Global Music
Cultures

The MA/PhD in Ethnomusicology investigates music in cultural and social contexts. In preparing students for careers in studying global music communities, our program assists students in understanding music as social practice from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Students are introduced to the intellectual history of the field and its paradigmatic shifts, and research methodology in preparation for ethnographic fieldwork. Our ethnomusicology program seeks to prepare students for careers in the academy, public sector, the music industry, and/or cultural heritage policy-making. We also offer seminars in select global music cultures as well as topics, which examine music as related to gender, politics, religion, economics, philosophy, aesthetics, and musical practice.

Please join us for a concert and performance of Khon (masked dance drama) celebrating the 190th anniversary of Thailand-U.S. diplomatic relations on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, AT 7:00 PM in Schoenberg Hall.
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A group of 18 musicians from the Thai Music Division of the Fine Arts Department, Bangkok, Thailand, will be visiting UCLA on December 9th. In this event, concert-goers will have the opportunity to participate in a special workshop conducted by a group of royal musicians from Thailand and a performance of Khon!
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This event will also be live-streamed on the School of Music Livestream channel.
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More information: https://uclamusic.info/3RhM1qf
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #thai #thailand #thaimusic #worldmusic #ethnomusicology
Please join the UCLA Chinese Music Ensemble for their fall concert on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, AT 5:00 PM in Schoenberg Hall!
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The UCLA Chinese Music Ensemble, directed by Chi Li, performs its annual Fall concert featuring traditional and contemporary music, including Chinese opera aria, zheng unison, qin unison, folk dance, and silk-and-bamboo music.
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This event will also be live-streamed on the School of Music Livestream channel.
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More information, link in bio. 
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #ethnomusicology #musicofchina #china #chinesemusic
Please join Professor Patricia Campbell for the World Music Center Distinguished Scholar Series on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 AT 1:00 PM over Zoom. 
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A lecture entitled “Nexus: Ethnomusicology and Education” by Patricia Campbell, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, will focus on her observations in the ethnomusicology field - how the field has evolved and how ethnomusicology has found itself within education. 
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More information and Zoom registration link in our bio. 
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #ethnomusicology #education
Please join The Anirudh Varma Collective in concert on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15TH, AT 4:00 PM in Lani Hall!
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The Anirudh Varma Collective (AVC) is a contemporary Indian classical ensemble from New Delhi, India. Their goal is to bring the rich tradition of Indian Classical music to a broader global audience through convergence with diverse genres.
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This event will also be live-streamed on the School of Music Livestream channel.
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More information, link in bio. 
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #ethnomusicology #concert
We are proud to present our Iranian music series! This series consists of three events - two panel discussions and a concert celebrating Iranian music. All are welcome! 
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May 19th, 1:00 pm, Lani Hall | Panel Discussion | Exploring the influence of Persian music and instruments in composition 
May 21st, 8:00 pm, Schoenberg Hall | Concert | Diār
May 22nd, 3:00 pm, Green Room | Panel Discussion | Approaching Composition from a non-Eurocentric perspective 
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #iranianmusic #concert #worldmusic #ethnomusicology
Please join us on Friday, April 21st, at 2:30 pm at the Choral Room for a cello master class with Sunny Yang! 
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Sunny Yang is a versatile cellist and committed educator, and has collaborated with many of the world’s most accomplished composers and performers.  In this masterclass, UCLA students will perform contemporary and classical works for Yang’s instruction. 
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #musicology #ethnomusicology #education
Please join us on Wednesday, February 22nd, 1:00 pm over zoom for a lecture by Laith Ulaby, Director of Insights at Webflow! 
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In this lecture, Laith Ulaby will talk about his experiences applying ethnographic approaches to the worlds of technology and beyond. He will discuss how to translate and transfer academic skills into new domains and explore some of the common pitfalls.
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Zoom reservation link in bio! 
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#ucla #music #thisisUCLAmusic #uclaalpert #lecture #technology #ethnomusicology
Nine years ago, the Armenian Music Program was started with a single student ensemble-in-residence. @UCLAalpert is thrilled to present the second annual Day of Armenian Music at UCLA on Tuesday, May 31st beginning at 12 PM to explore the depth and breadth of the Armenian Music Program. 🇩đŸ‡Č

This celebration of Armenian Music includes a concert in Schoenberg Hall featuring the UCLA VEM Ensemble, the UCLA Armenian Music Ensemble and world-renowned guest artists, including folk singer Hasmik Harutyunyan (@hasmikharutyunyanofficial) and jazz pianist Vardan Ovsepian (@vardanovsepianmusic). đŸŽ¶

A culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of ambitious work in programming, community outreach and global touring, join us in celebration of all this artistry and history. After the workshops, concertgoers are invited to reunite outside Schoenberg Hall for a communal dance class 💃 and book fair 📚. 
 
