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Registration and attendance at the conference is free.

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Full conference programme as a PDF can be downloaded here –  NAFO Programme Final Draft

Link to Wednesday Conference Zoom Meeting is here.

9.30am – Panel 1 – GENDERED FIDDLES

Jasmine McMorran (Independent scholar)

• • • “Don’t Keep The Fiddle From Her”: a brief overview of women fiddling and composing in 19th and 20th century Cape Breton

      There currently exist two polarizing views on women in Cape Breton’s musical history. The first view suggests that women were excluded from fiddle playing because of their gender. The second view suggests that women have always been present in Cape Breton history as fiddlers and musicians, albeit rare in the 19th and early 20th century. In between these two generalizations, exists a more concrete, not insignificant number of women who were performing, playing, collecting tunes, and educating within the very complex, demanding, and restricted reality of being a woman in Cape Breton in the past 150 years. This paper will provide a more definitive overview of women in the 19th and turn of the 20th century; examining who was playing fiddle, in what contexts, and their legacy in terms of representation, repertoire, and education. Following World War II, there was an emergence of women composing fiddle tunes. In addition to introducing some of these composers and their compositions, I will contrast their lives and experiences, their music, performance careers, recordings, and compositions.The rich reserve of oral history, academic research, and archival holdings capturing the reflections and voices of Cape Breton musicians has allowed for a unique opportunity to sift through decades of interviews and specifically focus upon the history, contributions and unique experiences of women making and creating music on the island. The questions and presented in writings pertaining to feminist ethnography has informed a more nuanced approach to these women’s lives and music; challenging the definition and meaning of the roles of musician, composer, researcher and educator.

Adèle Commins (Dundalk Institute of Technology)

• • • The Boss’s Daughters: Women of the Gardiner Fiddle Tradition

      John Joe Gardiner, a contemporary of Michael Coleman, was born in Sligo in 1893 and moved to Dundalk, Co. Louth in 1929. He became a seminal figure in the local music scene, influencing many musicians who contributed to the development and promotion of Irish traditional music in the county. Gardiner’s influence continued through the musical lives of his daughters, Pat, Pauline and Noreen, who were also influenced by their aunt, John Joe’s sister, fiddle player Kathleen Harrington. In this paper I focus on the three Gardiner women and their musical lives, giving critical consideration to the challenges they faced as performers. Some of the key aspects to understanding the development of the Irish traditional music scene includes the emergence of Feis Dhún Dealgan and the success of the Siamsa Céilí Band, both of which the women were integrally involved. The impact of the Troubles and the women’s roles as mothers also shapes their musical lives. While the Siamsa Céilí Band achieved considerable national and international fame, including participating in the first tour by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann to the USA, the three daughters did not always feature for differing reasons. In addition to performing with the band, Pauline and Noreen were important teachers in the area. Other women also emerge on the local scene as both performers and teachers including Rose O’Connor and Peig McGrath. Monaghan-born composer Brian O’Kane, who is married to Pat, composed tunes in honour of the women. Brian and Pat formed the Fodhla Céilí Band, which included their sons. Finally, this paper recognises the legacy of the Gardiner sisters, noting the engagement with music by their children and grandchildren.

Ellie Níc Fhionnghaile (Dundalk Institute of Technology)

• • • Fidléir an Ghaeltacht? – the influence of Gaeltacht fiddle players on Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s commercial recordings

      There has been significant scholarship undertaken in Irish traditional music that identifies repertoire and stylistic approaches that can be associated primarily with Co. Donegal in the north west of Ireland. Fiddle traditions in Donegal have been subdivided into subregions but little attention has been focused on the division between Gaeltacht and Galltacht subregions. In this paper I focus on the career of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, a fiddle player predominantly recognised as the front person of Altan from the 1980s to the present. Born and raised in the North West Gaeltacht of Gaoth Dobhair, Ní Mhaonaigh is widely recognised as one of the leading exponents of the Donegal Fiddle tradition and has played a significant role in the dissemination of the tradition nationally and internationally. Although she learned the fiddle initially from her father Francie, Ní Mhaonaigh’s playing and repertoire was also influenced by other fiddlers from both Gaeltacht and Galltacht Donegal which is reflected in her commercial recordings. This paper seeks to critically evaluate the influence of Donegal fiddlers from Gaeltacht Donegal on Ní Mhaonaigh through an examination of her commercial recordings and associated materials including sleeve notes. These recordings have in turn played a significant role in the development of the soundscape and awareness of Donegal fiddle traditions on a local, national and international scale from the late 1970s to the present.

