Pitt’s Festival of World Music to Take Place Dec. 4

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh campus will come alive with the song and dance of other cultures at Pitt’s second-annual Festival of World Music from 2 to 8 p.m. Dec. 4 in the ballroom of the William Pitt Union, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland. The festival is free and open to the public; families are welcome. 

The festival will feature African, Japanese, Indonesian, and East European music played by Pitt’s world music ensembles, comprising both undergraduate and graduate students. 

From 2 to 5 p.m., the Pitt African Music and Dance Ensemble, the University Gamelan Ensemble, and a Japanese ensemble will perform. Attendees can sample ethnic foods from these regions of the world. 

From 6 to 8 p.m., Pitt’s Carpathian Ensemble will invite guests to participate in a Slavic Dance Party, where attendees can learn songs and dances from the Carpathian and Balkan regions of Eastern Europe. 

Pitt’s Festival of World Music reflects the growing emphasis on performance within the Department of Music’s ethnomusicology program. Students are encouraged to play in a variety of ensembles to gain greater insights into the music of other cultures; they also can learn a variety of musical traditions through Pitt’s popular Introduction to World Music course. The Department of Music offers ethnomusicology courses on the music of Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe, as well as a popular music course titled Global Hip-Hop. 

For more information about the festival, call 412-624-4125, visit www.music.pitt.edu, or e-mail Pitt music professors Andrew Weintraub (anwein@pitt.edu) or Adriana Helbig (anh59@pitt.edu). 

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11/23/10/tmw/lks