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Showcase Example  . GLFF 2004 . |
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Tradition Showcases Traditions Showcases 2004 The Great Lakes Folk Festival strives to not only present great music but to inform audiences about the history and social context of the music. Each year a few on-stage sessions are devoted to musicians who share stories about their art as well as compare different styles and traditions of playing one type of instrument (i.e. fiddle, lute, accordion). Sessions are also devoted to tradition bearers from Michigan who share with audience members how they learned their skills and how they pass them on in their communities today. Traditions Showcase: Lute Traditions (Abbott Road Stage) 12:00 Saturday The lute is not an instrument familiar to most Americans. At this year’s festival, visitors will get to hear musicians from different cultures playing different lute-like instruments. Hear Gao Hong on the Chinese pipa, Aziz Herawi on the dutar from Afghanistan, and Abdul Karim Bader on the Arab American oud play and and discuss the differences and similarities between their instruments and styles of playing. Traditions Showcase: “Michigan Outdoors” (Abbott Road Stage) 1:15 Saturday and 3:30 Sunday This session will feature recipients of Michigan Heritage Awards who will discuss how Michigan’s natural surroundings provide the inspiration for ice rink building, boat building, decoy carving, and bamboo fly rod making. Traditions Showcase: Fiddle Traditions (MAC Stage) 3:30 Saturday and 12:00 on Sunday A group of 4-6 fiddlers, drawn from the diverse mix of festival performers, share tunes, stylings, and anecdotes about their art. Always a fascinating session. Traditions Showcase: Accordion Traditions (Abbott Road Stage) 5:00 Saturday How is Québecois accordion playing different from Zydeco style? Do Polish polka and Tejano polka have anything in common? Come to this entertaining and informative session and find out. Traditions Showcase: Hip-Hop (Abbott Road Stage) 1:00 Saturday and 3:00 on Sunday Come and find out more about the culture of hip-hop! Hip-hop encompasses an attitude and world view rendered in the form of stylized dress, language, poetry, and gestures associated with urban street culture and musically expressed in rap, one of the most vital forms of urban music. Hip-hop is often maligned, misunderstood, and stereotyped. This year’s festival provides an opportunity to dispel some of the stereotypes and gain an understanding about this worldwide, youth mass movement. Since its introduction into the mainstream media, rap music and hip hop culture have found their way into many different ethnic groups, with sometimes surprising variations. With special funding this year from the Michigan Humanities Council, the festival not only showcases three different traditions (Arab-American, Native American, and African American Gospel), but also gives performers a chance to talk about who they are, how they came to rap music, how it has affected their lives, and what distinguishes their respective styles. Artists may also do some comparative performing during these sessions.
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