11.30 am – Panel 2 – NATIONAL MELODIES, GLOBAL HARMONY? IDENTITY, AGENCY, AND YOUTH CULTURAL PRODUCTION AT ETHNO-WORLD CAMPS

Laura Risk (University of Toronto)

• • • Discourses of Personal and National Authenticity at Ethno-World Youth Music Camps

      Beginning as a one-off folk music camp in Sweden in 1990, the Ethno-World program is now a network of youth music camps that take place in an ever-increasing number of locations around the globe. These camps distinguish themselves from other post-revival folk and traditional music camps in Europe and North America (Dabczynski 1994; Miller 2007; Risk 2013; Livingston 1999, 2014) through their “peer-to-peer” model of intercultural music teaching and learning and their stated goal of using nationally-associated repertoires to “combat xenophobia, intolerance and racism” (JMI 2020). Musicians at these camps, typically ages 13 to 30, are called upon to stage national identity by teaching traditional music from their country or region of origin to their peers. Unlike the professionalized world of music learning and teaching, where expertise is the basis of authority, the authority to share and represent culture at Ethno camps is granted by virtue of nationality.This panel brings together scholars from ethnomusicology and music education to present conclusions from a two-year arm’s length impact study of Ethno-World conducted under the auspices of an international inter-university collaboration. Through thematic analysis of 113 interviews, we explore the ways in which Ethno-World camps use traditional musics to produce a public-facing vision of nation-to-nation global harmony even as they celebrate a post-nationalist vision of global youth culture. We argue for increased attention to the role of voluntary associations and non-governmental organizations, such as music camps, in shaping present-day transmission of traditional repertoires.

Keegan Manson-Curry (University of Toronto)

• • • Sound Mapping and the Production of Place-Based Identities at Ethno-World

      Ethno-World attendees teach musical traditions brought with them from their countries of origin to peers—from other countries—within the specific locality of a given camp. The physical location of the camp and the national culture associated with it provide a backdrop that alters how these traditions are taught. The Ethno-World experience is thus shaped not only by the places that participants carry with them but also by the places in which they find themselves. This is the material manifestation of a specific form of post-nationalism that uses national identity as its fundamental unit of difference even as it celebrates a seeming universal humanity (Bohlman 2003). Critically, participants cite their geographic origins (or lack thereof) as a vital part of their musical identities, and the official Ethno-World approach also centers its definition of musical identity around specific national origins. This resonates with the growing recognition of the importance of place-based knowledge in human experience (Feld and Basso 1996; Ingold 2007; Impey 2018). Drawing upon trends where scholars explore public-facing, multimedia-based avenues for the production and sharing of knowledge (Beckley et al. 2007; Allen and Jobson 2016), this presentation documents our production of an online Ethno World Sound Map, a visual means of locating the assigned origins of the musical traditions represented by Ethno-World attendees in relation to the location of the camps themselves. Using this sound map, I analyze the multilayered senses of musical place and the identities they create that constitute the Ethno-World experience.

Roger Mantie and Pedro Tironi (University of Toronto)

• • • Moral Accountability in Cultural Production

      The teaching of music is often thought of as innocent and benign; until recently, for example, ethnomusicology has been more concerned with authenticity (Solis 2004) than morality. Drawing on the work of Westerlund (2019), Kallio argues that all music teaching and learning participates in a moral ecology: “[the complex and dynamic] broader historical and sociocultural operations of power that make certain expressions and identities possible and silence others” (Kallio 2021, 3). Taken further, music teachers function as what Goldman (2012) calls epistemic agents, i.e., those who participate in an epistemic system: “a social system that houses a variety of procedures, institutions, and patterns of interpersonal influence that affect the epistemic outcomes of its members” (Goldman 2012, 224). Ethnomusicologists, for example, typically participate in the epistemic system of the university, a system with built-in (though not always perfect) accountability measures. By contrast, Ethno-World, as an INGO (international non-governmental organization; see Boli and Thomas 2008), is only accountable to the NGO premise of “doing good” (Fisher 1997). In this presentation, I examine the discursive and non-discursive practices of the Ethno-World program to interrogate the political and moral dimensions of cultural production related to claims about interculturality, folk/world musics, and “global cultural heritage,” arguing that considerations of moral accountability have the potential to better inform university music teaching and learning practices.

