On June 4, 2009, CTMD will hold its Annual Benefit Dinner & Dance Party. This year's theme is A Night In Istanbul, and we're delighted to honor the renowned Bulgarian Roma saxophonist Yuri Yunakov, who will also perform at the event with his ensemble.

CTMD presented Yunakov for the first time at our 1989 Queens Ethnic Music and Dance Festival when he performed with Ivo Papasov's legendary Trakija ensemble - their first U.S. appearance. After Yunakov immigrated to the U.S. in 1994, CTMD has continued to bring his artistry to audiences throughout North America as part of our Touring Artists program.

A Night in Istanbul will also honor Kathleen Pavlick, long-time friend and funder of CTMD, Dr. Guillermo Linares, NYC Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, and Kate Hughes Rinzler, a dedicated supporter who served on CTMD's Board for many years, as did her late husband Ralph Rinzler.

A Night in Istanbul will be held at Turkuaz (2637 Broadway at 100th St. in Manhattan) from 6:30PM - 10:00PM. Tickets for the event are $200, with tables available at the $2500, $5000 and $10,000 levels. For more information about the event and to purchase tickets click here.

Pete Rushefsky and Ethel Raim recently interviewed Yunakov and file the following report:

Thursday, June 4: Save the date for A Night in Istanbul, CTMD's 2009 Benefit. At Turkuaz, 2637 Broadway at 100th St., Manhattan. Honoring long-time friend and funder of CTMD Kathleen Pavlick, CTMD supporter and Board Member Emeritus Kate Hughes Rinzler, NYC Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, Guillermo Linares, and the renowned Bulgarian Roma saxophonist Yuri Yunakov. Includes cocktails, family-style dinner, and dancing to live music. For information about tickets, tables or sponsorship opportunities, click or contact Pete Rushefsky at 212-571-1555, ext. 36 or prushefsky@ctmd.org. (6:30PM-10:00PM)

Thursday, May 28: NYC Barn Dance at Hungarian House, 213 E. 82nd St. (btwn. 2nd and 3rd). The monthly dance party features instruction and live music for a range of Anglo-American traditional dance styles. This week featuring North Carolina traditions with Phil Jamison & Rhys Jones. Beginners ages 18 and up welcome, no partner necessary. $15 general admission, $13 for students & seniors. For more information go to the NYC Barn Dance website. (8:00PM-11:00PM, with instruction for beginners starting at 7:45PM)

Saturday, June 6: Pachamama Peruvian Arts students perform for the Latin American Parents Association's (LAPA) "Latin Culture Night" in Floral Park, Long Island. LAPA is a non-profit committed to assisting those who seek to adopt children from Latin America. The annual "Latin Culture Night" brings together parents and children for a family event that celebrates the diversity of Latino culture. For more information about LAPA go to their website.

Wednesday, June 10: CTMD Touring Artist Abdoulaye Diabate performs as part of the Muslim Voices, Arts & Ideas Festival at the Asia Society's Rose Conference Hall, 725 Park Ave (at 70th St). For more information go to the Festival's website. (7:30PM)

Thursday, June 11: NYC Barn Dance at Hungarian House, 213 E. 82nd St. (btwn. 2nd and 3rd). The monthly dance party features instruction and live music for a range of Anglo-American traditional dance styles. This week featuring North Carolina traditions with Phil Jamison & Rhys Jones. Beginners ages 18 and up welcome, no partner necessary. $15 general admission, $13 for students & seniors. This week featuring Cape Breton dance with Andrea Beaton and Christine Morrison. For more information go to the NYC Barn Dance website. (8:00PM-11:00PM, with instruction for beginners starting at 7:45PM)

Saturday, June 13: June Wedding: An Evening of Traditional Ukrainian Wedding Songs featuring Nadia Tarnawsky and Ukrainian Women's Voices. Women interested in performing at the concert and participating in a series of workshops with Tarnawsky should contact Eileen Condon at 212-571-1555, ext. 35 or econdon@ctmd.org. At the Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street (bet. 2nd and 3rd Aves.) in Manhattan's East Village. (7PM)

Friday, June 26th: Pachamama Peruvian Arts presents the 2009 Student Concert and Graduation. This event will feature the PPA students with their master teachers performing the traditional forms they have studied since February, and will take place at PS 212 in Queens, located at 34-25 82nd Street, Jackson Heights - take the 7 local train to 82nd Street and walk to 3 blocks north. Program will feature dances such as marinera Norteņa and tuntuna (the processional dance performed for the Virgen de la Candelaria and at the carnivals of Puno), as well as Afro-Peruvian percussion and traditional songs. (7:30PM)

Pachamama Peruvian Arts is having an active spring calendar. Instructors Hector Morales and Marcos Napa recently led six students in joining a cross-cultural percussion performance celebrating the opening of WNYC's new Jerome L. Greene Performance Space on Varick Street.

