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New Colombian Community Cultural Initiative
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 CTMD announces the launch of our newest Community Cultural Initiative (CCI) in New York's Colombian Community. Through the CCI program,
CTMD develops workshops, festivals, classes or concerts in
collaboration with community members over a 5 year term. The impact of this program has been
profound and has led to the creation of several independent cultural organizations, most recently Pachamama Peruvian Arts,
Mano A Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders and the Mariachi Academy of New York.
After months of field research and inteviews with leading artists, CTMD will be holding an introductory meeting on Tuesday, October 6th to discuss the artistic and programmatic
needs of New York's Colombian Community and begin to plan programs that work to maintain the vibrancy of the community's artistic traditions. The committee will include traditional
musicians, dancers, artists, educators and cultural activists working to preserve and present
the folk arts of Colombia. All are welcome, as this project will
represent all regions of Colombia. For more information please contact
Gabrielle Hamilton by phone at 212-571-1555, ext. 27 or by email. |
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Sizhu Sundays Family Program at the
New Museum of Chinese in America
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 CTMD is pleased to announce a new eight-part family concert series at the brand-new Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). Entitled Four Seasons of Sizhu: Silk and Bamboo Sundays, this new series of performances for children and families features New
York's finest Chinese musical ensembles.
Each concert will highlight one of the traditional Chinese instruments and present music of a selected season. Programs will be interactive to educate audience members of all ages on the the cultural contexts for the music. The series opens on Sunday, October 4, with Melody of Dragon performing a concert of music of Autumn and featuring dizi (flute) virtuoso Chen Tao.
Sizhu Sundays continues on October 11 (with Melody of Dragon), November 1 and 8 (Min Xiao Fen and Her Blue Pipa Trio), November 15 and 22 (EastRiver Ensemble), and December 6 and 13 (Music From China).
Sizhu represents a beautiful corpus of music performed by small ensembles, akin to Western classical chamber music. Many of the melodies are derived from folk and court musics from the diverse regions of China, though new compositions are also performed. The term sizhu, meaning "silk and bamboo" refers to the string and woodwind instruments of the ensemble.
The series will be held at MOCA's beautiful new museum designed by Maya Lin, 215
Centre Street in Manhattan's Chinatown. All ages welcome, concert is
free with Museum entrance fee ($7 for adults, $4 for seniors and
children, free for MOCA members and children under 12). Call
212-619-4785 or email
for reservations and further information. At 215 Centre Street, MOCA is
located between Howard and Grand Streets, one block north of canal
Street. Take the N, R, Q, W, J, M, Z or 6 trains or the M9, M15 or M103
buses to Canal St. (2:00-3:30PM)
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An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture Features
Michael Alpert and Beyle Schaechter Gottesman
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 CTMD's new An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture recently debuted a new three-part series of lectures/concerts at the Center for Jewish History with a multi-media presentation by Walter Zev Feldman about his recent trip to the Republic of Moldova. In his father's hometown of Edinets, Feldman discovered musicians of mixed-ethnicity continuing to perform traditional Jewish music. These musicians, who refer to themselves as "klezmeras," represent the heirs to a musical tradition that greatly influenced the renowned klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras, who served a musical apprenticeship in Edinets.
The next program in the series, scheduled for Monday, October 26 at 7PM, will explore the songs and poetry of Beyle Schaechter Gottesman, who received an NEA National Heritage Fellowship in 2006. Gottesman will be joined on stage in an interview and performance by her son Itzik Gottesman of the Yiddish Forward newspaper and granddaughter Esther Gottesman. At the Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St. in Manhattan. A reception will follow the event. Tickets are $15, $10 for CTMD and CJH members. For reservations call 212-868-4444, or click here.
The An-sky Institute will present Michael Alpert teaching Yiddish dance at the next Tantshoyz on Thursday October 1. Live music will be provided by some of New York's leading klezmer musicians. The Tantshoyz series is now taking place on the first Thursday of every month at the Workmen's Circle (45 E. 33rd St between Madison and Park Avenues). Beginners are welcome! Parking is available on the
street or in the lot next door. Admission $10, $8 for CTMD and
Workmen's Circle members. In a new feature, a discussion of archival video of dance will
be held at 6:30PM, with the dancing taking place from 7:00PM-10:00PM. For more information contact Pete Rushefsky at 917-326-9659 or email.
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Pachamama Peruvian Arts Update
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 Pachamama Peruvian Arts (PPA) had a busy and exciting summer! In June PPA wrapped up their year with a beautiful presentation entitled Mallki (the Mummy). Artistic Director Carlos Bernales wrote the narrative based on Peruvian history as well as ancient cosmic visions and prophecies from Peru and composed the original music based on the Peruvian folklore. Enjoy clips of the show on You Tube!
Following a month of review classes, Pachamama celebrated Peruvian Independence Day on July 28th with a concert of traditional dances and music. Over 300 people enjoyed an evening of marinera norteña, tuntuna, Afro-Peruvian percussion and more at the Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City. Just last week, PPA's advanced cajón students performed as special guests of the Afro-Peruvian band Afrodita, which is led by their percussion instructor Hector Morales. Hector reports that the students "stole the show!" This performance was part of the Queens County Folk Festival and took place on Queens College Campus.
