Musicology Colloquium: "The Democracy That Society Allows: Sounds of Protests in Japan and the U.S."

Event Information
Event Date: 
February 21, 2020 - 5:00pm
Venue: 
Room 0359 (fishbowl), Music Building
Address: 
1114 W. Nevada St. Urbana, IL
Description: 

Musicology Colloquium:
Noriko Manabe, Temple University

The Democracy That Society Allows: Sounds of Protests in Japan and the U.S.

Perceived attacks on the foundations of democracy in recent years have sparked large demonstrations, often numbering in the hundreds of thousands, in both Japan and the U.S. This talk will explore the ways in which democracy is sounded differently in street protests of two densely populated cities—Tokyo and New York—as shaped by urban geography, outdoor acoustics, participatory practices, and perhaps most importantly, policing. Analyzing protests as an interplay between urban space, police, and actors, the talk considers the ways in which the sounds of street protests reflect the kind of democracy that society allows.

Noriko Manabe is Associate Professor of Music Studies at Temple University, with research interests in music in relation to social movements, war trauma, intertextual meaning, and linguistics. Her monograph, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Protest Music after Fukushima, considers the constraints faced by musicians in expressing political views and how music is shaped in protests in four different spaces—cyberspace, street demonstrations, festivals, and recordings. She is currently writing her second monograph, Revolution Remixed: Intertextuality in Protest Music, and co-editing the volumes, The Oxford Handbook of Protest Music (with Eric Drott) and Nuclear Music (with Jessica Schwartz), all under contract with Oxford. Recent publications include an article analyzing Kendrick Lamar on Music Theory Online, which won the Outstanding Publication Award from the Popular Music section of the Society for Music Theory, and on chants of the Trump Resistance in Music and Politics.

Sponsored by The School of Music / Musicology

Admission: 
free and open to the public
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Piper's Hut Concerts - The Jeremiahs

Event Information
Event Date: 
February 28, 2020 - 7:00pm
Venue: 
House Concert (email for more info)
Description: 

Piper's Hut Concerts
The Jeremiahs
House Concert

Piper's Hut Concerts starts it's 15th year of presenting with The Jeremiahs (http://thejeremiahs.ie), who combine traditional and contemporary sounds to create their own brand of Urban Folk music. Since founding in 2013 the quartet have trailblazed across Ireland, Europe and USA playing some of the top venues and Festivals.

Joe Gibney - Vocals

Joe, with his instantly recognisable timbre, offers a diverse repertoire of songs, from rousing sea shanties to emotional traditional songs of hardship, love and loss. His obvious passion and love for these songs, old and new, is plain to see and hear and will entrance and warm the heart of any music lover. A talented Dublin born singer with a melting pot of influences.

Jean-Christophe Morel - Fiddle

Born in Bordeaux, in France, Jean-Christophe has been playing classical music from the tender age of 4. His love affair with Irish traditional music began after he sat in at a session during his studies at the conservatoire of Bordeaux. A few years later, he went studying Irish traditional music in Dublin for a year where he met the band. He has since completed a Masters in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique & Danse of Lyon. His love and interest in all kinds of music and his experience in playing jazz and classical music influenced a lot his playing in Irish traditional music. The original project The Jeremiahs has been a great opportunity to develop his own style of playing and composing.

James Ryan - Guitar

Dublinese accompanist James has amassed a wealth of experience having already performed in over 14 different countries to date.
James’ draws on a wide a range of influences from different genres and traditions which is evident is his unique percussive backing style. As well as an established teacher James is also an experienced sound engineer having worked with a long list of talented and well respected musicians and singers in the studio.

Julien Bruneteau - Flutes

Julien hails from Bordeaux in France and began playing the flute at the age of 11. Under the wing and strong influence of great players such as Jean-Michel Veillon and Sylvain Barou, amongst others, Julien's wonderful style began to really flourish. While studying Jazz music at the Conservatoire of Agen and attending the prestigious Didier Lockwood school in Paris, Julien immersed himself in the works of great artists such as Chris Potter, Stéphane Guillaume and Benoît Sourisse. These factors, combined with the unabating presence in his life of Irish music, have shaped Julien into a flute player of great sensitivity with an amazing ability to improvise.

Admission: 
$20
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Jean René Balekita offers community classes at C4A

Jean René Balekita is offering community classes at C4A: Community Center for the Arts in downtown Urbana. On Thursdays from 7-8p Balekita leads an African Drumming Circle. On Tuesdays from 7-8:30p Balekita leads the Sikama Congolese-American Choir. Brief descriptions are listed below. Please visit http://c-4a.org/ for more information.