11.30am – Panel 3 – LEGACIES

Jane McMorran (East Tennessee State University)

• • • The Musical Legacy of Ron Gonnella, Scottish Fiddler: 1930-1994

      This presentation argues that Ron Gonnella’s contributions greatly influenced the character of what is considered Scottish fiddling today—in particular, the re-invigoration of eighteenth and nineteenth-century fiddle repertoire. Born in Dundee, Scotland in 1930, Gonnella was well known through his BBC Scotland performances, his extensive discography of Scots fiddle and dance band recordings, his role as competition adjudicator, international performer and collaborator with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and many of its branches. In spite of Gonnella’s popularity and extensive body of work, he has been largely neglected in the formal literature. This presentation positions Gonnella’s legacy in a wider historical and social context of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. The absence of conventional resources necessitates the use of evidence that is both informal and anecdotal, and requires alternative ways of considering and assessing Gonnella’s musical contributions. Therefore, drawing on literary theorist Stanley Fish’s idea of the authority of interpretive communities, this presentation examines the meaning and value of Gonnella’s body of work through interrogation and study of the perceptions of three different communities of listeners.

Gregory Hansen (Arkansas State University)

• • • • Fiddling Around with Tradition in Folklore and Heritage Studies

        The idea of tradition is widely contested within various definitions of folklore in ways that are relevant to research on fiddling. Played out both the theory and practice of fiddling, we often see a tension between delimited versus expansive ideas about fiddling as a folk art. In this discourse, delimited perspectives posit a restricted idea of what constitutes traditional fiddling whereas expansive perspectives open up the scope of fiddle traditions to include a vast array of genres and styles. This tension perhaps cannot be fully resolved, but it can become a valuable resource for advancing new research frontiers. Has tradition outlived its usefulness as a distinctive element of the music? Or — how might the concept of tradition remain key to the idea of fiddling as a distinctive form of musical expression? How might different configurations of the general idea of tradition be applied to a wider range of research questions? Rather providing definitive answers to these questions — or continuing to play a winner-less definitional game — it is more useful to explore how various formulations of tradition are useful as analytical constructs. In this respect, broader concepts from folklore scholarship are especially relevant in broader research questions. These new perspectives allow researchers to explore a wide range of issues by considering numerous strands of tradition. When these strands are then woven into a parallel discourse in heritage studies, we can reconfigure tradition as a multifaceted aspect of creative expression that connects history with contemporary culture. This new discourse provides a useful basis for challenging the idea of tradition and heritage as relics of the past. The shift posits tradition as a component of systems of performances in the present thereby demonstrating the value of exploring heritage as an emergent process rather than a static collection of artifacts.

Keynote (6:00pm – 7:00pm)

Professor Sven Ahlbäck

“We hear what we know” - On the power of concepts and how traditional fiddle music in contemporary society can benefit from folk music theory.

Watch here.

Link to Thursday Conference Zoom meeting is here.

9.30am – Panel 4 – HISTORICAL CONTINUITIES AND CHANGE

Mick Brown (Independent scholar)

• • • • Traditional Music of Southwest Donegal: Context, Provenance and Continuity

        Orthodox characterisations of Irish Traditional Music routinely invoke notions of authenticity and provenance as defining features. However, the invention and subsequent dissemination of a standardised national tradition paradoxically served to eclipse the surviving, diverse musical legacy of that cohort of the population already hardest hit by the various catastrophes of the 19^th century. Southwest Donegal is one such region of the country where that musical legacy survived on its own terms into the 20^th century, relatively intact, and without particular reference to developments at a national level.There are intriguing features of the social and cultural history of this region and its musical traditions, the exploration of which can assist in contextualising both the music of the region itself, and its relationship to the standard incarnation. A defining feature of such a tradition is the extent to which, through the ages, various dances and tunes circulating nationally and internationally were assimilated locally. I propose to examine aspects of this relatively unreconstructed legacy side-by- side with contextual elements of a historical and geographical nature, in order to tell the story of the music of the region, and why this story has relevance to the exploration of traditional music in contemporary times.In order to pursue this line of enquiry, I will be relying on my own experience of this tradition over the past 30 years, which includes extensive contact and conversation with some of the older generation of instrumentalists, all now deceased. I intend to utilise a number of important anthropological and historical studies which suggest local context relevant to the music. Documentary research and conversations relating to other areas of the country have revealed several fascinating echoes of my observations in Southwest Donegal, and I will conclude with a number of questions for further debate and research.

