Olivia DrakeMark Slobin, professor of music, is the author of Folk Music: A Very Short Introduction, published by Oxford University Press, 2010. According to the publisher, "This is the first compact introduction to folk music that offers a truly global perspective. Slobin offers an extraordinarily generous portrait of folk music, one that embraces a Russian wedding near the Arctic Circle, a group song in a small rainforest village in Brazil, and an Uzbek dance tune in Afghanistan. He looks in detail at three poignant songs from three widely separated regions--northern Afghanistan, Jewish Eastern Europe, and the Anglo-American world--with musical notation and lyrics included.…
Eric GershonPost-Classical Ensemble, the Washington, D.C.-based orchestra co-founded by Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Wesleyan’s director of orchestra studies, has been awarded $200,000 by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The ensemble plans to use the money for programming and touring programs through the 2012-2013 season, as well as a DVD. At Wesleyan, Gil-Ordóñez is director of private lessons, chamber music and ensembles, music director of the Wesleyan Orchestra and Wesleyan Concert Choir, and adjunct professor of music. Founded in 2003, the ensemble specializes in thematic programming involving film, theater, dance and vernacular music.
Wesleyan's Music Department held a Student Steelband Concert Dec. 9 in Usdan University Center. Eric Charry, associate professor of music, directs the Trinidadian steelband and class. [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei05GzyB5iw[/youtube] (more…)
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Anthony Braxton, professor of music was honored at the “Tri-Centric Modeling: Past, Present and Future” benefit concerts June 18-19 in Greenwich Village and Brooklyn, N.Y. Braxton joined the performance at points, playing with his former students Taylor Ho Bynum ’98, James Fei ’99, Mary Halvorson ’02, and Chris Jonas '99. Proceeds from the concerts benefited the nonprofit Tri-Centric Foundation, set up to archive Braxton’s work and perpetuate his exuberant legacy. Braxton performed excerpts from his new opera, “Trillium E," which featured a cross-section of past and present collaborators, including pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Gerry Hemingway and cornetist Ho Bynum. In…