See video recordings of past events.
Event Videos
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Film, VideoSwanky Kitchen Band
Performance by the Swanky Kitchen Band, which is on an essential quest to revive the traditional music of the Cayman Islands. Set amidst the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, the three tiny islands are home to kitchen dance music, an infectiously danceable fiddle-driven style. The kitchen dance sound, created through a crossroads of European and African influences, might have disappeared save for… -
Film, VideoConversation with Swanky Kitchen Band
Jon Lohman, director of the Center for Cultural Vibrancy, sits down with members of the Swanky Kitchen Band. The band is on an essential quest to revive the traditional music of the Cayman Islands. Set amidst the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, the three tiny islands are home to kitchen dance music, an infectiously danceable fiddle-driven style. The kitchen dance sound, created… -
Film, VideoConversation with Rachel Sumner and Traveling Light
Stephen Winick sits down with Rachel Sumner, Kat Wallace and Mike Siegel of Traveling Light to discuss their music. This Boston based acoustic trio come bearing new interpretations of traditional folk songs and lend their deeply rooted bluegrass know-how to tightly crafted original songs written by Lennon-Award-winning songwriter Sumner. In addition to their own songs, the group will performed their own take on songs… -
Film, VideoRachel Sumner and Traveling Light
Lennon-Award-winning songwriter Rachel Sumner sits at the helm of the string band Traveling Light (fiddle, guitar, bass). This Boston based acoustic trio come bearing new interpretations of traditional folk songs and lend their deeply rooted bluegrass know-how to tightly crafted original songs written by Sumner. In addition to some of their own songs, the group performed their own take on songs taken from the… -
Film, VideoIstiwanāt Live Arabic Music Ensemble
Istiwanāt Live! Arabic Music Ensemble reinterprets music that was originally performed 100 years ago for a transnational industry of Arab, Arab American and international record labels, and which has recently been released into the public domain. The concert is inspired by the "Archive Challenge," an initiative of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and draws on archived recordings in Loeb Library… -
Film, VideoConversation with Istiwanāt Live Arabic Music Ensemble
John Fenn sits down with Anne K. Rasmussen, Jared Holton, Albert Agha and Anne Elise Thomas of Istiwanāt Live! Arabic Music Ensemble. The group reinterprets music that was originally performed 100 years ago for a transnational industry of Arab, Arab American and international record labels, and which has recently been released into the public domain. The concert is inspired by the "Archive Challenge," an… -
Film, VideoSomapa Thai Dance Company
The Somapa Thai Dance Company will present traditional Thai music and selected Thai dance numbers. The group will showcase newly and innovatively arranged music numbers that are performed on different occasions and for functions in Thai society, including ceremonial music at Buddhist temples, music originating in the old Siamese royal court, and traditional music derived from regional folk tunes and other cultures in the… -
Film, VideoConversation with Somapa Thai Dance Company
Douglas Peach sits down with Suteera Nagavajara, Vorayot Suksaichon and Anant Narkkong to discuss Somapa Thai Dance Company's musical origins. The group is a distinguished Thai dance and music company based in the Washington DC area, featuring an accomplished Thai orchestra. Many of its artists have been trained with highly recognized dance and music masters, including National Artists and others from Chulalongkorn University and… -
Film, VideoFrom Folk to Baroque: Celtic Music Duo Rakish
Rakish is the duo of Violinist Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn. They take their name from the traditional Irish tune Rakish Paddy, an origin that aptly suits the duo and their shared background in traditional Irish and Scottish music. They draw on the music they grew up with and perform it in a way that reflects their shared interest in and love… -
Film, VideoConversation with Rakish
Violinist Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn of Rakish sit down with Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center. Rakish takes their name from the traditional Irish tune Rakish Paddy, an origin that aptly suits the duo and their shared background in traditional Irish and Scottish music. They draw on the music they grew up with and perform it in a way that… -
Film, VideoNorthern Resonance: Scandinavian Roots Music
Northern Resonance is a Scandinavian string trio rooted in traditional folk music. The trio performs traditional and newly composed roots music on a previously untested combination of instruments: viola d'amore, hardanger fiddle and nyckelharpa. Northern Resonance combines Scandinavian music with explosive rhythms and grand chamber-like arrangements, taking folk music in a new direction. The members of Northern Resonance are highly skilled and accomplished musicians… -
Film, VideoConversation with Northern Resonance
The three members of Northern Resonance speak with Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center. The trio performs traditional and newly composed roots music on a previously untested combination of instruments: viola d'amore, hardanger fiddle and nyckelharpa. Northern Resonance combines Scandinavian music with explosive rhythms and grand chamber-like arrangements, taking folk music in a new direction. The members of Northern Resonance are highly skilled… -
Film, VideoRev. Robert B. Jones Sr. Concert
Rev. Robert B. Jones Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than 30 years, Jones has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union… -
Film, VideoConversation with Rev. Robert B. Jones Sr.
