The Bachelor of Arts in Ethnomusicology explores the rich variety of musical expressions throughout the world by combining hands-on musical experiences with academic study. Students have the opportunity to take courses that cover the music of virtually every region of the world and of many ethnic groups in the U.S., as well as courses on popular music and film music. The courses combine an interest in music as an art form with questions about how musical art and practice relate to other aspects of culture, society, politics, and economics. Additionally, students take advantage of the department’s one-of-a-kind world musical instrument collection and expert performance faculty to study the performance of musical traditions from around the globe.
Ethnomusicology
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Guest Artists & Scholars Offer Students Unique Insights from the City of Angels
A stream of high-profile artists and scholars from around the world have energized and inspired our students, helping to transform their educational experience. Among them are J.H. Kwabena Nketia, considered Africa’s premier musicologist-ethnomusicologist; Akin Euba, a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist; MacArthur Fellow Steven Feld, an American ethnomusicologist, anthropologist, and linguist, who worked for many years with the Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea; Judith Becker, professor emerita of ethnomusicology, University of Michigan; Mark Slobin, the author or editor of books on Afghanistan and Central Asia, eastern European Jewish music, film music, and ethnomusicology theory; Chano Dominguez, award-winning Spanish-born pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and Hossein Omoumi, a scholar and teacher of Persian traditional music, among others.
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Time for the Spring Festival of World Music
It's time for the annual Spring Festival of World Music. Travel the globe with us!
Doctoral Student Breana McCullough Connects Baroque Music and Native American Voices
McCullough has been an apprentice with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado in 2022-23. She collaborated with the orchestra on their winter concert, re-envisioning a French carol to elevate indigenous perspectives.
An Unconventional Genius: Martha Gonzalez (Ethnomusicology, 1999)
Martha Gonzalez has done it all. She completed a dissertation, won a Grammy, published a book, teaches at a top liberal arts college, and was awarded a 2022 MacArthur "genius" grant.
Prominent Advocate for Musical Sustainability to Deliver Regents' Lecture
Musician, scholar, and leading arts director Huib Schippers brings his wealth of experience to UCLA when he delivers the UC Regents’ Lecture as part of his Fall 2022 appointment as Regents’ Professor in the ethnomusicology department of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The lecture, titled “Sound Futures: Why Some Music Practices Thrive, Many
UCLA Ethnomusicology Professor Named Bakë-Jairazbhoy Chair for Indian Ocean Studies
Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, has been appointed the inaugural holder of the Bakë-Jairazbhoy Chair for Indian Ocean Studies at the Pocker Sahib Memorial Orphanage College (PSMO), an affiliate with Calicut University in Kerala, India. The chair was created for the specific purpose of recovering and
Countering Anti-Asian Stereotyping on Stage and Screen
The subject of Asian representation in popular media is a pressing question. While the historical roots of negative Asian stereotyping in America extend back for more than a century and a half, the more recent strife in American politics has been accompanied by an alarming rise of Anti-Asian violence. “We wanted to talk about why
Jun 2 Fri
7:00pm
Free
Free
world-music
Music of Turkey Ensemble and Music of Mexico Ensemble The Music of Turkey Ensemble and Music of Mexico Ensemble showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage.
Schoenberg Hall
Jun 3 Sat
7:00pm
Free
Free
world-music
Music of Java, Thailand, and Korea Ensembles The Music of Java, Thailand, and Korea Ensembles showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage.
Schoenberg Hall
Jun 4 Sun
7:00pm
Free
Free
world-music
Music of China Ensemble, Music and Dance of Ghana Ensemble, and Sphere Project Performance The Music of China Ensemble and the Music and Dance of Ghana Ensembles showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage. The Sphere Project features the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA in original compositions incorporating musicians from various world traditions.
Schoenberg Hall
Ethnomusicology Resources
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The study of global musical traditions through performance training, research, and field work
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