Rosa Michaelson (University of St. Andrews)

• • • • Kerr’s Merry Melodies: change and continuity in industrial Glasgow

        Who was J. S. Kerr? Most Scottish traditional musicians know of him today as the publisher of Kerr’s Merry Melodies, four collections of large numbers of dance tunes for the violin “Specially arranged for the Ballroom”. The first books were published in Glasgow in the late nineteenth century, but little has been written about Kerr’s life. There is no doubt that the Merry Melodies were very popular and have been available, in the same format, with the same content, for between 135-150 years. The collections influenced many in the Scottish folk revival of the 70s and 80s, and copies are found in the archives of traditional music collectors, publishers, musicians and academics in Australia, America, Canada and England.Though J. S. Kerr died in 1893, his music publishing business continued under the same name after his death, possibly managed by his wife until 1909, printing Scottish dance music collected or composed by artists such as Will Starr, Adam Rennie, and Jimmie Shand, amongst others, into the 1960s. The Kerr Music Corporation Limited was founded in 1952, continuing to use the J. S. Kerr name, and is based at 79 Berkeley Street, Glasgow, an address now found on the front of many earlier publications. The publishing house currently includes the works of Bayley & Ferguson, and Mozart & Allan, some of Kerr’s main rivals.This paper describes J. S. Kerr’s life and work as a piano maker, musician, music seller and publisher in the expanding and increasingly industrialised city of Glasgow. A discussion of who might have bought or used the music he published, and the nineteenth century pianoforte trade, with its associated makers, tuners and sellers, and their involvement in music publishing, gives a wider context to his life and work.

Patricia Ballantyne (University of Aberdeen), Mats Melin (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • Seann Triubhas or Shean Trews: Popular Scottish dance culture and its relationship with Scottish Gaelic culture and language.

        In popular Scottish dance practice today the relationship between Scottish ‘Gàidhlig’ language (and in some cases other Celtic languages) and traditions and what performed on the dance floor is probably not even considered as an issue. However, by in this paper we focus both on the use of Gaelic names and terminology, the use of dances originating in the Gaidhealtachd without considering proper spellings and pronunciations, or understanding of earlier or current cultural contexts, and the transplantation of dances and names into the realm of the Gaelic speaker that were never there. The causes may range from pure and simple ignorance, to applying an element of exoticism to the dance by applying a Gaelic name or story to make the dance more attractive to the intended audience. One may, however, ask if there are deeper colonial origins and connotations in these behaviours, pointing at the ideas around presumed English speaking and educated high culture and equally suggested oral Gaelic ‘folk’ culture?  It is not our intention to apply a lens on all forms of cultural appropriation of Gaelic culture into English speaking, and now expanded global contexts of Scottish culture. But we aim to highlight snapshots from the dance culture where this seems to exist without anybody questioning its existence. Why are names such as Seann Triubhas continually being mis-spelled and mis-pronounced in publications, dance programmes, and websites around the globe, and how come that a Scandinavian folk dance taught in Vancouver, Canada in the 1950s ended up claimed as a Hebridean weaving dance, originating in the Uists and done to puirt-a-beul, when taught in east coast Scottish country dance summer schools in the 1960s. Is it harmless fun or are there other reasons behind the lack of a critical eye on the use of Scottish Gaelic traditions?

11.30am – Panel 5 – PRACTICE AS RESEARCH

Marta Cook (Independent scholar)

• • • • Jenny Picking Cockles: Performance-Based Research on the Irish Harp

        The modern lever harp is technically a percussion instrument. Sound production happens before each pluck, during the approach to and manipulation of the string, and in the manner of leaving the string; it does not happen continuously as a note is sustained. Pitches must be re- articulated if interrupted. Legato is always an illusion that begins in the imagination of the musician. Is this a type of virtual reality? Draíocht? Is it all just reality?My artistic practice in traditional music focuses on imagining and embodying a world that, as Adrienne Maree Brown writes in Emergent Strategy (2017,) I “long for and have not yet experienced.” Perhaps this world has existed before or will exist in the future; its precise orientation in linear time is only as relevant as the ability to perceive and create it. The harp is thus simultaneously a futuristic artifact (to the likes of Donnchadh Ó hAmhsaigh,) an emblem of hegemonic power, and a gateway for engaging embodied knowledge in traditional music.Listen again. And again. My fingers flick: each time, feedback. How many thousands of flicks before I notice it doesn’t start in the fingers at all? How many, before poetic imagery transforms into practical advice? If the sounds I dream can become real, what else could?My creative process for Jenny Picking Cockles (2021, 2’10”,) a harp performance inspired by a recording of Donegal fiddler Néillidh Boyle (1889-1961,) deeply engaged these questions. By presenting my performance and illuminating its practice-based methodology, particularly for the development of specific techniques and effects for playing traditional dance music on the harp, I aim to provoke deeper engagement with the potential subjectivities and realities that might arise from knowledge produced by embodied processes of action generated by imagination.