Then, on May 9th, Pachamama held a successful Mother's Day fund-raising concert that will help the newly-incorporated organization sustain its youth education and presentation program.

Pachamama will perform at the LAPA (Latin American Parents Association) Latin Culture Night in Floral Park, Long Island on Saturday, June 6. LAPA is a non-profit committed to assisting those who seek to adopt children from Latin America. The annual "Latin Culture Night" brings together parents and children for a family event that celebrates the diversity of Latino culture. For more information about LAPA go to their website.

All are welcome to attend the 2009 Student Concert and Graduation on Friday, June 26th at 7:30PM. The event will feature the PPA students with their master teachers performing the traditional forms they have studied since February, and will take place at PS 212 in Queens, located at 34-25 82nd Street, Jackson Heights - take the 7 local train to 82nd Street and walk to 3 blocks north. Program will feature dances such as marinera Norteņa and tuntuna (the processional dance performed for the Virgen de la Candelaria and at the carnivals of Puno), as well as Afro-Peruvian percussion and traditional songs.

CTMD's Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative hosted some fabulous events recently. On April 3rd, co-Artistic Director Julian Kytasty performed a beautiful set of his Uncle Hryhory Kytasty's repertoire at the Ukrainian Museum. Then on April 25th Ukrainian Wave hosted its largest Vechornytsi dance party to date, filling the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant on 2nd Ave. with an enthusiastic group of dancers. Tamara Chernyakhovska provided dance instruction to the rhythms of CTMD Touring Artists Cheres Folk Ensemble (led by Ukrainian Wave co-Artistic Director Andriy Milavsky).

We're now looking forward to a special presentation in our continuing Ukrainian Women's Voices program on Saturday, June 13th (7:00PM) at the Ukrainian Museum. The program will feature Cleveland's acclaimed Ukrainian-American singer Nadia Tarnawsky and Ukrainian Women's Voices, a collective of New York-area Ukrainian and American women singers, presenting a program of Ukrainian wedding songs, sung in traditional village singing style and Ukrainian folk polyphony.

The evening's concert is the third in the Ukrainian Women's Voices series, following a concert at the Museum in November by Ms. Tarnawsky and the Ukrainian Women's Voices Collective, focusing on seasonal and ritual Ukrainian folksongs.

The daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, Tarnawsky has studied Ukrainian and Eastern European singing for nearly two decades under leading teachers, including Mariana Sadowska from Ukraine and New Jersey-based Lilia Pavlovsky. With Sadowska, Nadia undertook several field trips across Ukraine to learn village songs directly from elder singers. She has studied music history and ethnomusicology at Cleveland State University and currently creates musical theater productions based on Ukrainian folksong, for American audiences. Ms. Tarnawsky has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1997.

Ukrainian-American singer and bandurist Julian Kytasty co-hosts the program, which features performances by the musicians of the New York Bandura Ensemble and other special guests. Audience participation in the singing will be encouraged.

Tickets are $15, with Museum and CTMD member/student/senior discounts available. For reservations call at 212-228-0110. For further information call 212-571-1555 ext. 35. A reception will follow the concert in the Museum's lower level. The Ukrainian Museum is at 222 East 6th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves) in Manhattan.

Women interested in taking part in a series of workshops and participating in the concert should contact Eileen Condon at 212-571-1555, ext. 35 or econdon@ctmd.org.

Image: Hutsul Wedding in Kosiv, Ukraine 1926. Ukrainian Museum Archive.

We were greatly saddened to learn of the death of Joe Madden, a beloved figure in Irish music. A native of Portumna, County Galway, Ireland, Joe died November 14th, 2008 after suffering severe spinal injuries from an accident in his home. He was 70 years old. A renowned Irish accordion player having won an All-Ireland Championship before emigrating to New York in 1959, Joe led the very successful dance band Joe Madden's Orchestra, which played many of the Irish County dances and hundreds of weddings and other occasions in the tri-state area over the past 40 years.

In 1963, he married Helen Meade from Miltown Malbay, County Clare, eventually settling in Yorktown Heights. Joe instilled in his children a great love for Irish music, culture and sports. He proudly passed the music to his children; his son John is an accomplished musician and his daughter Joanie is the leader of the internationally acclaimed Irish Ensemble, Cherish the Ladies. Joe's musical career includes induction into the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Hall of Fame and the Galway Association's Hall of Fame in recognition and appreciation for his lifetime contributions to Irish music. He also played before Irish Prime Ministers and at the White House on St. Patrick's Day, 2004. He was part of CTMD's Fathers and Daughters concert and subsequent recording for Shanachie Records. Joe was loved by many - he will be sorely missed.

