Since his move to the United States in 1994, Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda has quite literally taken New York and the world stage by storm with the sheer force of his virtuosic command of the harp—revolutionizing the way audiences and critics alike consider an instrument commonly relegated to the "unusual category." A master at realizing beautiful complexities of time, while skillfully drawing out lush colors and dynamic spirit, Edmar has been characterized as "almost a world unto himself" (The New York Times). Join us for a great concert!

This event is held in conjunction with the ¡Carnaval! exhibit and sponsored by the Spurlock Museum Guild Performance and Lecture Series. It is co-sponsored by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Sean Gavin's ornate and driving style on the flute, whistle, and uilleann pipes reflects his lifelong immersion in traditional Irish music. Despite his young age, he is already an accomplished performer having toured extensively on three continents.

Born in Detroit to Co. Clare fiddler Mick Gavin, Sean dabbled with various instruments until at the age of ten when Scariff flute player, Leo McNamara came to stay with the Gavins. Under his tutelage, Sean quickly grasped the whistle and shortly thereafter the flute, later leading him to study uilleann pipes with the late Al Purcell, a student of Leo Rowsome. Currently residing in Chicago, he remains firmly dedicated to playing and teaching traditional Irish music. Sean is a member of the group NicGaviskey, and often performs with his family.

Jesse Smith was born into a musical family and grew up in Baltimore immersed in the thriving Irish music tradition of that city. His mother, Donna Long, has recorded and performed with Brendan Mulvihill and Cherish the Ladies. His dad John sings and plays the guitar. He started playing the fiddle at an early age, studying with Mulvihill, a renowned fiddle player and teacher. In 1998 his love for the music took him to Ireland to stay, where he made his mark as a fiddler touring with the great Irish band Danu for three years.

He has appeared as a guest musician on albums by Harry Bradley, Cherish the Ladies, Colm Gannon, Alan Kelly, Sharon Shannon, Kieran O'Hare, Tim Dennehy and Donna Long. He teaches at many of the Irish music summer and winter festivals including the Frankie Kennedy and the Willie Clancy schools. From his Baltimore roots to his research thesis on Sligo's Michael Coleman, completed while obtaining a Master of Arts degree from Dundalk Institute Technology, Jesse brings a level of skill, confidence and artistic judgment to his playing. A passion for the Irish traditional fiddle music of the 78rpm era can be seen in his choice of material, and his concert performances invariably include classics from the repertoires of the great Sligo fiddle trinity: James Morrison, Paddy Killoran and Michael Coleman.

http://www.myspace.com/seangavinmusic

The University of Illinois School of Music & Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center present BALKANALIA - University of Illinois Balkan Music Ensemble directed by Donna Buchanan.

Sorrowful Love: Songs of Heartbreak and Longing from Albania to Armenia

The University of Illinois’ Asian American Cultural Center presents Champaign-Urbana’s fourth annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month Celebration. Experience the sights and sounds of traditional and modern performances (music, dance, and martial arts) and find out how those performances fit into the AAPI community, expand your artistic skills through interactive arts, crafts, and calligraphy, and learn more about the many groups that make up the rich culture of C-U’s AAPI population through cultural educational booths and resources. This program is free and open to the public.

Paid for in part by the City of Urbana Arts Grant and the Student Cultural Programming Fee.

List of Performances and Performers:
Gah Rahk Mah Dahng (GRMD Korean Drumming Group)

Wushu Club

Illini Awaazz A Cappella

Children’s Dance – Chinese Heritage Association

Holona Hula – Ka Melia Hawaii Club

Floor Lovers Illinois

Tinikling Dance – Philippine Student Association

Adult Tai-Chi Fan— CAACI, Chinese American Association of Central Illinois

TASC Special Ops— Taiwanese American Students Club

Spring 2012 Concerts

Saturday, May 19, 2012, 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 20, 2012, 4:00 PM
McKinley Presbyterian Church
809 S. 5th Street, Champaign

Suggested donation $15-25 (more if you can, less if you can't)
Sign interpreted for the hearing impaired

Amasong presents Passages, a concert exploring themes of change, transience, and transformation. Featuring devotional songs to the Sacred Feminine from Africa and medieval Europe, contemporary compositions by American women, and folk music from South India to the Bahamas to the Republic of Georgia. Please join Amasong as we celebrate change and experience the transformational power of song!

Join us for a celebration of the traditional Japanese holiday of Children's Day. There will be hands-on craft activities such as ikebana (Japanese floral arranging) with designing a vase and choosing your flowers, as well as origami or having your name written in calligraphy. Master storyteller Dan Keding will entertain from 1:30 to 2:00.