Gaila Kirdienė (Vytautas Magnus University)

• • • • • Traditional Fiddling Practice as Research: the Lithuanian Approach

          This paper is focused on traditional fiddling practice as research in Lithuania since the 1970s up to date. The aim is to reveal main approaches and possibilities as well as advantages or problems of such interplay of performance (as well as teaching, promoting) and researching.For this investigation, I interviewed a prominent Lithuanian musician, singer, tutor, and researcher Evaldas Vyčinas, who graduated as a viola player in 1979. I also rethought my own experience. Starting from his first fieldworks in the 1970s, Evaldas used to take his fiddle with him to get in touch with folk musicians easier and to encourage them to open up and perform for a stranger. Some instrumental folk tunes had already been known for him from home at an East Lithuanian town, where his father and two older brothers used to play fiddle, mandolin and guitar by ear. Therefore, he has always liked learning tunes or the accompanying voice from the most skilled musicians, asking their opinion about the correctness of his performance. He also prefers playing together (usually the accompaniment) during the fieldwork recording, as it helps to feel the construction and style of music, to ask about rhythmical and melodical patterns, ornamentations or bow strokes, etc. It happened quite often that the researcher would stay over a night or two, because such an interaction could last for hours on end and there was a lack of transport until the late 20th century.  It should still be questioned, however, how much a professional, classically trained musician could be regarded as an insider in various Lithuanian regions. However, a close human contact with some folk musicians such as visiting them time after time, as well as joint sessions on stage or workshops is the way to better understand and reveal Lithuanian traditional fiddling.

Claire Egan (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • • • The Art of Musical Gesture: A case study in the collaborative interactions between and Irish traditional fiddle player and an Irish traditional dancer

            Gesture encompasses multifaceted features connected to the concept of movement. The two main categories that gesture would imply are physical (bodily) and mental (imaginary), within which are sub-categories of gestural concepts such as ancillary gestures, which are separate from sound gestures. Therefore, musical gesture implies the same principals of movement within the music itself and the emotional and aesthetic intent. We observe certain nuances of gesture that we subconsciously interact with particularly when collaborating with other artists. The role of gesture as a tool in collaborative engagements holds a vital place within the production and communication between performers and the audience. To investigate these ideas further I collaborated with dancer Sarah Fennell in creating a performance focused on gesture based compositional practice and research. The piece breaks down the integral components of dance movement and musical movement and is a journey and descriptive story of the connection and communication between the two art forms and interrogating the theories of movement and sound.This paper presents an examination of gesture in Irish traditional Fiddle and Irish Dance performance, within an Arts Practice approach giving an insight into the musical structure itself, particularly that of phrasing. The broader aims of this work are to contribute to the wider discourses on the connections between music and movement using an interdisciplinary approach drawing on theories and methods from the fields of ethnomusicology, embodied musical cognition and gestural studies. This paper will present my findings on the creative process through Arts Practice methodologies including presentations of journaling and documentary visual clips of the performance.

11.30am – Panel 6 – REGIONS

Sophie Lavoie (Independent scholar)

• • • • • Fiddlers of Saguenay (Quebec): The Art of Finding Originality on Common Ground

          Sophie Lavoie will present the results of her research on fiddle players of the region of Saguenay, in Quebec. This region has been isolated from the rest of the Province of Quebec for over 100 years after its colonisation in 1838, due to a particular topography and the lack of roads and communications. Amongst traditional musicians in the province of Quebec, it has commonly been said that these fiddlers have a unique style.This study presents the results on the comparative study of 4 fiddle players of Saguenay aged between 75 and 91 years old. Results relating to terminology, repertoire, key, asymmetry, ornamentation and bowing techniques will be discussed. These results will show how our four fiddlers share common ground. However, by searching for this common ground, we have found that the aesthetic of solo playing, as well as the importance of originality amongst these fiddlers, has shaped their playing in a relatively different way from each other. Unique versions of common tunes have been developed by fiddlers, while variation is used to a large extent to make the tune unique to each fiddler.

Bridget O’Connell (Waterford Institute of Technology)

• • • • • Fiddle Style Versus Fiddle Sound: Observing Newfoundland Fiddle Playing in the 21st Century.

