Intercultural Residency Series

The Intercultural Residency Series (ICRS) brings to Brandeis University artists of high accomplishment from around the world. The goal of these residencies is to deepen understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures through exploring artistic traditions, promoting intellectual inquiry, and encouraging cultural
exchange.

The ICRS takes place in the University setting and links the creative arts with academic inquiry in explorations of culture, history, and tradition. Building on the musical narrative of the World Music Series and the educational reflective goals of MusicUnitesUS, the Intercultural Residency Series at Brandeis University houses, for a few days each semester, a musical ensemble whose ethos is embedded in a particular social, cultural, and/or political setting. With music as the common medium, the ICRS addresses the eternal questions of social justice and peaceful coexistence in the global community through events that offer opportunities for intellectual inquiry, reflective process, experiential learning, and creative expression. Workshops with Brandeis students, integration with curricula of ongoing courses, panel discussions and lectures by Brandeis and visiting faculty, and dialogues in informal social gatherings connected with the residency invite the Brandeis community to experience the arts and facilitate a greater understanding of diversity. With support and collaboration from many departments and programs on campus, the series approaches cultural exploration with interdisciplinary, intercultural perspectives. Taking its cue from the diverse cultures on the Brandeis campus, the series has as its goal a deeper appreciation of the many worldviews that coexist today.

Fall Semester Residency:
Afro-Brazilian Music & Dance: Ologundê
Residency Events: October 18 - 20, 2007 (view schedule)
World Music Series Concert, Oct. 20, 2007

“…their daring gestures drew gasps from the audience” – Dayton Daily News

“When Ologundê members perform, color, clamor and captivation are the order of the day.” - Santa Fe New Mexican

The New York-based Ologundê ensemble celebrates the rich Afro-Brazilian culture of Salvador, Bahia through a diverse repertoire of music, dance and martial arts. Comprised of Brazilians living in the United States and Brazil, includes former members of world-renowned music and dance troupes and is under the direction of noted percussionist Dendê from the famed Timbalada band. The ensemble has performed throughout the US since its formation in 2002 and toured Greece as part of the Cultural Olympiad, appearing at the Kalamata Dance Festival and at the Athens Festival at the Acropolis.

Ologundê, which ranges from 8-15 members, performs a diverse repertoire which includes the rituals associated with candomblé, a synthesis of the Yoruba and Catholic religions in which various orixás (gods) are invoked; the breathtaking capoeira martial arts dance; maculêlê, a warrior dance which utilizes sticks and machetes and was originally created in the sugar cane fields by slaves; and the exhilarating samba de roda, which can be traced back to the semba of Angola.

More on the Performance
See Ologundê Video

 

Spring Semester Residency:
Chinese Modulations: Jiebing Chen and Yangqin Zhao
Residency Events: March 27 - 29, 2008 (view schedule)
World Music Series Concert: March 29, 2008

Associated Performances
Orphan of Zhao theater collaboration March/April, 2008
Jiebing Chen with the Lydian String Quartet in April

Jiebing Chen, erhu (2-string vertical violin) and Yangqin Zhao, yangqin (hammered dulcimer), offer a program that ranges from the Chinese classical repertory to cross-cultural explorations spanning time and place. Both artists, whose musical narratives begin in their native China, have successfully extended the boundaries of their traditions with technical innovation and stylistic virtuosity. Chen and Zhao have lived in the United States for the last 15 years.

Jiebing Chen’s colorful musicality and interpretive skills have resulted in overwhelming international acclaim as a solo interpreter of her instrument. Awarded the highest honors in China, including first prize in the National Competition of Traditional Instruments in Beijing, she was the youngest performer to be named National First Rank Performing Artist by the Chinese Government. Chen was the first to bring the erhu into the symphonic concert hall, performing as a featured soloist with Chinese, American, and European orchestras. Perhaps most compelling are her achievements as a cross-cultural performer; Chen has virtually reinvented the erhu for the 21st century, performing in partnership with some of the most notable jazz and world music artists of our time. Her artistry has made her the most recoded erhu artist in the world. Her CD, Tabula Rasa, a collaboration with Bela Fleck and Vishwa Bhatt, was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best World Music album.

Yangqin Zhao, prophetically named after the instrument she has become famous for playing, has established herself as one of the foremost yangqin performers in the world. In 1982, the Chinese Ministry of Cultural Affairs held the first national competition for folk music instrumentalists; Zhao, playing her namesake instrument, won the highest award. In 1987 and 1991, she performed in the Jiangsu Province Arts Festival and won First Prize on both occasions. Critics have praised the quality of her playing, comparing the surging momentum and tonal effect to that of a virtuoso piano performance. Zhao has been invited to perform in many countries, including Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Germany. In 1996 she was invited as master of the yangqin to the Tanz & Folk Fest Rudolstadt and later that year performed as the yangqin soloist with the Shanghai Ethnic Orchestra. In 2000, Zhao was invited to perform at the “Concert in the Wild Stage” by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin, Germany.

Listen to their music