This is a guest post by Issa Boulos, Coordinator, Community Music, and Arts Center.

What Is World Music?

The ‘World Music’ category describes all of the musical traditions found around the globe today. It includes indigenous, folk, ethnic, traditional, neotraditional, ritual, ceremonial music, and newer popular forms and mixed genres.

We Are the World Music Ensemble
The World Music Ensemble (WME) explores a diverse repertoire from all corners of the world, including various forms of classical, folk, and popular music from different cultural traditions. It celebrates the diversity and richness in our community. It also encourages its members and fans to learn and share more about and from each other.

Everyone Can Join
The Ensemble is open to all community members ages 15+. You must play any instrument, any level, and no auditions are required. The ability to read music is not required but is a plus. Teachers and professional musicians are invited to participate.

We’ll Start With What You Know
Everyone comes from somewhere! So some music is more familiar to you than others. Therefore, we’ll start with what you know best and can play well. Then, such familiar musical traditions will become a vehicle for more engaging discussions about our global musical connections. Then it will all make sense!

Suggestions and Inputs Are Welcome
We treasure your contributions and input so much. To us, the moment you walk into that door, you’re considered an expert, even when at times you don’t even know it! So your knowledge, ideas, opinions, skills, and favorite types of music will find a platform to shine. And by the way, we also welcome suggestions from the community.

There is Always Something New to Learn.
Whether you’re a member of the group or just supporting it by attending concerts, you’ll become culturally informed, artistically versatile, mindful, and receptive. The Ensemble addresses musical, cultural, and social diversity by highlighting the similarities and connections that all genres of music share. Each program is unique, with a lot of research behind it.

Our Rehearsals Are Hands-On
The Ensemble rehearses once a week, and rehearsals feel like hands-on workshops. The director often offers in-depth encounters with diverse musical traditions and incorporates research to make such explorations more authentic.

We Shall Perform!
You will enrich your musical experiences by taking them to the stage. So yes, there are plenty of performance opportunities that we provide.

Grow and Evolve
At Some point, you may want to teach the group a piece of music or a song and help us explore all the relationships that will eventually impact our performance. You may also arrange music for the group and start thinking about refining the tools that will help you decide about style, instrumentation, melody, harmony, phrasing, dynamics, articulations, embellishments, improvisation, color, timbre, form, and rhythm. While the process can get complicated when dealing with genres that are not as familiar to you, especially non-Western ones, we will help demystify these kinds of arrangements.

LMU0016 World Music Ensemble Information

• The World Music Ensemble is offered only in the fall and spring.
• Register online at ce.harpercollege.edu.