To learn more, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž
#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #ArmenianMusic
Join us on Friday, April 8 at 11 AM for a screening of “Āvānegār”, a collaborative documentary narrated by Dr. Mohsen Mohammadi, the Director of Indo-Persian Music at UCLA, as he explores the history of transcription of Iranian music 📜, based on decades of research in various archives in Iran, Europe, and the United States. The screening event will include a Panel Discussion featuring @UCLAalpert faculty members Richard Danielpour and  Mohsen Mohammadi (@mohammadigram) moderated by Dr. Shahab Paranj 💙💛

Rare historical documents and sources are presented in the film, and several historical notations of Iranian music are performed.  Exclusively for the film Professor of Composition at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Reza Vali, arranged a five-movement piece that is performed by an ensemble of notable American musicians. Moreover, several prominent Iranian musicians are featured, including Navid Afghah (@navid_afghah), Ali Bahramifard (ali _bahramifard), Kazem Davoudian (@kazem.davoudian), Siroos Jamali, Siamak Jahangiri, Layla Ramezan (@laylaramezan), and Behzad Ravaqi (@behzadravaqi). 

This film is dedicated to the memory of Mohammad-Taghi Massoudieh (1927–1999), whose publications are invaluable and incomparable sources for researchers, musicians, composers, and all who are interested in Iranian music. đŸŽ¶

To learn more about the screening and the panelists, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž. 

#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #Composition #MusicTheory
We are proud to congratulate 🎉 the eight faculty and student music projects at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music that have received grants from the UCLA Library’s Hugo and Christine Davise Fund for Contemporary Music to support both creative and scholarly endeavors. 📚

The program, which is administered by the UCLA Music Library, chose projects for their potential to advance the field of contemporary music which span a range of departments and programs, from performance to composition to ethnomusicology, and include commissions, performances, recordings, residencies and a scholarly symposium. 

“Because of Hugo and Christine Davise’s legacy of generosity and the leadership of the UCLA Music Library, we are able to continue to explore and expand the wonderful creative possibilities for contemporary music in all of its diverse genres and applications,” said Eileen Strempel, inaugural dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. “This is an exciting alignment with the Herb Alpert School of Music’s mission that centers on the integration of scholarship and practice.” đŸŽ”

We can’t wait to celebrate all the music faculty and student projects to come from this generous grant! 😍 💙💛

To learn more about the projects, the recipients, and the UCLA Library, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.
@uclalibrary | #ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #Music #UCLA #UCLALibrary #Scholarship #Grant #Research 

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@lmoh000
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We are proud to highlight the accomplishments of Professor of Ethnomusicology Cheryl Keyes who has authored a prize-winning book on the ethnography of Hip Hop and Rap, produced two award-winning albums on her own record label, and is currently chairing UCLA’s Department of African American Studies (@ucla_afam). 📚

In 2021, Keyes made headlines as one of ten members of an executive committee that selected music for the @Smithsonian Museum’s long-awaited "Smithsonian Anthology of Hip Hop and Rap". Keyes was the lone woman academic selected for the committee, sharing space with industry luminaries the likes of 9th Wonder (@9thwonder) and Chuck D (@mrchuckd_pe) of Public Enemy (@publicenemy). 

She was selected over some who had written scholarly books on Hip Hop, but the Smithsonian’s choice of Dr. Keyes was a natural one. It was Keyes, after all, who undertook groundbreaking ethnographic field research in the 1980s, at a time when the genre was well out of the mainstream and dismissed as unworthy of serious study. 

To learn more about Cheryl Keyes and her amazing work, click the link in our bio. âŹ†ïž

#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #HipHop #Rap #Smithsonian
“Mariachi music is such a lively type of music. When you play in person, you really feel the emotions. You really feel all the energy.” - Saveena Patel (@saveenapatel) Ethnomusicology 23’ and member of @UCLAAlpert’s Mariachi de Uclatlán ensemble.

After months of online rehearsals, the student performers of the Mariachi de UclatlĂĄn (@uclatlan) are excited to be returning to in-person learning. In an article by the Daily Bruin (@dailybruin), students described their experience learning in a remote setting and what they are looking forward to in-person. Members of the group are preparing to focus on smaller details of a performance in a physical space and are ready to take their performances to the next level. đŸŽșđŸŽ»

“A pandemic like COVID, it’s not going to stamp (mariachi) out,” Skye Hoffman, violinist in the ensemble and design media arts student said. “Because it’s folk music, it speaks to the soul. And as long as people have souls, there’s going to be mariachi.”

We are thrilled to have the UCLA Mariachi de UclatlĂĄn ensemble back on campus as part of our musical community! đŸŽ”

To read the full article and learn more, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.