          The theories put forward on the concept of musical style by Lawrence E. McCullough, Dr Niall Keegan, Dr Matt Cranitch and Ken Perlman, all acknowledge the communalities of style in relation to repertoire, techniques and characteristics such as ornamentation, tempo, accentuation, articulation, phrasing and variation. When observing Newfoundland fiddle music, it was quickly realised that there was a problem of discovering a scientific categorical structure, where every category of style had specific attributes and characteristics to separate it from the other. It was the creativity and individuality of fiddle players in each area that led to these observations. It was also the direct impact of media influences on Newfoundland fiddle playing across the island that led to its diversity and the difficulties in defining geographical based fiddle styles with common characteristics. Having considered the fieldwork data collected for this research, it was noted that in the 21^st century, there is not one ‘single’ Newfoundland fiddle style and regional fiddle styles are no longer easily definable.It is not uncommon in Newfoundland for fiddle players to play fiddle repertoire from more than one tradition. Fiddle players now choose what they like to play rather than choosing only regional music associated with their particular area. Indeed, the term fiddle ‘sound’ is more apt when discussing fiddle music in Newfoundland, as there are not enough communalities in each geographical area to define fiddle playing as distinctive regional/area styles. In each geographical area, there are many variants of fiddle playing. There is more than one type of fiddle playing apparent in each area. There are, however a number of elements in common to define fiddle playing as Newfoundland sounds and these include the ‘drive’, and the more technical aspects of the music such as tempo, phrasing and accentuation of the music.

Karin L. Eriksson (Linnaeus University, Sweden)

• • • • Aural/Oral transmission – prerequisite for defining 'folk music'?

        Gehörstradering – or aural/oral transmission – is often regarded as a central aspect when presenting and defining Swedish folk music. It is also the most prominent method used for teaching at different sites of learning folk music in Sweden. As such, it is a well-developed and effective way for teach and learn the music. It can however be debated if this method is primarily used for didactical and/or ideological reasons, which will be discussed during my presentation.The starting point for the discussion will be the use of gehörstradering at workshops in Swedish traditional music. They are characterized by being temporary in their character, based on group teaching, and with a strong emphasis on aural/oral transmission. By being this, they are also an important arena for strengthen the central position of gehörstradering within the Swedish folk milieu. During the presentation, I will describe the use of gehörstradering at the workshops, but also historical contextualize it. The presentation is based on fieldwork and documentation of twelve teachers at eleven different workshops during 2013–2015. The presentation is also part of a larger study that explores the workshops as educational arenas within the Swedish folk music environment.

Link to Friday Conference Zoom meeting is here.

9.30am – Panel 4 – GLOBALISATIONS

Rosa Pampillo (Aveiro Univeristy, Portugal)

• • • • Rethinking the Galician Fiddle: from Galicia to the Planet

        The Galicia Fiddle Cultural Association started its activity in 2010. Since then, they have been working actively around the Galician fiddle by organising courses and concerts with outstanding musicians from the Spanish and international music scene, creating an expansive route from Galicia to Europe, America, Africa and Asia. As a consequence, fiddle players from Galicia and other countries have been weaving a net of transnational interweaving around the processes of musical practice of the fiddle within the frame mark of traditional and folk music from Galicia. Through these transnational and mobility processes, an expansive trajectory in different parts of the planet has been built around the Galician fiddle.
        In this context, I am developing an ethnomusicological study focused on these planetary dynamics around the fiddle in southern Galicia in the last twenty years. This journey can be understood through the concept of Planetarism in the sense of: “Interrelatedness that runs along smooth surfaces, comprises multitudes, and manifests movements” (Song, 2015). Besides, Planetarism also allows for understanding the artivism: the direct actions through music and arts that Galicia Fiddle Association has been employing with anecological vision and horizontal policies, and which foster relationships and the creation of shared spaces between professional and amateur musicians.
        In order to develop this study, I used the ethnographic method through participant observation in concerts, festivals, courses and congresses around the fiddle. Aware of the critical and questioning power of auto- ethnography, through it I intended to make visible the dominant and oppressive discourses that have been built around the violin for centuries and how in Galicia, in the context of Galicia Fiddle and the e-Trad in Vigo, there is a set of intentions of change and the creation of alternative performance contexts, which are developed under horizontality policies.

