News & Updates
‘Bala’ Album & Virtual Concert: Find out more
March 13, 2021 marked a watershed moment for global connection as internationally acclaimed virtuoso balafón musician Fodé Lassana Diabaté prémièred Bala — a unique CD recorded at The Centre for Sound Communities, Cape Breton University — in a virtual concert from Mali, West Africa. The Grammy-nominated musician/composer/culture-bearer and descendant of a griot family of balafón masters in Guinea has made several visits to Cape Breton, collaborating with CSC Director Dr. Marcia Ostashewski to present a program of ANSA-funded performances and workshops through ‘Songs and Stories in Celebration of the International Decade of People of African Descent.’
The recording of Bala at the CSC symbolizes an important shift in Canadian music production, representing an important bridge between two continents with so much of their history intertwined. The first African settlers in Nova Scotia can be traced to the 1700s, over time forming communities that today contribute to the cultural diversity of an area that is an ocean away from their antecedents. Lassana first came to Cape Breton in 2014 as part of a project connecting local residents with global scholars and performers; his return visits solidify the link between countries and cultural heritage and represent optimism and appreciation across a geographic divide somehow made narrower by similarities and shared experience.
Inviting widespread participation, Bala is part of a larger project focusing on Black and Indigenous lives and musics to develop a new model for global music education during the pandemic; it is funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Engage COVID-19 Special Initiative which will soon include a pilot project with Whitney Pier Boys and Girls Club, to be expanded across Nova Scotia. Partnerships with African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq community leaders, libraries and organizations are paving the way for upcoming lectures, workshops and instructional materials.
Details:
• Find out more about Bala and Lassana Diabaté, culture-bearer and founder of Association Foli-Lakana fostering the vitality of local musics, youth and communities in Mali — https://balafondiabate.ca
• Follow CSC posts (Sound Communities) on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or e-mail The Centre for Sound Communities at sound_communities@cbu.ca
‘Bala’ Album Release & Virtual Concert
March 13, 2021 marked a watershed moment for global connection as internationally acclaimed virtuoso balafón musician Fodé Lassana Diabaté prémièred Bala — a unique CD recorded at The Centre for Sound Communities, Cape Breton University — in a virtual concert from Mali, West Africa. The Grammy-nominated musician/composer/culture-bearer and descendant of a griot family of balafón masters in Guinea has made several visits to Cape Breton, collaborating with CSC Director Dr. Marcia Ostashewski to present a program of ANSA-funded performances and workshops through ‘Songs and Stories in Celebration of the International Decade of People of African Descent.’
The recording of Bala at the CSC symbolizes an important shift in Canadian music production, representing an important bridge between two continents with so much of their history intertwined. The first African settlers in Nova Scotia can be traced to the 1700s, over time forming communities that today contribute to the cultural diversity of an area that is an ocean away from their antecedents. Lassana first came to Cape Breton in 2014 as part of a project connecting local residents with global scholars and performers; his return visits solidify the link between countries and cultural heritage and represent optimism and appreciation across a geographic divide somehow made narrower by similarities and shared experience.
Inviting widespread participation, Bala is part of a larger project focusing on Black and Indigenous lives and musics to develop a new model for global music education during the pandemic; it is funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Engage COVID-19 Special Initiative which will soon include a pilot project with Whitney Pier Boys and Girls Club, to be expanded across Nova Scotia. Partnerships with African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq community leaders, libraries and organizations are paving the way for upcoming lectures, workshops and instructional materials.
Find out more:
• Find out more about Bala and Lassana Diabaté, culture-bearer and founder of Association Foli-Lakana fostering the vitality of local musics, youth and communities in Mali — https://balafondiabate.ca
• Follow CSC posts (Sound Communities) on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or e-mail The Centre for Sound Communities at sound_communities@cbu.ca
Songs, Stories, and Sacred Fire: Ktapekiaqnn, Atukwaqnn, aqq Kepme’k Pukto
Songs, Stories, and Sacred Fire: Ktapekiaqnn, Atukwaqnn, aqq Kepme’k Pukto
2019 Songs and Stories: ICTM Colloquium
2019 ICTM Colloquium on Songs & Stories of Migration & Encounter
A colloquium for the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) hosted by The Centre for Sound Communities, Cape Breton University, October 6-12, 2019.
Following the theme ‘Songs and Stories of Migration and Encounter,’ 18 international scholars share their research on this theme and create dialogue among specialists from all over the world. This colloquium brings together artists, scholars, and community leaders from throughout Canada and the United States as well as the United Kingdom, Japan, Armenia, Austria, and Slovenia.
Scholars meet at the Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University, Membertou First Nation at the Heritage Park, McConnell Public Library in Sydney’s Waterfront District, Menelik Hall in Whitney Pier, the Gaelic College in St. Anne’s, and in various community centres in Chéticamp.