African Drumming Circle (February 6 to April 30, 2020)

Step Afrika!: Drumfolk

Event Information
Event Date: 
February 6, 2020 - 7:30pm
Venue: 
Colwell Playhouse, Krannert Center for the Perfoming Arts
Address: 
500 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL
Description: 

Step Afrika!, the first professional organization dedicated to the African-American tradition of stepping, has amazed Krannert Center audiences twice before with its lightning-fast footwork, percussive chants, and incredible synchronicity. Its newest creation, Drumfolk, celebrates the early development of African-American percussive traditions including patting juba, hambone, and ring shout—leading to art forms such as tap dance and, of course, stepping. While exploring this important heritage, Drumfolk reflects on the harsh conditions in the American South that coincided with the practice of these transcendent musical forms and how the fortitude of people who were enslaved enabled the birth of new, inspiring traditions such as spirituals, field hollers, and shouts.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Admission: 
Single: 25 / Senior 20 / Student 15 / UI student & YTH 10
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Step Afrika!: Drumfolk

Event Information
Event Date: 
February 7, 2020 - 7:30pm
Venue: 
Colwell Playhouse, Krannert Center for the Perfoming Arts
Address: 
500 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL
Description: 

Step Afrika!, the first professional organization dedicated to the African-American tradition of stepping, has amazed Krannert Center audiences twice before with its lightning-fast footwork, percussive chants, and incredible synchronicity. Its newest creation, Drumfolk, celebrates the early development of African-American percussive traditions including patting juba, hambone, and ring shout—leading to art forms such as tap dance and, of course, stepping. While exploring this important heritage, Drumfolk reflects on the harsh conditions in the American South that coincided with the practice of these transcendent musical forms and how the fortitude of people who were enslaved enabled the birth of new, inspiring traditions such as spirituals, field hollers, and shouts.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Admission: 
Single: 25 / Senior 20 / Student 15 / UI student & YTH 10
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“Pastures of Love and Mountains of Sacrifice. Pontic Parakathi Singing and the memory of violence.”

Event Information
Event Date: 
February 10, 2020 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Venue: 
109 English Building
Address: 
608 S. Wright St, Urbana
Description: 

Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies invites you to attend a workshop led by Dr. Ioannis Tsekouras (School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

“Pastures of Love and Mountains of Sacrifice: Pontic Parakathi Singing and the Memory of Violence.”

Tsekouras' research and teaching interests include issues of ethnicity, nationalism, and collective memory, musical affect and emotionality, the cultural objectification of the singing voice, issues of timbre, the relation between sound and natural environment, musical negotiations of community, music and politics, and in general the musical realities of Balkan, Southeastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East.

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Water, drought and song in the Kingdom of eSwatini - Cara Stacey

Event Information
Event Date: 
March 5, 2020 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Venue: 
Spurlock Museum
Address: 
600 S. Gregory St. Urbana, IL
Description: 

George A. Miller Visiting Scholar Cara Stacey will present a "Sensing Water" lecture titled “Water, drought and song in the Kingdom of eSwatini." This paper is part of Stacey's forthcoming book manuscript "eSwatini Music and Nationalism."

Abstract

This paper explores ideas surrounding water within the musical world of eSwatini in southern Africa. As a country plagued by severe and regular drought and as southern African moves permanently into a state of water stress, the research presented aims to understand how indigenous musical forms of expression have portrayed ideas relating to water. In eSwatini, water is intrinsically linked to cattle (and so, to wealth and prosperity), to ecology and rural life and, to domestic, cultural and commercial work, and to spiritualism. Within the rich world of Swazi religious and cultural belief, water is a key signifier of power, communication and change. The supreme god, Mvelinchanti, is closely associated with the animals and land of this kingdom, with the river pools, the sea and lightning being symbols of or homes to other notable spiritual and ancestral beings. In order to retain power, the bemanti (‘people of the water’) and belwandle (‘people of the sea’) are involved in water collection rites for the King (Kuper 1944).

These diverse meanings associated with water can be read in a variety of musical songs and genres. From regimental songs performed at the annual Incwala ceremony to makhweyane bow songs about courtship, rain, water, rivers and the sea perform a lyrical and relational function through these musics in this society. This paper investigates the forms these lyrical associations take on as local hydroscapes are drastically altered by environmental and climate flux.

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"Sensing Water" is a series of programs arranged by eco-musicologist Michael Silvers supported by the Presidential Initiative to Celebrate the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities at the University of Illinois.

Cara Stacey is a George A. Miller Visiting Scholar in residence at the Robert E. Brown Center for World Music from March 4 - 14.

Stacey's visit is co-sponsored in part by Spurlock Museum, School of Music, Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois, and the George A. Miller Programs Committee.