Luiz Moretto (King’s College)

• • • • Kriolu contradance fiddle playing in a Cape Verdean diasporic community

        In the nineteenth century English contradance flourished through the Atlantic Ocean routes. As medium of self-identification for the emerging middle classes in Western Europe, contradance and quadrille travelled with Dutch and French navigators. Historically located in the route from Europe and Africa to the Americas, and lately becoming an important stopover, Cape Verde incorporated European dances like the contradance and mazurka as important signifiers for the Kriolu culture. As social dance, contradance became widespread, particularly in the islands of Santo Antão and São Nicolau.As occurred in the Caribbean islands and in other parts of the African diaspora, in Cape Verde the contradance combined to form a unique musical genre played with the autochthonous rhythms found in the archipelago, shaping fiddle playing style in the Kriolu tradition. This paper aims to analyse the contradance in Cape Verde, its repertoire based on fiddle, accounting the main reference in the contemporary contradance fiddle playing, by analysing the player Nhô Kzik’s performance. Beyond the ballroom dance practice which once characterized the contradance, the fiddle music has migrated to local festivals and performance venues following the internationalization of the Kriolu music construction in new spaces of culture in the diaspora. These new practices challenge our comprehension on both the performance and the instrument’s social meaning.

Alexandra Ustyugova (Moscow P. Jurgenson Music School)

• • • • Features design of the medieval fiddles from North-West of Russia

        Historical information, we have today, give grounds to assert that performing on bowed string instruments was widespread in the musical life of Ancient Russia. The beginnings of the performing on East Slavic bowed instruments go back to ancient times. The bowed string instruments have been known in Russia since the X–XI centuries, as indicated by written sources and archaeological finds in the territory of North-West Russia. Thanks to the discovery of the Novgorod archaeological expedition, we got the opportunity to study the samples of ancient Russian bowed instruments (X–XV centuries) that have come down to us from time immemorial (X–XV centuries) in their original form.This presentation describes and systematizes of materials from archaeological expeditions of the North-West of Russia (Pskov and Velikiy Novgorod) for the period from 1954 to 2004 in relation to the bowed instruments. The analysis of archaeological artifacts made it possible to get an idea of the appearance of ancient Russian bowed instruments. As a result of the research of the design features of the finds details of medieval bowed instruments of the North-West of Russia, the main typical variants of heads (including the ways of positioning the pegs holes) and bridges were identified.

11.30am – Panel 8 – CROSS CULTURES, CROSS GENRES

Paul Clesham (University College Cork)

• • • • Exploring Cross-Cultural Creativity in Musical Arrangement: A Case Study of Violinists Lucia MacPartlin and Maria Ryan

        This case study will examine the musical arrangements of acclaimed violinists Lucia MacPartlin and Maria Ryan, through their musical careers as a duet along with their participation in the group ‘Strung’. Both are classically trained violinists as well as traditional Irish fiddle players. Through ethnographic fieldwork and musical analysis, this paper will explore their creativity relating to cross-cultural arrangements and how they consequently establish a medium for cultural interface.The dichotomy surrounding the dual competencies of the oral tradition non-textual aesthetics in contrast to the non-orally orientated Western performance practices presents diverse independent characteristics. The creativity and a certain ‘looseness’ associated with the oral creative process in Irish traditional music, and also how the “creative impulse lives in the moment of performance itself” (Ní Shíocháin, 2009) will be highly relevant throughout this paper whilst exploring the ways in which both of these musicians competently interface these musical worlds. Bi-musicality (Hood, 1960) plays a pivotal role in both of these musicians’ creative endeavours. The limitations of music notation (Cook, 2013), as well as the significance of bowing (Cranitch, 2008) and rhythmic enunciation will be explored with focus on the distinct characteristics of each musical tradition. The benefits of both their formal and informal learning (Folkestad, 2006) throughout their careers will be examined, displaying how this has greatly augmented the dual competencies of these musicians.Elaborating on the topic of creativity in music (Bayley, 2017; Hill, 2018) and the creative process in Irish traditional music (Ó Súilleabháin, 1990), the aesthetic values of creative and compositional practices will be explored in depth, with particular focus on how they interact, co-exist and combine to create new cross-cultural arrangements drawing on Irish traditional practices

Carrie Erving (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • On Creating a ‘Hybrid’ Sound: Multi-genre Music in the Irish Traditional Music Space

        In this lecture presentation, I will explore emerging themes and questions raised as a current Arts-Practice PhD student researching the practice of making ‘hybrid’ multi-genre music that is informed by Irish traditional song. I will specifically examine the creation of a recent EP, in which I recorded traditional Irish songs, but allowed the song arrangements and production to be informed by my own history as a musician working in other genres. I will explore the elements of production and recording that were utilized and examine the use of the cello as a ‘non-traditional’ instrument that both inherently connotates and pushes the boundaries of the role of the fiddle sound within the arrangement and orchestration of traditional Irish songs. I will also examine examples of the work of other musicians, such as Iarla Ó Lionáird and Sinéad O’Connor, who have arranged and recorded traditional Irish songs in ‘non-traditional’ ways. This presentation will examine the themes of Arts Practice Research, genre categorization, contemporary audio production, and traditional Irish song.

