.S. president (the European concert music of Corelli, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart), as well as in the slaves' quarters (African American and European American traditional musics). This concert features performances by singer, guitarist and banjo player Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton, Dennis James on glass harmonica, singer Kerry O'Malley, violinists Robert Mealy and Mazz Swift, cellist Katie Reitman, Christopher Layer on bagpipes and flutes, and Wesleyan Professor of Music Neely Bruce on harpsichord.
 

The New Transnationalisms of Music Symposium
Friday, March 1, 2013 from 9am to 5pm
The Russell House
FREE!

Beverly Diamond (St. John's Memorial University, Newfoundland), Anne Rasmussen (The College of William & Mary), Aram Sinreich '94 (Rutgers University),  Joshua Tucker (Brown University) and Marc Perman '94 PhD (Brown University) will engage with Wesleyan faculty and ethnomusicology graduate students on the ways that today's international systems, circuits, and grassroots activists are changing music globally. 

Time Stands Still: Notation in Musical Practice

Wednesday, April 3 through Saturday, April 6, 2013

Tickets required and available through the box office

The Vocal Constructivists, a London-based choral group directed by Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Music Jane Alden, explores idiosyncratic notation as a form of social practice, the scores supplying open-ended vocabulary for collective discourse. The group will be in residence for a three-day festival dedicated to the performance and interpretation of graphic and text scores. Featured composers will include Mark Applebaum, Pauline Oliveros, Michael Parsons, and Wesleyan Music Department faculty Anthony Braxton, Ronald Kuivila, and Paula Matthusen. Events will include student workshops, an evening concert, and a symposium of scholarly papers.