Conference: THE SOUL OF THE FIDDLE

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Calendar Event: March 28, 2004 - March 30, 2004

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A bit OT, but we all love the fiddle? Right?


You are invited to attend an international conference

THE SOUL OF THE FIDDLE:
THE FIDDLE IN TRADITIONAL CULTURES

Sunday 28 March - Tuesday 30 March 2004

School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS] University of London,
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
[Nearest tube: Russell Square]

Conference website: www.jmi.org.uk
E-mail: jmi@soas.ac.uk

>> The violin has its origins in Central Asian bowed string instruments
that have moved around the world, developing in many different ways.
Because of the importance of the violin in European culture, it has been
re-exported and absorbed by other cultural traditions, often alongside
more indigenous string instruments.

>> Our 3-day conference is for all fiddle enthusiasts and will explore
what a fiddle is, what makes it sound the way it does and the use of
fiddles in European and American folk traditions, in Middle Eastern and
Indian music ensembles, and in contemporary practice. It will examine the
role of bowed string instruments, their diversity, and their history. It
will include papers by academics as well as lecture-demonstrations by
master performers and instrument-makers including (to date, provisional
programme):

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SPEAKERS:

Mary Anne Alburger [Aberdeen]: The 'real' fiddle recovered from the wreck of
the Mary Rose which sank off Portsmouth in 1545.

Cahit Baylav [London]: "The violin in traditional Turkish art music and folk
music"

Margaret Birley [Horniman Museum, London]: "What is a fiddle? And what is
not a fiddle?"

Jon Boden [London] "In search of the English fiddle tradition: From the
Dancing Masters to the present day"

Pete Cooper [London]: "Thomas Hardy, John Clare and the English Fiddle
Tradition"

Ed Emery [Cambridge]: Arab musical connections in the early history of the
violin: rebecs etc.

Kyriakos Gouventas [Thessaloniki, Greece]: "The Greek-Anatolian tradition of
violin-playing"

Greenstar.org: "A musical journey in Palestine." Slide presentation.

Abdelkader Harir [Morocco]: "The Café was our Conservatoire: Music-making in
Morocco"

Colin Huehns [London]: "New Music for Chinese Erhu"

Sven Olav Lyngstad [Norway]: "The traditions of the Norwegian Hardanger
Fiddle": An overview of the instrument in different styles and different
parts of the country.

Balu Raguraman [London]: "Tradition and innovation: The growth of violin in
South Indian music"

Sophie Solomon [London]: 'Yidl mitn Fidl' - The Quintessential Jewish
Klezmer Instrument

Rick Townend [London]: "The Fiddle in Bluegrass Music"

Paul Wilson [Clerkenwell, London]: "Making copies of the Mary Rose fiddles"

Jim Woodhouse [Cambridge]: "Reverse engineering the violin." What makes the
fiddle sound the way it does?

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It is anticipated that we shall particularly discuss two-string and
three-string fiddles in the Middle East, East and Southeast Asia and
Islamic Africa, and elsewhere. We are interested in the organology of
violins and fiddles, particularly in a cross-cultural context. We also
look at historical diffusion and the socio-cultural reasons why particular
instrument versions have become favoured in specific cultural traditions
and instrument construction. The conference will cover both fiddles of the
violin type and indigenous bowed string instruments.

Fees: Full price GBP75, Students GBP45. Daily rate GBP25 Students' daily
rate GBP15.

Fees include lecture demonstrations by established fiddlers and
presentations of papers, as well as morning coffee, afternoon tea and
snack lunch.

The full conference fee also includes a ticket for the Soul of the Fiddle
Concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Monday 29 March at 7.45.pm. [See
below for concert details.] Please note: Day rates do not include the
concert ticket.

Some scholarships are available. Please send registration form with a
letter explaining the need for assistance.

Click here for Registration Form
http://www.jmi.org.uk/performance/fiddle04/SOF_registration_yourname.rtf
or write to:

JMI SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, UK

Tel: +44 (0)207 898 4307 Fax: +44 (0)207 898 4309
E-mail: jmi@soas.ac.uk

Website: www.jmi.org.uk or www.soulofthefiddle.org.uk

Conference Organiser: Ed Emery
Conference Administrator: Laoise Davidson (JMI)
Conference Directors: Dr Richard Widdess (SOAS), Dr Mary Anne Alburger
(Aberdeen), Geraldine Auerbach (JMI)


The "Soul of the Fiddle" Conference is organised and hosted by the AHRB
Centre for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance within the School of
Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in association
with the Jewish Music Institute SOAS and the University of Aberdeen Music
Research Group.

This conference is one element of a 3-part event, "The Soul of the Fiddle
- A Conference, Concert and Course", 28 March - 2 April 2004, which deals
with on the Fiddle in traditional cultures (see below). That in turn forms
part of the broader "Genius of the Violin Festival", 25 March - 4 April
2004, organised in association with BBC Radio 3 and The Strad magazine

www.geniusoftheviolin.org and www.jmi.org.uk and www.abdn.ac.uk/mrg

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The Soul of the Fiddle Concert at the QEH:

Bluegrass, British, Greek, Hardanger, Indian, Klezmer, and Turkish

Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, Monday 29 March, 7.45pm

[Participants registered for the 3-day SOAS conference will have a free
ticket for the concert.]

Jon Boden - Traditional English
Kyriakos Gouventas - Greek-Anatolian
Sven Olav Lyngstad - Norwegian Hardanger
Nedim Nalbantoglou - Turkish
Sophie Solomon - Eastern European Jewish Klezmer
Rick Townend - Bluegrass
Balu Raguraman - Indian

The distillation of many centuries of bows on strings. Acclaimed
traditional fiddlers from different cultural and geographical backgrounds
celebrate the instrument which has both inspired and shaped diverse
musical cultures. In this concert each tradition will have its own voice,
but the musicians will also share in a musical dialogue.

Tickets: GBP17.50 - GBP22.50, Box Office +44 (0)207 960 4242.

For more information contact JMI at:
Tel: +44 (0)208 909 2445
E-mail: jmi@soas.ac.uk

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The Soul of the Fiddle Courses at the Royal Academy of Music:

A Three-Day Course of Practical Workshops on the Hardanger, Klezmer or
Bluegrass Traditions

Wednesday 31 March to Friday 2 April 2004, 10.00am - 4.00pm

Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT (nearest tube Baker
Street)

Three-day course of workshops in a specific tradition for proficient
/advanced violinists of all backgrounds, with internationally renowned
teachers covering all aspects including ornamentation, phrasing,
repertoire, improvisation and the fiddle's role within a traditional
ensemble.

Sven Olav Lyngstad (Norwegian Hardanger)
Sophie Solomon (Eastern European Klezmer)
Rick Townend (American Bluegrass)

Tuition fees: GBP75 full course. GBP45 Students

For more information, and for registration for the course, contact:

Claire Warburton, Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT

Tel: +44 (0)207 873 7300
E-mail: c.warburton@ram.ac.uk

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