#ThisisUCLAMusic #Music #Mariachi #Ethnomusicology
Join us as we honor Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology A.J. Racy as he retires from @UCLAAlpert following a 40+ year career of teaching, performance and research in a special virtual reception celebrating his many accomplishments on Wednesday, June 30 at 5 p.m. PT. ⠀
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“The things I will miss most after retirement include the peaceful ambiance of the UCLA campus, the guest lectures on various related topics and world music performances at university venues,” said Professor Racy. “I will also miss many colleagues and staff, as well as the undergraduate and graduate students with whom I have worked.⠀
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We will miss Professor Racy and thank him for being an integral part of our UCLA community! 💛 💙 ⠀
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In honor of his expansive career and dedication to student success, the School of Music has established the A.J. Racy Scholarship in Ethnomusicology to support graduate and undergraduate scholars in their studies. ⠀
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To learn more and to attend his upcoming reception, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.⠀
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#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology
At @UCLAalpert’s 2021 virtual commencement celebration 🎉 students from the departments of music, ethnomusicology and global jazz studies joined forces for a breathtaking performance of “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free” by Nina Simone and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” by Stevie Wonder.

We hope you enjoy this inspiring rendition of both tracks by our School of Music students. 

#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #GlobalJazz #Music #MusicIndustry #Musicology #Graduation2021
Join us Wednesday, June 2 at 12 p.m. PT for the third installment of the Musics from Around the World: Southern California Composers in Concert series, which is part of UCLA World Music Center‘s yearlong celebration of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive‘s 60th anniversary.

@UCLAalpert is proud to highlight Daniel Ho (@daniel_ho_creations), a six-time GRAMMY Award winner, eleven-time GRAMMY Award nominee, six-time Taiwanese Golden Melody Award winner, and recipient of multiple Hawaiian Music awards as he presents a virtual concert of his compositions. 

Ho is a ‘ukulele virtuoso, slack key guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, producer, audio engineer and record company owner. As an artist and clinician, Ho performs throughout the U.S. and internationally. In pursuit of new musical adventures, he is the designer of the Romero Creations (@romerocreations) Tiny Tenor ‘ukulele, and the Ohana Bongolele and Shakerlele and his custom-designed six-string ‘ukulele is on exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum (@grammymuseum) in Los Angeles.

Learn more and RSVP via the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.

#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #GrammyMuseum #UCLALibrary
Explore the music that is inside of you this summer with Professor of Ethnomusicology, Dr. Diane White-Clayton (@dianewhiteclayton), in her course “African American Music,” offered in Summer Session A from June 21-July 30.

Students will study and perform the music of African American sacred traditions, including gospel, spirituals and hymns.

Summer Courses are open to high school students as well as musicians and scholars of any skill level. Study with expert instructors as you expand upon your current skill set or follow your curiosity to explore something new.

To learn more, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.

#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #BlackMusic
We are pleased to announce that Ethnomusicology faculty member, Supeena Adler (@supeenainseedler) and Music Education faculty member, Lily Chen-Hafteck at @UCLAalpert, will receive research grants from the UCLA Chancellor’s Council on the Arts and the university’s Office of Research and Creative Activities. 🎉 This year, funding was awarded to 12 faculty members to advance relevant arts and humanities research.⠀
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Adler will research a unique folk tradition of Northeast Thailand đŸ‡č🇭 and acquire related instruments and costumes to incorporate into her Music of Thailand Ensemble course. Exploring music education and prejudice, Chen-Hafteck will investigate how Los Angeles elementary school students may benefit from learning the music and cultures of their fellow classmates, allowing for the appreciation of differences while reducing racial biases. đŸŽ”â €
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Additionally, the Ethnomusicology Archive and UCLA Library (@uclalibrary) have received funding to co-host a large-scale exhibition of Black music in Los Angeles that will feature familiar names and stories of musicians who have been excluded from the narrative of Los Angeles music making. 📚⠀
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“These research grants recognize the arts as essential to our lives,” said Eileen Strempel (@uclamusicdean), inaugural dean and chair of the UCLA Chancellor’s Council on the Arts. “The arts inspire innovation and creativity as they break down barriers to build empathy and understanding.”⠀
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We look forward to seeing how this funding will contribute to advancing the role of the arts as a vital part of the UCLA experience.💙⠀
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To read the full UCLA Newsroom article, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.⠀
#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #Giving
Join the UCLA Film & TV archive (@uclaftvarchive) Thursday, May 6, at 4 PM PT for a free virtual screening of the Los Angeles-based TV đŸ“ș music program “Frankly Jazz” from 1962 hosted and co-produced by noted disc jockey Frank EvansđŸŽ·, who was known for his laid-back cool and trademark sign-off, “later.” The Archive presents three episodes of this obscure local music TV series, as preserved from recently acquired, original master videotapes featuring legendary artists such as Gerald Wilson, the Jazz Crusaders and Sammy Davis Jr.⠀
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Introducing the performances will be jazz musician, educator, and @UCLAalpert Ethnomusicology alumnus, Ray Briggs Ph.D., ‘02, Jazz Studies Department Chair for the Pasadena Conservatory of Music (@pasadenaconservatoryofmusic), and Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at California State University, Long Beach (@csulb_bccm), where he teaches courses in jazz history and ethnomusicology.📚⠀
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To learn more and RSVP for this event, click the link in our bio âŹ†ïž.⠀
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#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology #Alumni
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Student Perspectives:<br />
David Castañeda
Student Perspectives:
David Castañeda

