Mark Deutsch is a visionary artist with a background in nonlinear mathematics, sacred systems, and cosmology. As a classically trained bassist and sitar player, he pursued the creation of a new instrument – the Bazantar – a six-string acoustic bass fitted with an additional twenty-nine sympathetic strings and four drone strings. The result is a remarkable instrument that weaves a mesmerizing soundscape of resonance, and evokes all the power of Western classical music with the depth and nuance of Eastern traditions. Co-sponsored by Unit One / Allen Hall.

The Gateways to World Music Series is supported by School of Music and College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois.

Veretski Pass features Cookie Segelstein (violin), Joshua Horowitz (chromatic button accordion) and Stuart Brotman (bass) performing music from the Carpathian Bow. Together they offer a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world. With colorful instrumentation, unique arrangements and compositions, Veretski Pass plays "Old Country" music; music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. Co-sponsored by C-U Folk and Roots Festival; Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation Endowment Fund of the C-U Jewish Federation; Hillel at the University of Illinois; Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center and Program in Jewish Culture and Society, UIUC.

The Gateways to World Music Series is supported by School of Music and College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois.

David Chiriboga is a full-time professional Flamenco guitarist based in Chicago. David’s style was nurtured in Andalusia in studies with prominent guitarists Paco Serrano, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Emilio Maya, and Antonio Heredia. He received his degree in Music Performance at Northeastern Illinois University under the instruction of Dr. Brian Torosian. David plays with Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Company, Guitarra Azul and
Flamenco Cuadro El Payo, which have toured in the USA, Spain and Mexico. Co-sponsored by George A. Miller Programs Committee.

The Gateways to World Music Series is supported by School of Music and College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois.

Sean Gaskell features traditional songs on the Kora, a 21 string harp that he learned how to play throughout the course of multiple visits to its homeland in Gambia, West Africa. Gaskell has studied extensively under the instruction of Malamini Jobarteh and Moriba Kuyateh, both of Brikama, Gambia. He has been featured at a number of music festivals in the US, Gambia, and Senegal. Co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum with support from the Illinois Arts Council.

The Gateways to World Music Series is supported by School of Music and College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois.

My Musical Journey: A Lecture by Malian Musician Cheick Hamala Diabate

Cheick (pronounced "shake"), is a West African historian in the Griot tradition, and a world-recognized master of the ngoni, a Malian traditional instrument. A sought after performer, lecturer, storyteller and choreographer throughout Africa, Europe, Asia and Canada, Cheick Hamala began touring in the U.S. in 1995. His performances have been featured at such notable venues as The Smithsonian Institute, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest and many of the top festivals across the U.S.

A steward of the 800 year-old tradition of the Griot, the storytellers of West Africa, Cheick Hamala shares the oral history, music and song of his culture as it was passed on to him from birth by parent to child. At an early age, Cheick Hamala easily mastered the ngoni, a stringed lute and ancestor to the banjo. He later learned to play the guitar from his uncle, legendary Super Rail Band guitarist Djelimady Tounkara.

Now residing in Washington, DC, Cheick Hamala works with notable traditional African dance companies, serving as instructor, choreographer and performer. He also performs solo and with his ensemble playing traditional Manding Griot instruments. With the release of his most recent album, Ake Doni Doni – Take it Slow, Cheick Hamala has successfully fused the traditional rhythms and vocals of his ancestors with the more electric, American sounds he has absorbed over the past decade living in the US, including guest appearances by celebrated bluesman and good friend Corey Harris.

Co-sponsored by Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and Robert E. Brown Center for World Music.

The Robert E. Brown Center for World Music offers community members the opportunity to learn and play traditional Balinese Gamelan music under the direction of I Ketut Gede Asnawa, a master gamelan musician and composer at the University of Illinois. A gamelan is an orchestra consisting mainly of keyed metallophones, gongs, and drums, often functioning as accompaniment to dance, dramas, and other Balinese performance arts.

Our Monday evening classes run from 6pm to 8pm in Room 0300 at the School of Music, 1114 W. Nevada Street. Community gamelan is open to all, free of charge, with no prior experience required. No credit is offered. There is no need for registration, but participants who join the ensemble should understand that regular attendance is expected in order to enjoy making music in an orchestra dependent upon the contribution of every player.

Community Gamelan members will be asked to perform at our end of semester concert on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at 2pm.

Diabate leads a six-member ensemble in the tradition of his West African griot roots, merged with a wide range of musical styles he has embraced in the United States. A virtuoso of the traditional griot instrument n’goni, Diabate unites this animal-skin-covered string instrument with its American descendent, the banjo—along with the guitar and numerous other instruments played by the ensemble—to create a lively, joyous musical experience sure to have you moving to the beat!