#uoftethnomusicology

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They Told the Women in Bahia They Couldn’t Drum. Try Telling That to Banda Didá.

Meet the all-female Brazilian drum group that is challenging gender norms.

Our very own Jeff Packman (Assistant Professor) was quoted in a NYT article about all-female Brazilian drum group Banda Didá--check out the article here!

[ethnotestoronto]

Join the Ethnography Lab for  “Methodological Extensions”,  October 25 from 6-8 PM!

The Ethnography Lab at University of Toronto Anthropology has their first event this year, as part of their “Methodological Extensions” series. Come check it out Wednesday, October 25, 6-8 PM!

[ethnotestoronto]

Kensington Market Sound and Music Research Project

The Kensington Market Sound and Music Research Project (KMSMRP) is a research group formed by ethnomusicology students and faculty under the Kensington Market Research Project (KMRP) headed by Dean Joshua Barker and Dr. Emily Hertzman. This research project is part of University of Toronto Anthropology’s Ethnography Lab. Research materials collected will be part of the KMRP’s Kensington Market archive, and the KMSMRP will present their research at the Ethnography Lab on February 22 (more information to follow).

The KMSMRP is headed by Farzaneh Hemmasi (Assist. Professor of Ethnomusicology) and includes current and former graduate students Dennis Lee (MA candidate Ethnomusicology), Greg Wilson (MA candidate Music Technology and Digital Media), Jardena Gertler-Jaffe (MA Ethnomusicology, 2017), Jennie Horton (MA candidate Ethnomusicology), and Ryan Persadie (MA Ethnomusicology, 2017).

Though each researcher is working on individual projects, they explore many common themes and topics—including how Kensington Market, its residents, businesses, and visitors are impacted by larger patterns of development, real estate market shifts, and cultural policy in Toronto; how the neighborhood communities and music scenes situate themselves in relation to conceptions of Kensington Market culture and its history; how businesses in the Market are affected by Toronto’s economic and cultural development policies and how they interact with municipal government; and, investigating Kensington Market as an immigrant neighborhood currently and historically.

The KMSMRP, which began in May 2017, has carried on through the summer and is now manifest as a directed reading course led by Farzaneh Hemmasi. The collaborative nature of the project allows the group to share findings, read and discuss relevant literature, and provide insightful feedback on each other’s work. Through collaborative ethnographic fieldwork, each researcher has developed their own research projects as outlined below.

Dennis Lee, “Coalition: Contemporary Circuits of Punk and Heavy Metal Through Kensington Market” – Dennis is conducting research at Kensington Market’s punk and metal venue, Coalition. Attending shows and interviewing musicians, a co-owner, and booker at Coalition, Dennis’s project focuses on how this venue fits into the larger punk and metal scene in Toronto—a smaller scene than expected for such a large city—taking into consideration issues of gentrification and rising rents that makes it increasingly difficult for venues to operate, and for musicians and fans to live in the city. The project also examines how Coalition functions as a hub in the larger network of venues used for touring by independent bands.

Greg Wilson, “Kensington Audio-Visual Histories” – Greg’s work utilizes archival collections, field recordings, and audio and visual manipulation to construct documentary soundscapes to be used in an original work of sonic art. Using images found in the Toronto City Archives which depict daily life in the Market, his project identifies specific locations in the photos and uses these locations as sites for recording. Greg’s research also considers the capacity of soundscapes and sonic environments/ecologies to act as a shared cultural heritage. The materials gathered and created for this project can also be used as a tool for augmented reality apps of Kensington Market, or as a standalone set of images and soundscapes in an online or real life exhibition.

Jardena Gertler-Jaffe, “Music and the Labour Movement in Jewish Kensington Market” – Jardena’s work focuses on Kensington Market’s history as a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, specifically on tracking changes in musical repertoire and musical culture as Jewish residents moved out of Kensington to north of Toronto. In researching this period—from the 1930s to 1960s—part of Jardena’s ethnographic work entails interviewing people who sang in Jewish choirs or played in orchestras, as well as those who had direct contact with the aforementioned group. She also utilizes the Ontario Jewish Archives as she researches changes in Jewish repertoire as the community moved away from the Market.

