MFM Presents "Music Is Essential," a Zoom Roundtable Discussion Among MFM Membersโmusicians with a Deep Connection to African Musicโspeaking on the Value of Studying Music in Africa.
Date: Monday, October 7th, 2024
Time: 5:00 pm โ 6:30 pm. ET
Venue: ZOOM
Ticket: $5
Register and pay here:
https://mfmassociation.thrivecart.com/african-music-zoom-roundtable/
All registrees will receive a link to the video recording.
"I donโt want to jive you here tonight. I want you to look at me at something you have never seen before. Because 99% of the information you hear about Africa is WRONG.โ Fela Kuti...
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MFM Presents "Music Is Essential," a Zoom Roundtable Discussion Among MFM Membersโmusicians with a Deep Connection to African Musicโspeaking on the Value of Studying Music in Africa.
Date: Monday, October 7th, 2024
Time: 5:00 pm โ 6:30 pm. ET
Venue: ZOOM
Ticket: $5
Register and pay here:
https://mfmassociation.thrivecart.com/african-music-zoom-roundtable/
All registrees will receive a link to the video recording.
"I donโt want to jive you here tonight. I want you to look at me at something you have never seen before. Because 99% of the information you hear about Africa is WRONG.โ Fela Kuti
Event Description:
MFM President Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, aka SoSaLa, produces this event, and David Gilden will host the roundtable discussion.
This MFM event is the first to bring together musicians who have spent significant time in Africa to further their artistry. The panel will discuss their experiences in Africa and deep immersion in a foreign culture, experiences that can be realized only in this way.
The panel's MFM members will share their anecdotes and achievements and discuss the value of learning and experiencing African music at its origin. This is why we should encourage young musicians and academics to travel and gain exposure to African culture firsthand, developing lifelong friendships and collaborative partnerships.
World Music, and specifically African music, has always faced challenges in gaining a large audience in America. The more we can inspire younger musicians to learn from and collaborate with African artists and to incorporate global elements into their work, the richer their music will be.
Awareness of Africa, its countries, and their local culture needs to be recognized and celebrated. After all, Africa lies at the root of many of our famous American genres, from blues to hip-hop. Unfortunately, too few Americans truly understand these profound historical connections.
African music still receives little coverage in the United States. PRXโs Afropop Worldwide and BBC AMERICA are good sources of African programming, but they reach only a niche audience.
After MFMโs successful Zoom roundtable discussion about Fela Kuti, Sohrab decided to continue Zoom talk events about Africa, especially its music culture, because Music is essential in Africaโs everyday life. Music has the power to speak out for its people. It can still achieve social justice and organize people to stand up for their rights. Good examples of outstanding leadership are Fela Kuti (Nigeria), Thomas Mapfumo (Zimbabwe), and Bobi Wine (Uganda).
Indeed, Africa will continue to be a strong and growing force in international politics and public affairs. Africans must lead that charge, taking care of their politics to achieve โrealโ unity among nations. For African musicians as a workforce, this means establishing functioning unions in their respective countries. Individually, they must achieve and disseminate practical knowledge of the international music business, including the importance of copyright ownership, care for social justice and fair pay, and protocols for collaboration within the international musician community.
MFM is lucky to have members who care for African music and its culture. They have visited Africa multiple times, stayed and lived in their respective countries, and gotten involved with its local people as music students, music activists (cofounding NPOs), recording studio personnel, writers, interviewers, educators, and more. African music and its instruments lured them there to delve deeply into African cultures. These are the right people to speak about โtheirโ African experiences and share them with us.
The speakers are:
David Gilden (moderator), Duke Amayo, Noel Smith, Sylvain Leroux, Royal Hartigan, and Banning Eyre (Afro World Pop).
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