Now officially an independent non-profit arts organization, Pachamama's impact on the Peruvian community has been profound as over 500 students have graduated from PPA classes. In addition, PPA has been the subject of several theses, mostly recently one by Gladys Paredes of the Peruvian Consulate for her master's degree at Academia Diplomatica Del Peru. Entitled Estructuracion de la politica de proteccion del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial para promocionar cultura y turimos- Caso de Nueva York 2008-2009, Gladys studied PPA and two other New York-based Peruvian groups to examine how protecting the intangible cultural heritage of Peruvian immigrants residing in New York promotes culture and tourism in Peru. It is no surprise that PPA was a part of Gladys' study as many youngsters are now more interested in traveling back to Peru after attending PPA classes.
Pachamama Peruvian Arts will hold their annual Open House Concert and Registration on Friday, September 25th at 7:30pm, at PS 212, 34-25 82nd Street, Jackson Heights, Queens. This presentation is entitled "Coya Raymi" (Moon Festival), and honors the September shamanic tradition of "cleansing" the spirits of a community through rituals dating to Incan times.
Pachamama offers free music and dance classes in the traditional performing arts of Peru. Enjoy a concert performance of Peruvian festejo, cajón, marinera norteña, traditional songs, Andean music and more. Children ages 7 to 17 are welcome to apply for free weekly classes in these forms. For more information call 212-571-1555 ext 27.
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Ukrainian Vechornytsi Dance Party &
New Concert Series at the Ukrainian Museum
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On September 26th, our Carpathian Vechornytsi
dance parties return to the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140
Second Ave (between 8th and 9th streets). Tamara Chernyakhovska will
lead the dancing, with music provided by clarinet/flute virtuoso Andriy
Milavsky and his Cheres Ensemble. The Vechornytsi runs from 7:30PM - 11:00PM, with dance instruction during the first hour. A special singing session of Harvest songs will be included in the program. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children (food and drink not included in the admission price). Beginners and kids absolutely welcome!
Additionally, this Fall CTMD's Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative will present a two-part series of concerts at the Ukrainian Museum entitled "Fine Art/Folk Arts: Two Counterpoints." The series is hosted by bandurist Julian Kytasty with violist Ron Lawrence and the Radio Banduristan Song and Dance Ensemble. On Friday, October 23, bandurist/composer Michael Andrec and the Bowery Poetry Club's Bob Holman will be featured in a presentation entitled "StringText." On Friday, November 13, the series will present "SongDance" and feature bandurist/singer/arranger Lilia Pavlovska and choreographer/dancer Katja Kolcio.
Both concerts begin at 7:00PM. The Ukrainian Museum is at 222 East 6th St. (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in the heart of Manhattan's Ukrainian East Village). Admission is $15 for adults with discounts available for seniors/members.
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Korean Sanjo Festival and Symposium at CUNY
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 On Monday, October 19 and Tuesday, October 20, CTMD is pleased assist ethnomusicologist Ju-Yong Ha in presenting the 2009 Sanjo Festival and Symposium: Korean Sanjo and Other Improvisational Traditions in Asia along with CUNY Graduate Center and the Gugak FM Broadcasting System of Seoul.
Sanjo
is a genre of music, originating in shamanic culture and imbued with
strands of folk and court music traditions to create a quintessentially
Korean form, performed with instruments such as gayageum (zither) in solo formats or accompanied by the double-headed janggo drum.
The symposium and concerts will feature leading scholars of Asian and Korean music and some of Korea's foremeost sanjo performers, including Master Park Hyun Sook (gayageum), master Park Hwan Young (daegun), Master Lee Tae Baek (ajeng), Master Heo Yoon Jeong (geomungo), Master Kim Sung-A (haegeum) and Master Kim Chung Man (janggo).
The entire program will be held at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. in Manhttan (corner of 34th
St.). For more information contact Ju-Yong Ha at 949-295-2373 or by email. The symposium runs from 9:00AM-5:00PM on October 19-20 in Elebash Recital Hall,
with the Concert at 8:30PM on October 20 in Proshansky Auditorium.
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Remembering Lucia Capodilupo
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 It is
with deep sadness that we note the passing of a dear colleague and friend,
Lucia Capodilupo. Lucia died following a
tragic car accident this past summer.
Director of Special Projects at the
Center for Traditional Music and Dance during the early 1980s (the Ethnic Folk
Arts Center at the time), Lucia worked on numerous projects, including Musica Popolare, the Center's three
consecutive national concert tours that featured Italian folk artists
performing regional music and song of Southern Italy and Sardinia. Lucia edited
all of the programmatic materials and publications during that period and was
very instrumental in securing the Center's very first private foundation
support from the Ford Foundation.