The following events are open to the general public:
- Sunday October 6, 7:00pm – Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church
Concert (freewill donation accepted): Julian Kytasty – Immigrants, Exiles, and Cultural Missionaries: Bandura Music Outside Ukraine
- Monday October 7, 4:00pm – Centre for Sound Communities (Cape Breton University)
Public Lecture: Kaley Mason – Food, Music and Environmental Justice in South India
- Tuesday October 8, 2:00pm, Centre for Sound Communities (Cape Breton University)
Film Screening: Julia Byl – Poets in the Living Room
- Tuesday October 8, 4:00pm, McConnell Public Library
Film Screening: Terada Yoshitaka – Crossing over the Arirang Pass: Zainichi Korean Music
- Tuesday October 8, 7:00pm, McConnell Public Library
Film Screening: Terada Yoshitaka – Drumming out a Message: Eisa and the Okinawan Diaspora in Japan
- Wednesday October 9, 4:00pm, Membertou Heritage Park
Workshop/Lecture: Alex Chávez – Sonic Bridges: Home, Intimacy, and the Borderlands
- Wednesday October 9, 7:30pm, Menelik Hall
Public Lecture: Afua Cooper – Fugitive Verses/Sonic Stories: Slavery, the Middle Passage, and the Soundscapes of Black People’s Freedom Quest
- Thursday October 10, 11:45am, Centre for Sound Communities (Cape Breton University)
Dance Workshop: Ameera Nimjee – Kathak Dance in Hindustani Music Culture
- Thursday October 10, 7:00pm, McConnell Public Library
Public Lecture: Gage Averill – Echoes of “Haïti Cherie” in the “Koloni”
- Friday October 11, 7:30pm, Église Saint Pierre, Chéticamp
Concert (freewill donations accepted): Songs and Stories of Cape Breton, with various performers including Colin Grant, Chester Delaney, Robert Deveaux, Julian Kytasty, Marcia Ostashewski, and Le Choeur du Havre
Quick Facts:
- 18 scholars from 6 countries are meeting in Cape Breton to share research about music and migration in communities around the world including virtual spaces
- As part of the Colloquium, several community events will take place across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, including concerts, workshops, film screenings and public talks
- The International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) is a scholarly, non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. ICTM aims to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries
- Scholars, artists and community leaders are coming from: Cape Breton University, University of British Colombia, Dalhousie University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Alberta, Membertou First Nation, Nova Scotia Rug Hookers (Cheticamp), University of Notre Dame (USA), Indiana University (USA), St. Olaf College (USA), Lewis and Clark College (USA), University of Puget Sound (USA), Royal Holloway University of London (UK), National Museum of Ethnology: Centre for Cultural Resource Studies (Japan), American University of Armenia (Armenia), University for Music and the Performing Arts Vienna (Austria), and University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Additional Resources:
International Council for Traditional Music: https://www.ictmusic.org/26th-ictm-colloquium-2019-cape-breton
Cape Breton University: https://www.cbu.ca
Songs and Stories: ICTM Colloquium
Songs and Stories: ICTM Colloquium
A colloquium for the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) will be hosted by Centre for Sound Communities, Cape Breton University, October 6-12, 2019.
This colloquium follows the theme “Songs and Stories of Migration and Encounter.” 18 international scholars are invited to share their research on this theme and to create dialogue among specialists from all over the world. This colloquium will bring together artists, scholars, and community leaders from throughout Canada and the United States as well as the United Kingdom, Japan, Armenia, Austria, and Slovenia.
Scholars will meet at the Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University, Membertou First Nation at the Heritage Park, McConnell Public Library in Sydney’s Waterfront District, Menelik Hall in Whitney Pier, the Gaelic College in St. Anne’s, and in various community centres in Chéticamp.
Quick Facts:
- 18 scholars from 6 countries are meeting in Cape Breton to share research about music and migration in communities around the world including virtual spaces
- As part of the Colloquium, several community events will take place across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, including concerts, workshops, film screenings and public talks
- The International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) is a scholarly, non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. ICTM aims to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries
- Scholars, artists and community leaders are coming from: Cape Breton University, University of British Colombia, Dalhousie University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Alberta, Membertou First Nation, Nova Scotia Rug Hookers (Cheticamp), University of Notre Dame (USA), Indiana University (USA), St. Olaf College (USA), Lewis and Clark College (USA), University of Puget Sound (USA), Royal Holloway University of London (UK), National Museum of Ethnology: Centre for Cultural Resource Studies (Japan), American University of Armenia (Armenia), University for Music and the Performing Arts Vienna (Austria), and University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Additional Resources:
International Council for Traditional Music: https://www.ictmusic.org/26th-ictm-colloquium-2019-cape-breton
Cape Breton University: https://www.cbu.ca
The Kun’tewiktuk Project
In the 2019 Indigenous theatre research-creation project, Kun’tewiktuk, facilitated in partnership with The Centre for Sound Communities, Membertou First Nation collaborative researchers investigated personal experiences, histories and legacies of migration and encounter in Cape Breton through a theatrical production and film presentation. Subsequent publications in 2020 further explored the significance of the 1916 forced relocation of the Mi’kmaq and its historic and personal consequences on the Membertou First Nation community.