Jennie Horton, “Music Venues in Kensington Market: Business Models and Cultural Policy” – Jennie’s research follows four venues in Kensington Market—Pamenar, Coalition, Grossman’s Tavern, and Poetry Jazz Café—and how they are affected by current municipal policy under Toronto’s “Music City” initiative. In light of recent venue closures across the city, Jennie uses Kensington venues to understand larger issues of gentrification, rising rents, zoning problems, and how venues interact with municipal government—while at the same time considering how these venues’ location in Kensington Market makes their situation unique. Jennie’s fieldwork consists of attending shows and city council meetings, as well as interviewing musicians, business owners, and officials affiliated with the Market.

Ryan Persadie, “Round Venue: Queer People of Colour Performing Burlesque in Kensington” – Ryan’s work explores female queer of color burlesque performances at “Round Venue”, a small nightclub in Kensington Market. At these burlesque events, queer-identifying women of color make up the majority of the cast, and their performances—often heavily politicized—critique, resist, and challenge white supremacy in the Canadian nation. Ryan’s research also investigates “Round Venue” and Kensington Market as potential spaces for belonging for queer people of color, in contrast to Toronto’s gay village, which adheres to homonormativities that default whiteness. By attending performances and interviewing queer-identifying burlesque performers, Ryan’s research investigates these concepts, as well as examines “Round Venue” as a micro-neighborhood of queerness within a larger, heteronormative Kensington Market.

photo: “Sign for Kensington Market” - Josh Evnin

[ethnotestoronto]

Recently released from University of Hawai’i Press, “Vamping the Stage: Female Voices of Asian Modernity” includes two essays written by U of T Ethnomusicology faculty Joshua Pilzer and Farzaneh Hemmasi. “The ‘Comfort Women’ and the Voices of East Asian Modernity” (Pilzer) and “Googoosh’s Voice: An Iranian Icon in Silence and Song” (Hemmasi) are two essays in the first book-length study of women, modernity, and popular music in Asia. This collection, edited by Andrew Weintraub and Bart Barendregt, focuses on the “ways that women performs supported, challenged, and transgressed representations of existing gendered norms”. Congratulations to our faculty on their contributions! 

[ethnotestoronto]

A quick look into what Yun Emily Wang (PhD year 6) has been up to!

I presented a paper and a roundtable talk at the MusCan/CTSM/IASPM joint meeting in May, presented as part of a special panel on Queer Asian Studies in June at the East Asian Library, and coordinated a call-and-response for the Association for Chinese Music Research's newsletter (which explored the politics of Chineseness of Chinese-Canadians/American musics). I also played "sound guy" for a Taiwanese LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Toronto, newly formed in response to the recent constitution ruling, for the Pride parade.

The highlight of the summer was that I participated in the 9th International Doctoral Workshop in Ethnomusicology at the University of Hildesheim's World Music Centre in Germany. Hildesheim is a beautiful small town about an hour south of Hanover. The workshop was intimate but excitingly rigorous. Each of the 18 participants from around the world presented on our dissertation research and then held seminar-style discussions on our projects. There was a mind-boggling array of methodologies and theoretical approaches. Discussions--about research, writing, #gradlife, and the ethics of ethnomusicologizing in today's world--continued through meals, coffee breaks, scenic walks around town, and over beers (of course). My favorite moment of the workshop was when we climbed to the top of Hildesheim's post-WW2 reconstructed bell tower. The bells rang and vibrated underneath our feet, and everyone immediately whipped out phones to record.  

[ethnotestoronto]

A student update from Dennis Lee (MA year 2) --

I was fortunate to have two opportunities to present at academic conferences this summer. At the IASPM/Canada 150 conference here at the University of Toronto I presented a paper entitled “Pleaides’ Dust: From the Islamic Golden Age to Contemporary Québécois Death Metal,” and at the International Association of Metal Music Studies meeting at the University of Victoria I presented “‘Negeri Seribu Bangsa’: Musical Hybridization in Contemporary Indonesian Death Metal.”

In June I started doing research with the Ethnography Lab as part of their ongoing Kensington Market Project. The lab is run by the U of T Department of Anthropology under the direction of Dr. Joshua Barker and Dr. Emily Hertzman and has recently expanded to include research from the Ethnomusicology department under the guidance of Dr. Farzaneh Hemmasi. My contribution focuses on punk and metal scenes in Kensington Market and Toronto more broadly.

