Experience a Spectrum of Musics from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin
America, and Europe as played by MuzikoMonda, the world music ensemble at
The Boston Conservatory, Boston MA USA. Music is an important part of every
human culture on this Earth. It seems to serve the universal human need to
express, experience, and share feelings.
With all the conflicting differences we encounter among people in the world
today, music is an area where we can peacefully enjoy and celebrate each
other's differences. In this recording (our first) MuzikoMonda (MuMa) respectfully
and enthusiastically continues the ages-old process of balancing tradition
and innovation by researching, arranging, learning, and performing musics
from many parts of the world - illuminating the differences (and similarities)
of rhythms, phrasings, scales, harmonies, moods, instrument colors, and effects.
We adapt those musics to our instruments, or, more accurately, try to adapt
our instruments to those musics.
Our instruments include concert harp, cello, acoustic guitar, marimba,
and lots of percussion from many parts of the world - - drums, rattles, gongs,
cymbals, shakers, scrapers, rhythm sticks, and more. The five musicians are all
students or recent graduates of The Boston Conservatory.
For the summer of 2007, MuMa received a Project for Peace Grant from the
Davis United World College Scholars Program to tour youth audiences in the
Boston area. And in October 2007 MuMa provided the music for the
World Peace Forum at Columbia University NY USA. (Our name, MuzikoMonda, means
'world music' in the Esperanto Language.)
Welcome to MuMa Time!! We hope you enjoy the musics on this recording that
are familiar to you and those that are new to you.
Mission:
Often in our world, our cultural differences result in separation and barriers between people. But one area in which those differences are welcomed, shared, and celebrated is MUSIC. Music opens doors to communication and community, to pride and healthy curiosity, to mutual respect and mutual enjoyment of each other as individuals and as ambassadors of our various cultures.
Besides being committed to respect and honor each music tradition, MuMa is awed and excited by the variety of rhythms, scales, melodies, harmonies, moods, and instrument colors that human beings all over the world have created in the universal human need to express, experience, and share our feelings - - whether we are sad or happy, alone or together.
The amazing spectrum of musics reflect our various geographies and histories, which we explain as we introduce each piece. Audiences seem to enjoy experiencing the differences too - - whether the pieces we play are new to them or familiar to them.
We are eager to show and share all this with audiences everywhere!