We also mourn the recent loss of the renowned Cuban-American band leader and percussionist Manny Oquendo, who performed at CTMD's 1986 Statue of Liberty Centennial Celebration and appears in our documentary film The Spirit Travels. A New York Times obituary of Oquendo can be found by clicking here.

Photo of Joe Madden by Ricardo Salas, CTMD Archive

The brand new New York Chinese Youth Ensemble put on a dazzling show at the Hamilton-Madison Settlement House in Chinatown on March 21st to a packed gymnasium of friends, family members and folks from the community. Students performed on a variety of instruments, including yangqin (Chinese dulcimer), dizi (flute), erhu/jinghu (fiddles), zheng (zither), pipa (lute), and percussion. Congratulations to all of the students, as well as to Julie Tay, Xiao Xiannian, and the staff at the Mencius Society for the Arts which has created the ensemble in partnership with CTMD.

Then on April 5th, CTMD presented a Ge Chang Hui - Chinese Song Swap in partnership with the AiCenter, Mencius's home base in Chinatown. Over forty community members came to the AiCenter's studio on Grand Street for a singing session to share a diverse repertoire of songs in Cantonese, Mandarin and other Chinese languages. We heard songs from villages, films, and operas, as well as lullabies, love songs, ballads, patriotic hymns and songs for festivals.

For more information about the Chinese Community Cultural Initiative, please contact Eileen Condon at 212-571-1555, ext. 35 or econdon@ctmd.org.

This year, CTMD is proud to administer two apprenticeships funded by New York State Council on the Arts, allowing for dedicated students to apprentice with master musicians in the Chinese and Ukrainian communities for intensive one-on-one training. Ada Li is studying yangqin (hammered dulcimer) with master Xiao Xiannian, while Roman Turovsky is learning epic songs, folk songs and bandura with Julian Kytasty. Last year's apprentice, Anthony Apestegui, worked with Afro-Peruvian master percussionist Marcos Napa, and is now a teaching assistant for Pachamama Peruvian Arts.

CTMD is pleased to be a fiscal sponsor of KlezKanada, which will be taking place August 24th-30th this year. Now in its fourteenth year, KlezKanada has become one of the annual highlights of the international klezmer calendar. The program works to foster Yiddish and Jewish cultural and artistic creativity worldwide as both an ethnic heritage and a constantly evolving contemporary culture and identity.

The Festival is set at Camp B'nai Brith, nestled by a lake in Quebec's lovely Laurentian Mountains near the towns of Lantier and St. Agathe. Each year over 400 participants join the program's renowned faculty for a myriad of lectures, concerts, and instruction in a diverse array of subjects, including instrument and dance instruction, filmmaking, theater and Yiddish language. The faculty, led by Artistic Director Jeff Warschauer, includes a number of individuals who have been actively involved in CTMD's An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture, including Warschauer, Michael Alpert (Yiddish song, dance, multi-instrumentalist), Michael Winograd (clarinet), Deborah Strauss (violin), and Jake Shulman-Ment (violin). CTMD's Executive Director Pete Rushefsky will be returning once again to teach tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) and direct the dance music program.

For more information about KlezKanada, go to their website.

CTMD congratulates Eric Usner, who recently completed his doctorate in ethnomusicology from New York University. In 2000 Eric came to CTMD to assist with the Nashi Traditsii Soviet Jewish Community Cultural Initiative, through Dr. Gage Averill's NYU seminar: Engaged Ethnomusicology.

During Eric's three years at CTMD, he not only assisted with the production of Nashi Traditsii events and worked booking artist performances, but also labored extensively in the Center's archives, creating a database and digitally re-mastering the entire sound media archive. He may be the only living person to have listened to all the recordings of all CTMD events from the late 1960s through 2002!

Eric is now a post-doctoral fellow in the Music Department at the University of Chicago where he involves his own graduate students in the public sector and community arts through his "Engaging Ethnomusicology" seminar. Eric is an officer of the International Council of Traditional Music's Study Group for Applied Ethnomusicology and last summer helped organize their first meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Eric also helped co-create and direct arts and social justice-focused Community-Based Service Learning programs while a guest lecturer at Sarah Lawrence College.

While Eric's dissertation is on the Cultural Practices of Classical Music in 21st Century Vienna, his interests also include music, race and national identities, ethnomusicology of Western art music, Central Europe and Viennese cultural history, Central European Jewish history, Nicaragua, community-based learning, cultural policy, tourism, performance studies, music and marketing, dance history and working generally to make Higher Education a point of public interest.

Congratulations to our CTMD alumnus! To contact Eric about any of these topics, email him at eusner {at} uchicago.edu.