Los Angeles is a cosmopolitan city. From the dominant Iranian
influence in Westwood to the neighborhoods of Koreatown or Olivera
Street, Los Angeles showcases some aspect of nearly every
culture.
Beginning on April 16, UCLA students can experience this
diversity for themselves without driving a car or even spending a
dime, simply by walking down to the UCLA Hammer Museum to attend
its second annual Spring Festival of World Music.
Presented jointly by the Hammer Museum and the UCLA Department
of Ethnomusicology, the festival offers listeners the opportunity
to hear various ensembles performing music from different countries
of the world, including sitar and tabla music from Northern India,
Cuban rumba and comparsa, Mexican mariachi, Balkan folk tunes,
Javan gamelan compositions, Korean drumming and dancing and
traditional Chinese music.
“We arranged the festival as consisting of four weekends
in a row, starting in April and going through May,” said Tim
Rice, chair of the Department of Ethnomusicology. “It’s
typically two ensembles performing each day (with the exception of
the Korean ensemble).”
Each ensemble often turns its performance into a unique cultural
experience, donning traditional dress or accompanying its musical
piece with a presentation of traditional dance.
Los Angeles is certainly no stranger to the world music scene.
Over the past few years, world music has enjoyed a new surge in
popularity, as evident by the well-attended world music series
offered by the Hollywood Bowl and radio station KCRW FM, as well as
the World Festival of Sacred Music performed a few weeks ago at
Royce Hall.
Yet the Hammer’s Spring Festival of World Music stands
apart from either one of these festivals, mainly in its emphasis on
student performance and by its free admission. All of the groups
performing at the Hammer’s festival are ensembles of UCLA
students, established in the ethnomusicology department.
“We give the ensembles a choice to perform, and many of
the directors have been enthusiastic,” said Rice. “In
fact, seven out of the 11 ensembles that we offer at UCLA have
chosen to perform this year.”
These figures stand as a testament to the quality and variety of
UCLA’s ethnomusicology department above all else.
Interestingly enough, the festival was initially created last
year as a way of sidestepping UCLA’s increasing budget cuts.
Faced with the prospect of eliminating the ethnomusicology
department’s tradition of holding spring concerts, Rice
decided to seek out a sponsor and eventually connected with the
Hammer Museum, which approached the project with enthusiasm.
Not only did this collaboration present students with a valuable
opportunity for performance, but it also opened up the concerts to
those who might have missed them had they continued to be held on
campus, namely frequent museum-goers.
“People know this music and love this music and often go
to many lengths to try and hear it,” said Rice.
“We’re really happy to be able to reach a new audience,
and performing at the Hammer allows us to do that.”
Now, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology and the Hammer
Museum hope to make an annual tradition of the festival and to
continue to demonstrate a rich variety of music to the public.
“In our culture, we’re mainly exposed to various
forms of American popular music and then maybe secondarily to
classical music, which is supported by many universities,”
said Rice.
“We think that this is a very narrow range of music in the
world, and we’re anxious to showcase the richness of music,
both coming out of various ethnic traditions in the United States,
and then coming from all over the world.”