Lastly, I co-organized the Multidisciplinary Creative Conference with three other graduate students in different areas of music (Kathryn Knowles, composition; Eveline Mate, performance; and Greg Wilson, music technology). The event combined performance, creation, and research across disciplines. Rather than a traditional conference format, panels took the form of interactive presentations, performances, and workshops. We began planning in the spring, and it took place September 23 and 24, featuring a keynote by Dr. Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri from Cornell University.

[ethnotestoronto]

Applying for an MA or PhD in Ethnomusicology at University of Toronto? 

The online application for the 2018-2019 academic year is now available! The deadline for submitting the online app is December 1, 2017. Supporting documents must be received by December 11, 2017.

Information about the application process and requirements can be found here - https://music.utoronto.ca/applying-auditions.php

Other helpful links include - 

Ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto website, which has more information on our graduate programs, as well as information about our faculty and graduate students - http://individual.utoronto.ca/kippen/Ethnomusicology/index.html

The University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies Admissions FAQ addresses many common application queries - https://apply.sgs.utoronto.ca/faq.aspx

[ethnotestoronto]

A Conversation with World Music Artist in Residence Pedram Khavarzamini…

This semester, we are pleased to welcome World Music Artist in Residence Pedram Khavarzamini, a master of the tombak (Iranian goblet drum). Khavarzamini is both a performer and teacher of traditional Iranian tombak technique and repertory, as well as a musical innovator and experimentalist, playing with various sorts of fusion ensembles around the globe. Earlier in the month, Pedram was generous enough to sit down with Ethnotes to discuss his life in music, his plans for upcoming concerts, and U of T’s newly-formed Iranian Music Ensemble, which he is directing this semester.

Ethnotes: Hi Pedram! Thank you for taking time to do an interview for Ethnotes. I understand you've been living in Toronto for about a year? Have you been here before?

 Pedram: Yes, since 2007 I've travelled to Canada twice--maybe three times--a year for concerts, because I have many good friends here who are musicians. So I've come here to play and record with them.

 E: And you've been teaching at the Sarv Music Academy?

 P: Yes. It has been a pleasure to teach here, actually, because they didn't have a tombak player that was able to show students the real, traditional tombak.

E: Wonderful. We feel very privileged to have you as World Music Artist in Residence this semester! I was wondering if you could give Ethnotes readers a taste of your musical life story?

 P: I began to play tombak a bit late--I was sixteen, actually. But I remember perfectly, since I was a kid I used to play everywhere--on a bench, on doors, whatever. Also, I have an uncle on my mother's side--he never studied music, but give him any kind of instrument, he could make a sound on it. He's really talented, but never studied. And I just wanted to be around him, and whenever he came to our house, I'd ask him to play. He had a melodica, and a clay darbuka. But after the Revolution, he lost everything. One day, officials came to my grandparents' house and took everything. [My uncle] was in jail for a while, too, because he was in opposition to the regime. 

Also, on my father's side, I have another uncle who sings and plays tombak, but, again, totally wild--he played in his own way. But, you know, after the Revolution, we had a really hard time, because of the strict laws: no one was allowed to touch an instrument for a couple of years. You couldn't even carry your instrument outside, because if they could see that you're carrying an instrument, you were in trouble. Serious trouble.

When I was sixteen, things started to get slightly better, and my uncle told me that he would take me to a school. Well, we called it a school, but it was really quite a private sort of thing. Really hidden. I had to hide my tombak in a cement bag in order to carry my instrument to class. 

 My father didn't like all of this too much; he's not religious, has nothing to do with that kind of thing, but he didn't want me to play an instrument. So that was another hurdle for me. For two years, I hid my studies from him. When he found out, he broke my instrument. But I repaired it, and began to play again.  

And then I had the chance to study with a great master named Bahman Rajabi, and he was just, like, the pinnacle of tombak. I was really lucky that he accepted me at that time. When I finished his course, I joined him in a duet. That was like receiving a university degree--nothing is written, in the traditional system, music is mostly transmitted by gesture. And so, your work is your degree; your piece of paper.

