On March 17, Saturday, 5-7 pm
"When the Komuz Met the Keyboard: Folk and Pop Music in Modern Kyrgyzstan"
By Dennis Keen
Kyrgyz folk music has evolved from its ancient roots as a mostly solo musical form to its current state where "folk ensembles" must compete in an increasingly cut-throat music market. Traditional instruments, like the three-stringed komuz and metal jew's harp, now share the stage with keyboards and drum tracks. Meanwhile, pop music in Kyrgyzstan has met folk music halfway, utilizing traditional instrumentation and motifs as nationalist signifiers. What does the convergence of folk and pop music mean for the future of music in Kyrgyzstan? Come explore the modern world of Kyrgyz music at a talk by Fulbright Fellow Dennis Keen
Dennis Keen worked in the Kyrgyz Republic from September 2010 to July 2011 on a Fulbright Fellowship in Anthropology. Though his main research project was devoted to the Kyrgyz tradition of hunting with birds of prey, Mr. Keen's interest in ethnomusicology led him to pursue an apprenticeship in Kyrgyz folk instrumentation with the well-known komuzchu, Nurak Abdirakhmanov. Writing regularly for the regional magazine The Spektator, he had the opportunity to meet and interview the biggest names in contemporary Kyrgyz folk and pop music. Mr. Keen will be giving his second presentation at the Silk Road House after a talk on his falconry research in December.
Silk Road House, 1944 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 (between Milvia & Martin Luther King; enter by side door in passageway under black Zabu Zabu awning);
e-mail: silkroadhouse@yahoo.com;