ISAMS
Featured Alumnus Speaker Series
Musicology Colloquium

Stefan Fiol, Ph.D. │University of Cincinnati

“Separating the Folk Sound from the Folk Body: Schizophonia in the Music Industry of the Garhwal Himalayas”

Over the past several decades vernacular music industries in many parts of South Asia have utilized artistic traditions originating in Dalit communities to create marketable commodities of “folk culture.” Why do music industries that celebrate and seek to raise the profile of “folk arts” (lok sangeet) also routinely neglect and exploit regional “folk artists” (lok kalaakaar)? By attending to the experiences of musicians from three hereditary caste communities in the Garhwal Himalayas—Baddi, Bajgi, and Jagariya—and by interrogating the body politics of a number of mass-mediated representations, this talk will interrogate the idea that new media and vernacular markets have had a democratizing influence on musical practice. Instead, I demonstrate that entrenched and widely-shared conceptions about caste-based status, function, musical style, and mobility continue to influence who is allowed to participate in regional studio recordings, and how they are ultimately represented on video and cassette albums.

This is the second installation of a series of two-part lectures in which alumni present their most recent research as well as discuss academic and career concerns.

Dr.Fiol will deliver his paper and answer questions pertaining to his research. Immediately following, there will be a strategy and information session during which time Dr. Fiol will discuss career trajectories for students of musicology and related fields.

Stefan Fiol received his PhD in musicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 after conducting three years of ethnomusicological research in India, and shorter fieldwork projects in Chile, Paraguay and Zimbabwe.

Sponsored by:
The Department of Musicology, University of Illinois
Illinois Student Association of Music Scholars (ISAMS)
Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPICMACAY)
This event is funded in part by the Student Organization Resource Fee (SORF) of the University.

Exhibit Opening Celebration: ¡CARNAVAL!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Join us for an evening of gallery explorations, refreshments, and a performance by the steel pan group I-Pan in celebration of our temporary exhibit ¡CARNAVAL!

Mohsen Namjoo—an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar, and setar (traditional Persian lute) player—is one of the most groundbreaking artists in Iranian music today. Born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, Iran, his music resembles a patchwork of Persian classical poetry of Hafez, Rumi or Saadi and western music, namely rock, blues, and jazz. In 2008 Namjoo kicked off his first solo US tour, which granted him the Visiting Artist Fellowship at Stanford University, co-sponsored by the Christina & Hamid Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies and the Music Department. In 2010, he partnered with Payam Entertainment to present Namjoo in A Minor with an ensemble centered on some of his most popular and controversial songs. Most recently, following the Performa 2011 Festival in New York City, he was hailed by the Times as the “Bob Dylan of Iran,” a true musical maverick.

This performance is presented by the Persian Cultural Association, hosted and co-sponsored by the Spurlock Museum, and supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

We are very pleased to announce the first Mohsen Namjoo concert in our very own University of Illinois campus. This concert was made possible by generous supports of Spurlock museum, and Illinois Arts Council, as well as your enthusiastic support through our Facebook page.

Join us and experience Iranian culture and music through Namjoo's unique approach. Your participation in this event paves the way for more cultural events in our campus. This event is scheduled for Sunday April 15th, 6pm, at Knight auditorium of Spurlock museum. For tickets and more information, please check the link below.

The David Goodman Memorial Illinois Japan Performing Arts Network
Invites You to Attend

A Kota Yamazaki Workshop
The Body & The Native Land: Butoh and African Dance

Streamed LIVE from Japan Society

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 1:00pm CDT – Dance Rehearsal Krannert

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
500 South Goodwin Avenue, Level 2, Urbana, IL 61801

Contemporary Butoh-trained choreographer Kota Yamazaki (a 2007 Bessie Award winner) will present a live internet workshop on the fundamentals of Butoh to students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from the Japan Society in New York City. All students, educators, and fans of dance are invited to attend in-person or via the live webstream.

For more information on Kota Yamazaki and the Japan Society please visit: http://www.japansociety.org/event/the-body-the-native-land-butoh-african....

This event is free, open to the public, and will be broadcast live on April 24. All those interested in viewing this event online are requested to register via e-mail to A. Colin Raymond at araymon2@illinois.edu. Please include “Kota Yamazaki" in the subject line and your name and contact information in the body.

IJPAN is funded by the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership (http://www.cgp.org).