In honor of Professor Emerita Barbara B. Smith’s 100th birthday, Arlene Abiang shows why Prof. Smith is a cherished member of the UH-Mānoa music ʻohana “A celebration of a person’s 100th birthday is not unusual when a person reaches that milestone in life; however for me, though I never expected to reach it, the year 2020 is more important as …
Composer Donald Reid Womack awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor of Music Composition and Theory Donald Reid Womack was named a 2020 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The Guggenheim Fellowship is one of the major competitions for the arts and other fields. Womack is among a diverse group of 175 writers, scholars, artists and scientists from the U.S. and Canada to receive the achievement. The candidates were chosen through a …
Nā Wai Chamber Choir Performs at ACDA Conference
This past march, the music department’s choral ensemble-in-residence, Nā Wai Chamber Choir, was invited to perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Western Region Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Known for the preservation, propagation, and innovation of Hawaiian vocal music, Nā Wai Chamber Choir was one of the first ensembles of its kind to perform at the ACDA …
Return from French Polynesia
JANE FREEMAN MOULIN has returned to teaching after a 6-month return fieldwork period in French Polynesia. Research activity included: the presentation of four public lectures on Marquesan music and two lectures on Tahitian music and dance; a visit to the Marquesas Islands and the renewal of contacts with long-term co-workers and friends from the 1989 TSOM Survey in the Marquesas …
Pioneer of Korean Ethnomusicology
This past summer, Dr. Byong Lee was interviewed for his musical biography, to be released by the National Gugak Center of the Ministry of Culture, Information, Tourism and Sports of South Korea in two years, in book, video, and online format. He discusses his scholarly activities in the past 65 years. This one hour interview with the internet magazine, “Good …
Life and Legacy- Studying the Work of Stanley Kubrick
“This summer, Dr. Kate McQuiston was part of an international team of scholars that organized a workshop in the Netherlands on film director, Stanley Kubrick. With never-before-seen production materials still arriving at the Stanley Kubrick Archive in London, and a host of recent publications on Kubrick, the workshop fostered lively discussion about what we are still learning about the director …
Faculty composer Donald Reid Womack’s works premiered in Korea
Dr. Abigail Fine presents at Stony Brook University
Recently, UHM Musicology faculty Dr. Abigail Fine gave a presentation for the Sound and Secularity symposium at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. Here is what she has to say about the symposium and her presentation: “On April 12th, I presented at a symposium entitled Sound and Secularity at Stony Brook University. The interdisciplinary event brought together scholars from musicology, …
Dr. Jace Saplan Shares His Groundbreaking Work Nationally
Director of Choral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Jace Saplan is busy promoting his groundbreaking research and Hawaiian choral music across the nation. He recently returned from a conference titled “Transgender Singing Voice Conference” at Earlham College in Indiana. This is what Dr. Saplan has to say about his participation: “The conference is the first of its kind …
Alumnus and Faculty Member Ben Fairfield Receives Fulbright
The Department of Music is pleased to announce that Ben Fairfield (PhD University of Hawaiʻi 2017) has received a 2019-20 Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant. His project is to research Karen music, identity, and representation at the Karen Ecomuseum in Mae Sot, Thailand. He plans to be in Thailand from May-August 2020. An alumnus of the East-West Center, Ben is currently affiliate faculty with …