While I was in Iran, I played with many different types of bands, and performed on many records. In 2002, I went to Greece, where I have a very good friend--a very good musician named Ross Daly. He invited me there, and I was quite lucky at that time to leave my country, because people usually escape from Iran like refugees, but I had an invitation to go and teach. Since then, I haven't moved back, but I do go back two or three times a year just to teach, record, and stay in touch with the other musicians. I really think that, for any performer of music of the Middle East, you have to stay in touch with your roots. I re-adjust my playing every time my go back. But since I've been in Toronto, I haven't been back.

 And, you know, my favourite music is Iranian music. Especially folk. But I play everything, and I enjoy it. Right now I'm playing with a Norwegian band, they play a sort of fusion, Siwan. Our conductor is Jon Balke, and he's a great piano player. 

E: How would you describe the sound?

 P: There are six fixed musicians in this group: I play tombak, there is an Algerian man who plays violin, and the last singer's name was Mona, she's also from Algeria, and another very good violin player, Bjarte. Almost always, there is a full Baroque orchestra backing us up. It’s one of my favourite projects, because it's really active and energetic.

Siwan performing in Falkenhagen, Germany in 2010.

What else? I used to have a seminar twice a year in Greece, and I was performing with Ross Daly--our last concert was in 2013, I believe. These days, I'm playing with a very good flamenco guitarist, we're preparing a nice programme, and this will be a nice project, because we plan on playing for small groups of people. I don't really enjoy great halls, you know, especially the music I play, it's just for a few ears, not hundreds or thousands. 

 E: And you have a percussion ensemble here in Toronto, too?

 P: Yes, our band--there are four of us--are called Varashan. Ah, also, years ago I recorded a CD titled Koutah (also sometimes transliterated as Kootah). In a literal sense, this means "short," but, in another sense, it means something like "one moment." I was involved in another project, too,

 E: How does your improvisatory and compositional process differ from project to project?

 P: With traditional music, you have to be very careful about the details. And if there are masters that are listening to you, they won't like it. But the other music I play--it's just open. I can play whatever I want. And the interesting thing about Tombak is that it has no accent. If you listen to tabla, for example, in any kind of music, you are transported directly to India. The same sort of thing happens when you hear darbuka. But tombak is quite neutral-sounding, and the sound is quiet but powerful. It goes well with different kinds of music. I've played with musicians from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and while may not enjoy other percussion instruments, they find that tombak blends extremely well with their music.

That's why Siwan asked me to play with them. In fact, after a few years of involvement with the group, I asked Jon, the director, 'why tombak?' He said: 'in my ears, this instrument is not just percussion.'

E: So when you teach the Iranian Music Ensemble at U of T, everyone will be learning tombak?

 P: Yes, in fact, we don't have enough instruments. We though that ten students would show up, but it turned out to be closer to twenty! I'm very happy. You know, before I came here, the majority of my students have not been Iranian. People have come from Israel, Greece, Egypt, Sweden...

Any seminar or class I do, I often divide players into three groups. The first group will play simple parts, the second will play intermediate parts, and the third--I don't want to say 'advanced'--but they're good enough to play at a certain level. The three groups will interlock with one another. 

E: And finally, what performances do you have in the works?

P: For my concert (on Nov. 17 at Walter Hall), I will be joined by a melodic instrument. As well, we have two upcoming concerts with my percussion ensemble Varashan. 

I'm going to arrange something else, too--some performances at small venues downtown. When I was living in Greece, that was one of my favourite things to do. When there are only ten, maybe twenty people in a space, everyone can listen to everything. And for me, I need to listen to the hearts of my audience and feel their presence. If there are too many people, and they're too far away, I can't hear them. On the stage, as performers, you know, we are giving something to the audience, but people don't often realize that we are getting something, too. And so I'm working with my percussion ensemble and two guitarists--one a blues player, one flamenco--to reach out more to people this way.

E: Which venues will you play?

 P: One of the venues is still being sorted out, but the other one is in Kensington Market, called Café Pamenar. We'll play sometime in October. As well there will be a concert on Oct. 24th at Sarv Academy.

E: Many thanks for the interview, Pedram, and looking forward to your performances!

 Upcoming Events with Pedram…

On November 17, at 7:30pm, Pedram (along with musical guests) will be giving a free concert in Walter Hall at the Faculty of Music.

On December 3, at 7:30pm,  the Iranian Music Ensemble will be performing alongside the Klezmer Ensemble and the Japanese Taiko Ensemble in Walter Hall (admission free).