Join us for a two-day celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive. The event will feature a symposium, workshops, and concerts. International, national, and local archivists, alumni, faculty, and community members will come together to explore the history and evolving role of ethnomusicological archives in preserving and sustaining musical traditions.
The event is also in celebration of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.
Saturday’s featured guest artists will be LA’s 33 Strings, who will lead a Japanese music workshop, and Kinnara Gagaku, who will present a gagaku concert. Kinnara Gagaku was taught for more than 35 years by Suenobu Togi, a former musician of the Japanese Imperial Court who directed UCLA Ethnomusicology’s Music of Japan Ensemble from 1961 to 1993. Professor Robert Garfias, who founded the Music of Japan Ensemble at UCLA in 1958, will introduce the concert.
Sunday’s featured guest artists will be Masanga Marimba, led by UCLA Ethnomusicology alumnus Dr. Ric Alviso. Masanga Marimba will lead both a workshop and the Sunday evening concert.
Established in 1961, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive is a world-renowned research archive dedicated to the study of musical traditions from around the globe. The Archive’s collection of more than 160,000 audio, video, print, and photographic items documents musical expressions throughout the world and includes unique field recordings as well as rare commercial recordings. As part of UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology, the Archive preserves and makes accessible over 60 years’ worth of audio and video recordings of the department’s famed concerts and also of lectures by legendary scholars and performers, ranging from Mantle Hood to Ravi Shankar to Dizzy Gillespie. In addition to preservation and access, the Archive offers a wide range of research, outreach, and educational services. From international scholars to local community members and UCLA students and faculty, the Archive is recognized locally and internationally as an important center of ethnomusicological research and discovery.
Sponsored by The UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.