“[What Kun’tewiktuk] meant to the community is that … we were able to open a door into history and to show the people … how it was back in the early 1900s … It was a very significant and traumatic time,” — Graham Marshall, Councillor, Membertou First Nation, Traditional Knowledge-holder, Kun’tewiktuk Project
“We’re carrying this pride in ourselves that we learned this together, and that we worked on this project together and that we successfully brought it to fruition. [We] had a very emotional and a very powerful story to tell, and when that story was told, the elders embraced the youth and they said, ‘That was incredible; that was very good and that was very strong.’ That’s the spirit of our people, that’s the spirit of Membertou, that’s the spirit of Kun’tewiktuk.” — Clifford Paul, Traditional Knowledge-holder, Membertou First Nation Researcher & Consultant, Kun’tewiktuk Project
In this film, Membertou First Nation collaborative researchers speak about their participation in the Kun’tewiktuk Project:
REFER TO:
Ostashewski, Marcia, and Shaylene Johnson. 2020. “Relocation, Research and Reconciliation in Unama’ki.” In My Body Was Left on the Street: Music Education and Displacement, edited by Kính T. Vu and André de Quadros, 267–280. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Ostashewski, Marcia, and Clifford Paul, Graham Marshall, Shaylene Johnson. 2020. “Fostering Reconciliation Collaborative Research in Unama’ki: Engaging Communities through Indigenous Methodologies and Research-Creation”. Yearbook for Traditional Music 52: 23-40.
All My Relations – Community Arts Research Showcase
Sunday, October, 22, 2017, 2PM – Boardmore Theatre, Cape Breton University
Join us for an afternoon of music and entertainment, featuring performances by The Cape Breton Choral, youth participants of our Songs and Stories of Migration workshops, Singing the Circle: Choral Workshop participants and a special Indigenous Welcome by Clifford Paul. The afternoon will also include several interactive multimedia activities and light refreshments.
Digital Interns on the Move at CBU
CBU posted news about soundcommunties.org Digital Intern Program on February 28, 2017. See here for the full article!
Funding for a pilot program from the Provincial Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage has allowed Dr. Marcia Ostashewski of CBU’s Centre for Sound Communities to recently hire ten Digital Interns, including two Coordinators, through the recently launched Nova Scotia Digital Youth Internship Program. The program supports youth in gaining a wide range of digital skills as well as valuable work experience to assist in their transition into Canada’s labour market. (read more)
MUSICultures (41-2) on “Connecting with Communities” now online!
The most recent issue of MUSICultures (41-2), a special issue on “Connecting with Communities” guest edited by Dr. Marcia Ostashewski (Cape Breton University), is now online!
The contents of this issue include:
MARCIA OSTASHEWSKI
Engaging Communities and Cultures in Ethnomusicology: An Introduction
KLISALA HARRISON
The Second Wave of Applied Ethnomusicology
MICHAEL B. MACDONALD with ANDRE HAMILTON
Aesthetic Systems Theory: Doing Hip Hop Kulture Research Together at Cipher5
BOB W. WHITE
Listening Together, Thinking Out Loud: Popular Music and Political Consciousness in Congo-Zaire
CAROLINE MARCOUX-GENDRON, ARIANE COUTURE, FLAVIA GERVASI and MICHEL DUCHESNEAU
L’enjeu des communautés en sociomusicologie : Le cas du projet de recherche sur le développement des publics de la musique au Québec
GLENN PATTERSON and LAURA RISK
Digitization, Recirculation and Reciprocity: Proactive Archiving for Community and Memory on the Gaspé Coast and Beyond
MICHAEL B. BAKAN
The Musicality of Stimming: Promoting Neurodiversity in the Ethnomusicology of Autism
JEFF TODD TITON
Flight Call
JEFF TODD TITON and MARCIA OSTASHEWSKI
A Context for the Story: A Conversation
…as well as Book Reviews and Recording Reviews! This issue is available to current subscribers of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music here (non-subscribers can freely access issues more than 3 years old): http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/MC/index. For membership/subscription information, please visit the website of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music: http://www.yorku.ca/cstm/. Or check your institutional library for access.