Global Sounds Concert on Sunday in Greek Theatre

The Global Sounds Concert, featuring music and culture from countries all over the world, will showcase performances at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Luther H. Jenkins Greek Theatre.

According to the Modlin Center for the Arts website, this free concert, open to students and the general public, will present music and dance performances from Japan, Indonesia, West Africa and Brazil.

The Global Sounds Concert is directed by Andrew McGraw, an assistant professor of music at the University of Richmond.

McGraw said the concert included community groups that he and Paul Yoon, visiting lecturer of music, teach, as well as the Global Sounds Ensemble.

The Global Sounds Ensemble is a 0.5-unit course that students can take for the FSVP general education requirement, McGraw said.

"In this class, nobody comes in with any facility," McGraw said. "They do not use notation. All of these are oral traditions. We can take any student -- with or without musical background."

The Global Sounds Ensemble learns music from three different traditions and will perform all three Sunday.

Balinese gamelan, a musical ensemble from Bali, Indonesia, was taught in the class, McGraw said. He said Balinese dancers from the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C. would appear dance at the concert.

The class also learned West African drumming, specifically from Ewe ethnic groups in Ghana, McGraw said. Nani Agbeli, a master and drummer dancer from Ghana, is coming to dance with both Richmond and University of Virginia dance students, McGraw said.

The final tradition the class learned was Taiko.

Yoon taught Taiko, a form of Japanese-American drumming. He said his Taiko class had only been practicing the drumming this semester. For most of them, this is their first introduction to any of the traditions, Yoon said.

"The important part of this ensemble is being able to experience and compare different traditions," McGraw said. "We know coming into it, you are never going to get to that level of virtuosity, so it's just an introduction."

"[The Global Sounds Concert] is a great showcase for the different traditions represented on UR campus," Yoon said. "It also shows the students that they can do it without any prior experience."

Brazilian ensembles, bossa nova and samba, will be the fourth tradition showcased at the concert, McGraw said. These traditions were taught by Kevin Harding, Mcgraw said.

"None of the [ensembles] are watered down; that's what they do back there," McGraw said. "Take it or leave it."

McGraw said this music was community-oriented, which differed from the individualized techniques of western tradition. He said the ensemble was about how the different groups of people united.

"[The Global Sounds Concert] is great because it will connect the community with the students, especially on campus," he said.

In case of rain, the Global Sounds Concert will be performed in the Camp Concert Hall in Booker Hall of Music.

Contact staff writer Marie Jayme at marie.jayme@richmond.edu