Loading Events
Jan 25 Wed
1:00pm
Free

From Bread to Money: Musicking, Labor and Work

lectures-symposia
Green Room

Lecture by Sonia Seeman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Of Ethnomusicology In Middle Eastern Studies
The University of Texas at Austin

Turkish Roman (“Gypsy”) musicians’ work has long been marked as a process that shapes one’s subjectivity, as encapsulated in the old adage “musicianship is the mold that shapes the bread” (müzisyenlik ekmek teknesidir). But since the latter 20th century, most musicians now quip, “musicianship is bread money” (müzisyenlik ekmek parasıdır) characterizing their work as “the struggle for bread” (ekmek davası). I argue that such semantic shifts reflect changes in craft systems, commodification and capital extraction that signify proliferating forms of alienating labor structures. Synthesized from 25 years of fieldwork this research draws from in-depth ethnographic co-witnessing, oral history and archival resources that explore over 100 years of musical labor and work practices among four Turkish Roman professional musician families. The questions raised in this study explore the productive work of creating musical expressions while responding to shifting political, economic and social structures. The narratives and experiences of these professional musician families invite conversations with philosophical and Marxist materialist perspectives of labor/work/craftsmanship, affect studies, theories of embodiment and cultural identity practices.

A graduate of UCLA’s Ethnomusicology Department, Dr. Sonia Tamar Seeman is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology in the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music where she holds active affiliations with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Center for Women and Gender Studies, and the Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies. She serves as the UT-Butler School of Music’s Bachelor of Arts Program Coordinator and UT’s Fulbright Program Advisor and Chair. Prof. Seeman's research focuses on the music of the Middle East and Southeastern Europe and has been working with Romani professional musicians since the mid-1980s. She has published articles, reviews, cd liner notes and lectured on Macedonian and Turkish Romani musicians, musical practices and issues of representation. Her monograph, “Sounding Roman: Representation and Performing Identity in Western Turkey” was published by Oxford University Press, 2019.

Part of the Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy Colloquium Series, this event is sponsored by The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Department of Ethnomusicology, with support from the Dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

This is a hybrid in-person and Zoom lecture. For the in-person lecture, please register via the blue Eventbrite button below; for Zoom, please register here: REGISTER VIA ZOOM

PARKING

Self-service parking is available at UCLA’s Parking Structure #2 for events in Schoenberg Music Building and the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center. Costs range from $1 for 20 minutes to $20 all day. Learn more about campus parking.

ACCESSIBILITY

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is eager to provide a variety of accommodations and services for access and communications. If you would like to request accommodations, please do so 10 days in advance of the event by emailing ADA@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu or calling (310) 825-0174.

PHOTOGRAPHY

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music welcomes visitors to take non‐flash, personal‐use photography except where noted. Share your images with us @UCLAalpert / #UCLAalpert on Twitter + Instagram + Facebook

FOOD & DRINK

Food and drink may not be carried into the theaters. Thank you!

Acknowledgment

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands). As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.

Oct 5 Thu
7:00pm
Free
talks
Ric'key Pageot's 'Classic Black'
Join pianist, music director, and Steinway Artist Ric’key Pageot performing and discussing his new educational initiative and documentary project “Classic Black” celebrating Black excellence in Classical music showcasing historically significant symphonic composers of African descent spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Montreal-born pianist, accordionist, producer, composer, music director and Steinway Artist Ric’key Pageot will
Lani Hall
Oct 18 Wed
1:00pm
Free
lectures-symposia
Nabil Ayers—His Life in the Sunshine: The Intersection of Music, Race, and Family
In 1971, a white, Jewish, former ballerina chose to have a child with the famous Black jazz musician Roy Ayers, fully expecting and agreeing to his absenteeism. Like Roy, Nabil became deeply involved in the music industry, first as a musician, and currently as the President of Beggars Group USA. The title of Nabil’s memoir
Lani Hall
Oct 21 Sat
12:00pm
Free
contemporary, jazz
Root Progressions - A Workshop with Gloria Cheng and star Jazz Composer-Improvisers
In partnership with Angel City Jazz, Piano Spheres, and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Grammy-winning faculty pianist Gloria Cheng launches her latest commissioning project: Root Progressions (named for a seminal jazz theory method). The intent is to bridge two genres steeped in experimentation and exploration—jazz and contemporary classical music—yet perennially divided by genre
Lani Hall
Oct 27 Fri
1:00pm
Free
lectures-symposia, world-music
Nexus: Ethnomusicology and Education
Alan P. Merriam once remarked on the presence of a few scattered teachers in SEM working at the cusp of ethnomusicology, and had referred to them as “sandbox ethnomusicologists.” More recently, there appears to be change of heart within the field of ethnomusicology that includes attention to (1) the musical agency of children (and as such, children as important contributors to the study of music in cultures and communities), (2) teachers as collaborators with ethnomusicologists in school and community work, and (3) research by ethnomusicologists and educators together on pedagogical approaches to the development of intercultural understanding in and through music. I offer observations of ethnomusicology’s evolving commitment, often through collaborative efforts with teachers, to understanding and activating on questions of music, education, and culture for learners of every age, experience, and circumstance.
Zoom
Oct 29 Sun
3:00pm
Free
classical
Second Annual Judith L. Smith Voice Recital Featuring Issachah Savage
Tenor Issachah Savage is the featured artist of the second annual Judith L. Smith Voice Recital Series, celebrating talented vocalists and the distinguished tenure of UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Founding Dean Judith Smith. Issachah will join us again on October 31st to hold a masterclass for students of the Department of Music.
Schoenberg Hall