Lucia held a Ph.D. in Russian literature from Yale University. At the time of her accident, she worked as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for Teacher's College at Columbia University. She was additionally the prize-winning author of the book Thin Through the Power of Spirit: Creating Paradise in Your Weight and World,
(DeVorss Publications) a primer on weight loss through spirituality,
visualization and guided imagery. Lucia lectured and
led seminars on the topic.
Lucia was a beautiful writer, took great
pride in her work, and possessed a wonderful sense of humor. She was an
incredibly caring and loving person and she will be sorely missed by all who
knew her.
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What We're Listening To
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 At CTMD we are exposed to a whole host of traditional music genres from around the globe. Friends and colleagues often ask us what we listen to when we are not busy researching and programming immigrant artists. We thought we share some of our favorite picks in our e-newsletter.
Here is what's playing on Gabrielle Hamilton's mp3 player:
Alcatraz is the self-titled, debut CD from a group of NY-based Latino artists, including Marcos Napa and Hector Morales, two instructors for Pachamama Peruvian Arts. Named for the famous Afro-Peruvian couples' dance by the same name, Alcatraz features the infectious rhythms of traditional Afro-Peruvian music treated with a jazz vibe. With the exception of one track, most tunes on this CD are traditional Afro-Peruvian songs or new standards made popular by Afro-Peruvian revival of the 1970s. The upbeat and energetic of swing of the festejo rhythm will be keep you charged. Listen for the zapatato (tap dancing) on "Negrito de la Huayrona" performed by Marcos. To purchase this CD click here and for booking information email Hector Morales.
Folk Violin from Peru (also entitled "Llaqtaypa Violincha" in Quechua, one of the native languages of Peru) is a beautiful and educational CD painstakingly compiled by the Peruvian violinist Daniel Zamalloa. Take some time to enjoy Daniel's extensive liner notes which consider the origins of folk violin in Peru, translations of Quechua lyrics, as well as discussions on ritual context in which many of these tunes will be played. Daniel offers not only tunes from the Andean mountains but also traditional works from the Amazon region, including "Pijuayo" which was originally played on a two-stringed instrument. Daniel was a featured artist at Pachamama's June 2008 concert presentation and is now located in the Boston area. To learn more about this wonderful artist or to buy this CD go to his website.
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| Other Happenings...
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 Our friends at Create Culture will be organizing a trip to Morocco from
February 11-20, 2010 for music and dance workshops with the master
artists of the Sufi Daqqa Roudania. Join other artists and arts
lovers in the ancient citadel town of Taroudant located at the foot of
the Atlas mountains in southern Morocco. Take part in daily music and
dance sessions with the master artists of the Daqqa Roudania, visit the
town and its surrounding oases, learn Arabic, attend
local weddings and much more, during this immersive ten-day workshop
exploring Moroccan Sufi music and dance. All levels of experience
welcome! To learn more visit Create Culture's website or email (contact them as soon as possible to reserve your spot on the trip).
On Thursday, September 24 at 8:00PM at Queens Theater in the Park, Eros Taximi, led by CTMD Touring Artist Mavrothi Kontanis on oud and vocals, will perform an evening concert of Greek rebetika, laika, and entehna as part of the Greek-American Performing Arts Festival at
Queens Theatre in the Park
Flushing Meadows Corona Park. We're also excited to watch the legendary
Greek shadow puppet figure, Karagiozis, "emigrate" to New York in a
special show on Saturday, September 26 at 1:00PM. For more information, go to the
Queens Theater in the Park website. Kontanis will also perform with his Maeandros Ensemble
on October 9 at 8:00PM in a show produced by World Music Institute at
Symphony Space (95th St. and Broadway on Manhattan's Upper West Side).For more information, go to the WMI website.
On Friday, September 25th, at 8PM, the New York Gypsy Festival presents Turkey's great fasil clarinetist Barbaros Erkose, and Klezmatics trumpeter Frank London will appear with Macedonian clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski and the New York Gypsy All Stars. Erkose was featured with his family ensemble in an Istanbul gazino in Tony Gatlif's renowned film about Roma music, Latcho Drom. For more information go to the festival website. At the Lafayette Grill, 54 Franklin Street in Manhattan. The Lado National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia will be performing
at the Rose Theater (Jazz at Lincoln Center's home in the Time Warner
Center, Columbus Circle, Manhattan) on Wednesday, October 14th at
7:30PM. For more information about the program and for reservations, click here.
As a special to Global Beat of the Boroughs eNewsletter subscribers,
for an additional 10% discount on tickets, enter the code "NYL1410" upon check out.
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eNewsletter Editor
Pete Rushefsky
Executive Director
Center for Traditional Music and Dance
32 Broadway, Suite 1314
New York, NY 10025
phone: 212-571-1555, ext. 36
fax: 212-571-9052
prushefsky@ctmd.org
www.ctmd.org
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Master Artist Feature
Diego Obregón: Innovation
and Tradition Flow from Colombia to
Queens
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How did a leading marimba maker and player from Colombia end up in Queens? Click here for a profile by CTMD's Gabrielle Hamilton and Graduate Intern Naomi Sturm.
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