CARA STACEY - BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Cara Stacey is a South African musician, composer and researcher. She is a pianist and plays southern African musical bows (umrhubhe, uhadi, makhweyane). Cara holds a Masters in Musicology (Edinburgh), a MMus in Performance from SOAS (London). As a Commonwealth Scholar, she completed her PhD through the University of Cape Town and SOAS (London). Her doctoral research investigated practice and innovation in the music of the makhweyane musical bow in the Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). Cara is currently an ACLS African Humanities Programme postdoctoral fellow.

Beyond her solo performance and composition work, Cara collaborates with percussionist and drummer Sarathy Korwar in the project Pergola and is a member of the Night Light Collective. Her debut album 'Things that grow' features Shabaka Hutchings, Seb Rochford, Ruth Goller, and Crewdson (2015, Kit Records). Her latest album, 'Ceder', is of her duo project with Peruvian flutist and composer Camilo Ángeles (2018, Kit Records). Cara has performed across southern Africa, in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Peru, the USA and Switzerland with the likes of Shabaka Hutchings, Sarathy Korwar, Dan Leavers, Galina Juritz, Beat Keller, Matchume Zango, Jason Singh and Juliana Venter.

Cara is the founder of the Betwixt concert series with cellist Nicola du Toit. She sits on the executive committee for the South African Society for Research in Music and is the International Council for Traditional Music country liaison office for the kingdom of eSwatini. She is based between Johannesburg and Mbabane.

Admission: 
open to the public, admission free
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Gateways to World Music: Music Traditions of Southern Africa

Event Information
Event Date: 
March 7, 2020 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Venue: 
Spurlock Museum
Address: 
600 S. Gregory St. Urbana, IL
Description: 

Johannesburg-based scholar/artist Cara Stacey will present a lecture/performance introducing southern African instruments including the musical bows umrhubhe, uhadi, and makhweyane. This presentation will offer music demonstrations and insight on how these instruments function in society from historical and modern perspectives.

As a member of the International Council for Traditional Music representing eSwatini (Swaziland), and as acting coordinator of the Swaziland Traditional Music Association, Stacey’s presentation also includes unique perspectives of traditional music production, presentation and collaboration from Swaziland.

Cara Stacey is a George A. Miller Visiting Scholar in residence at the Robert E. Brown Center for World Music from March 4 - 14.

This lecture/performance is co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum and Illinois Art Council Agency. Stacey's visit is co-sponsored in part by School of Music, Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois, and the George A. Miller Programs Committee.

CARA STACEY - BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Cara Stacey is a South African musician, composer and researcher. She is a pianist and plays southern African musical bows (umrhubhe, uhadi, makhweyane). Cara holds a Masters in Musicology (Edinburgh), a MMus in Performance from SOAS (London). As a Commonwealth Scholar, she completed her PhD through the University of Cape Town and SOAS (London). Her doctoral research investigated practice and innovation in the music of the makhweyane musical bow in the Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). Cara is currently an ACLS African Humanities Programme postdoctoral fellow.

Beyond her solo performance and composition work, Cara collaborates with percussionist and drummer Sarathy Korwar in the project Pergola and is a member of the Night Light Collective. Her debut album 'Things that grow' features Shabaka Hutchings, Seb Rochford, Ruth Goller, and Crewdson (2015, Kit Records). Her latest album, 'Ceder', is of her duo project with Peruvian flutist and composer Camilo Ángeles (2018, Kit Records). Cara has performed across southern Africa, in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Peru, the USA and Switzerland with the likes of Shabaka Hutchings, Sarathy Korwar, Dan Leavers, Galina Juritz, Beat Keller, Matchume Zango, Jason Singh and Juliana Venter.

Cara is the founder of the Betwixt concert series with cellist Nicola du Toit. She sits on the executive committee for the South African Society for Research in Music and is the International Council for Traditional Music country liaison office for the kingdom of eSwatini. She is based between Johannesburg and Mbabane.

http://www.carastacey.com/

Admission: 
open to the public, admission free
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Champaign-Urbana’s Women’s Slavic Choir seeking members

Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Caucuses have a rich, ancient, and distinct folk music tradition. A local group is building a Slavic choir right here in Central Illinois. If you're interested in singing music from this area, please reach out to the new Slavic choir! Familiarity with Slavic languages not necessary. Prior singing experience preferred. To learn more or come to a rehearsal, contact us at 217-722-4610 or kfloess@gmail.com

Cancelled - Balinese Gamelan Concert

Event Information
Event Date: 
May 2, 2020 - 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Venue: 
Music Building Auditorium
Address: 
1114 W. Nevada Street
Description: 

End of semester concert featuring Balinese Gamelan ensembles under the direction of I Ketut Gede Asnawa.

New and traditional works will be performed by the UIUC Student Ensemble and Community Gamelan.

Balinese dance under the direction of Putu Oka Mardiani Asnawa will also be featured in this program.

The performance is open to the public and admission is free.

Admission: 
free admission
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