World music performance comes to campus
By Isaiah Kramer
The Guardsman
The World Music Club is presenting their 10th annual music showcase featuring a Chinese ensemble student performance, a world fusion band and a post-concert reception with food.
Beginning at 7 p.m., the May 13 music showcase co-sponsored by the Concert and Lecture Series will take place in Diego Rivera Theatre and is open to the public.
Headlining act Ancient Future from San Rafael, is composed of over 20 band members, playing lesser-known instruments such as Arabic violin, scalobbed guitar and fretless keyboard, as well as award-winning belly dancers.
“In previous years we have focused primarily on Eastern and Asian Music. We chose Ancient Future because their mission statement is similar to our club’s—they promote world fusion music,” club president Mona To said.
Students from the instrument workshops will perform after intermission, but the majority of the concert will be devoted to Ancient Future.
By hiring the non-student band to play for the community, the club is presenting a more diverse and eclectic mix of world music genres, To said.
After the concert is a reception where audience members can gather to eat food provided by the club, communicate and learn more about world music.
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“This is more valuable to a certain degree than the concert itself,” club supervisor Benedict Lim said. “A lot of money raised goes to the reception and we’ve never had a complaint about the food.”
The reception and the showcase are opportunities for the student body and general public to gain insightful, first-hand experience of world music from a unique perspective, which is what the club is all about, Lim said.
Their focus is on learning about and appreciating world music. They also have monthly workshops where students get hands-on experience with unfamiliar musical instruments.
The club consists of approximately 100 student members and a smaller group of officers who meet weekly to discuss the critical questions related to the club’s operations and stimulate fundraising for events. Only a small portion of the club’s income is from the school, they rely primarily on fundraising.
Last semester the World Music Club put on the City College band competition, and with student fundraising was able to offer a $1,000 grand prize.
“There are a lot of things you can’t learn in classes or be taught in books. In World Music Club you go outside the classroom, fundraising gives you real life experience in the outside world,” To said.
City College has a wealth of music classes, from Latin American to jazz, and many members of World Music Club are music majors. But as the club’s mission statement indicates, you don’t have to be a musician or know anything about music to appreciate a free concert with a professional band.
The event is free but tickets must be reserved ahead of time through www.professorlim.org.
Email:
ikramer@theguardsman.com