Rev. Robert B. Jones Sr. speaks with Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center. Jones is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than 30 years, Jones has entertained and… -
Film, VideoConversation with Charly Lowry
Singer-songwriter Charly Lowry speaks with Stephen Winick and Megan Nicholas from the American Folklife Center. An Indigenous woman from Pembroke, North Carolina belonging to the Lumbee and Tuscarora Tribes, Lowry considers her work a platform for raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped and underserved Native communities. Lowry is a songwriter who accompanies herself on acoustic and electric guitars and Native American hand drum.… -
Film, VideoCharly Lowry: Lumbee-Tuscarora Singer and Songwriter
Charly Lowry is a dynamic singer-songwriter from Pembroke, North Carolina. An Indigenous woman belonging to the Lumbee and Tuscarora Tribes, sheconsiders her work a platform for raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped and underserved Native communities. Lowry is a songwriter who accompanies herself on acoustic and electric guitars and Native American hand drum. She earned a semi-finalist spot on season 3 of American… -
Film, VideoAlejandro Brittes Quartet: Masters of Chamamé
The Alejandro Brittes Quartet uses innovation to explores the traditional, cross-border chamamé musical genre, a confluence of indigenous Guaraní and Iberian Baroque influences, slow-cooked over centuries. The unique ensemble, based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, is composed of Alejandro Brittes (accordion) from Argentina, as well as Charlise Bandeira (flute), André Ely (seven-stringed guitar), and Carlos de Césaro (contrabass), all… -
Film, VideoConversation with Alejandro Brittes
Alejandro Brittes' musical career spans over 30 years. He has published 100 original compositions and nine albums, and has performed in ten nations in the Americas and Europe, collaborating with chamamé legends such as Raúl Barboza and Chango Spasiuk. For 2023 U.S. touring, Alejandro Brittes Quartet is supported by Ibermúsicas/Mid Atlantic Arts' Iber Exchange program, and the Lei de Incentivo a Cultura -- Rouanet… -
Film, VideoNani Noam Vazana: Ladino Singer, Musician, Composer
Noam "Nani" Vazana is one of the only artists in the world who writes and composes new songs in the endangered Ladino (or Judeo-Spanish) language, a very archaic form of Castilian Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews living mostly in Israel, the Balkans, North Africa, Greece, and Turkey. Ladino, which traveled to these areas with Jewish communities expelled from Spain in 1492, is very nearly… -
Film, VideoDeitsch: Traditional Folk Music, Made in Germany
Deitsch plays traditional songs and dance tunes from Germany, some of them 250 years old. For years, German folk music was neglected and nearly forgotten, or derided as old-fashioned and conservative. But now, arranged and interpreted in the style of modern folk music from Germany's European neighbors, it emerges timeless and contemporary at the same time. -
Film, VideoConversation with Gundrun Walther and Jürgen Treyz of Deitsch
Gudrun Walther (voice, violin, viola, diatonic accordion) and Jürgen Treyz (guitar, mandolin, mandola, voice) had built up years of experience with award-winning bands and projects before founding Deitsch as a duo in the mid 2000s. Their duo recordings won many awards, including the German Record Critics' Quarterly Prize in 2009. They have since added Barbara Hintermeier (violin, viola, voice) and Steffen Gabriel (flute, bagpipes,… -
Film, VideoFolklore Today/Folklore Tomorrow: Expanding the Conversation with Marilyn White
Folklorist Marilyn White, current President of the American Folklore Society, retired Professor at Kean University, and a pivotal member of such influential groups as the Association of African and African American Folklorists, City Lore (NYC), and the New Jersey Folklore Society, reflects on her career and the challenges that must be met for the field to become more inclusive and reflective of 21st century… -
Film, VideoConversation with Yuri Bukovynets of Hudaki Village Band
Watch a conversation with The Hudaki Village Band, who is made up of nine master musicians from the Ukrainian Carpathians. In the Maramures region, a mountainous area of Southwest Ukraine on the border with Romania and Hungary, village musicians are called hudaki. Various ethnic musical influences make the traditional music multifaceted and unique. Archaic Slavic vocal traditions, Romanian melodies, Jewish rhythms and Romany temperament… -
Film, VideoHudaki Village Band, Music from the Heart of Ukraine
The Hudaki Village Band is made up of nine master musicians from the Ukrainian Carpathians. In the Maramures region, a mountainous area of Southwest Ukraine on the border with Romania and Hungary, village musicians are called hudaki. Various ethnic musical influences make the traditional music multifaceted and unique.Archaic Slavic vocal traditions, Romanian melodies, Jewish rhythms and Romany temperament blend together in a local cross… -
Film, VideoAli Doğan Gönültaş Quartet
Ali Doğan Gönültaş is a Kurdish musician born in Turkey. A graduate of Kocaeli University in both archaeology and communications, he started his professional music career by founding the band Ze Tijê; the group has since released two albums and has performed hundreds of concerts in Turkey. Ali's oral history and field research, which he began in 2007, has led to the 2022 album…