“I enjoyed the connections that I made with my colleagues who have now become family, seeing my approach as a researcher develop substantially in such a short amount of time, and most of all the opportunity to grow as an instructor and educator.” – David Castañeda Ph.D. ’21 |  Ethnomusicology

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.

Dominguez-Chano-by-Jordi-Sunol Chano Dominguez (Photo: Jordi-Sunol) Chano Dominguez (Photo: Jordi Sunol)
Khon: Thai Masked Dance and Music
Organized by Supeena Adler, this monumental concert brought together internationally acclaimed Thai musicians and dancers with UCLA students and the greater UCLA community.
Music Alive in the Archive: An Exploration of Kulintang Music in the Danongan Kalanduyan
The Ethnomusicology Archive holds one of the world’s great collections of audio and video recordings documenting kulingang gong music and dance around the world. They are now freely accessible to the public on the California Revealed website. Archivist Maureen Russell documented the celebration of the collection’s launch for Ethnomusicology Review.
Freedom First to Feature Student Composition
On Friday, October 6, Schoenberg Hall will witness a special event. A concert for Keith LaMar will feature legendary jazz musicians Salim Washington and multi-Grammy Award winner Arturo O’Farrill. The concert benefits LaMar, currently on death row in Ohio, having been falsely convicted of murder in the aftermath of the 1993 Lucasville Prison uprising. *
Ethnomusicology Student Lauded by Kennedy Center
Isabel Folkers was only four when she unwittingly chanced upon her career trajectory. The occasion was a house party at the home of an Irish family. The band had finished for the night and they were breaking down their equipment. The young Isabel Folkers jumped up on the makeshift stage and took hold of the
For 2023 Undergraduate Student Commencement Speaker, Community is Key
When Yeremiya Wright arrived at UCLA in the Fall of 2019 as a first-year student, he was unaware that a global pandemic was literally right around the corner. Nor was anyone aware of what was in store. “I went home to New Jersey in the Spring quarter of 2020 thinking I would be coming back
Time for the Spring Festival of World Music
It's time for the annual Spring Festival of World Music. Travel the globe with us!
Apr 19 Fri
6:00pm
Free
world-music
‘The Living Legacy Project – Akha Oral Tradition School’ Imparting Ancestral Songs, Stories, and Ceremonies to Akha Youth
Welcome to Ban Saen Suk in the mountains of Northern Thailand, where each week twenty-two Akha boys and girls are inspired by six Master Akha Musicians who impart the ancestral songs, instruments, stories, and instrument craftsmanship they learned as children from their families.
Zoom
Apr 24 Wed
1:00pm
Free
lectures-symposia
Unearthing Sounds from the Archive: Joseph Lenherr’s Field Recordings of Indigenous Music of Taiwan
By examining the fieldnotes and content of twenty-six audiotape reels, this talk provides an overview of the Joseph Lenherr Collection of Taiwanese music at the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive.
Room B544
May 17 Fri
7:00pm
Free
world-music
Spring Festival of World Music 2024: Concert 1
Continuing a tradition begun in 1960, the Department of Ethnomusicology draws on its incredible collection of world musical instruments to present its annual Spring Festival of World Music.
Schoenberg Hall

Explore Other Degrees

Conducting
Graduate study and training in choral, orchestral, or wind conducting
Ethnomusicology
The study of global musical traditions through performance training, research, and field work
Global Jazz Studies
Jazz performance and musicianship courses are paired with African American Studies
BA
Music Composition
Mentorship in the creation and realization of music for concerts, opera, and visual media
Music Education
Preparation for music educators leading to a BA and teaching credential in just four years
BA
Music Industry
A leadership-focused professional degree which prepares students to transform the creative, entrepreneurial, and executive structures of the music industry
Musicology
The scholarly study of the histories, cultures, and critical interpretations of music and music-making
Music Performance
Study and training towards professional performance careers in Western classical music