Colm Kelly (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • Etymology for Musicians: An autoethnographic analysis of a Jazz Guitarist learning Folk Fiddle

        This paper poses the question: Can socio-linguistic methodologies for understanding other musical styles be developed in the context of social identity theory to assist a peripatetic musician engage in new styles while still applying their the musical language consistent with their personal identity?The aim of this paper is to consider socio-linguistic tools, in the context of identity, as a method for engaging in diverse musical styles. The paper presents an analysis of my approach to understanding a new style, and a new instrument, i.e. folk fiddle, in the context of my pre-existing identities as a guitar player in western art, folk, folk and jazz styles.The paper considers my engagement with the language and theory of a new style, on a new instrument, and my consolidation of that language and theory in the context of the music theory of the other styles that I retain a fluency in. The language of, and about, music is considered as it applies to differing styles of music as I seek to understand a new musical language using the vocabulary of the musical language consistent with my identity as a musician of a number of styles.To do so, I consider the extant frameworks for navigating styles including ‘code-switching’ and ‘bi-musicality’, and propose that an approach relating to social identity can allow a musician to contextualise a new style within their existing musical understanding and its language. Slobin posited ‘questions of whether musicians carry more than one set of rules simultaneously and whether and why they choose to move from one to another in the course of a single performance’ (Slobin, 1979). I propose that understanding the social context of the musical languages, and understanding the etymology of the musical languages, could allow for a core musical language with multiple simultaneous sets of rules. I propose the use of this core, personal, identity can assist me in engaging in multiple styles using a personal, single, code linked to my identity as a musician rather than translating between languages. In other words, I seek to develop a multi-functional code to engage in all my musical interactions, rather than switching between codes.

11.30am – Panel 9 – AESTHETIC TRANSFORMATIONS

Adrian Scahill (Maynooth University)

• • • • ‘Damned traditional’ fiddlers, string bands, and orchestras: fiddlers as dance musicians during the Gaelic Revival (c1900–1927)

        While a lot of scholarship has been carried out on changing dancing practices during the Gaelic Revival, much less attention has been given to the musicians that enabled this dancing, particularly in the period before the introduction of radio broadcasting and recording. This paper concentrates on the period leading up to the invention of the céilí band (c1900-27), looking more closely at how already well-established popular dance-music ensembles (such as string bands and orchestras) intersected with the new dancing practices of Gaelic revivalist circles, especially in urban areas (both cities and small towns). It will also reflect on the impact of what James Nott describes as the ‘revolution in popular dancing’, which transformed the landscape (and soundscape) of the Irish dance scene around the 1920s. Integrated into this is a focus on the role of fiddlers (and violinists) in urban ensembles, tracing the continuities (and transformations) between earlier forms of dance music and the emergent céilí band.

Anne Lederman (Independent scholar)

• • • • “There’s no room to breathe in that music”: Popular Tunes Transformed by the Indigenous Aesthetic

        In Indigenous fiddle tradition on the Canadian prairies are many identifiable examples of Scottish, French-Canadian and American tunes whose form has been altered to be significantly more irregular than the originals. This paper will look at some of the tunes that probably came from popular U.S. sources, such as “Girl I Left Behind,” “Turkey in the Straw,” “Arkansas Traveler,” “Kingdom Coming,” and “Home Sweet Home,” amongst others, considering the path of their evolution particularly in Indigenous communities in southwestern Manitoba, where we have some of the oldest recorded examples. In some cases, the ‘crooked’ version has evolved as a tune in its own right, and exists alongside the ‘straight’ version, whose kinship is sometimes recognized as a ‘brother’ tune. I postulate that the degree of asymmetry could be one measure of the age of the tune in Indigenous communities, and can tell us much about the Indigenous aesthetic.

Chelsey Zimmerman (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • Fiddling on the Vaudeville Stage: Irish Traditional Music and American Popular Entertainment in the 19th and 20th Centuries

        Late 19^th and early 20^th century popular and theatrical entertainment played a major role in many emigrant Irish traditional musician’s careers in the United States. These shows provided a gateway into the American music industry for several musicians, such as uilleann pipers Tom Ennis and Patsy Touhey. The nature of these theatrical productions necessitated that musicians exhibit traditional music in what was perhaps a more presentational manner than the standard in rural Ireland. This added a new dimension to the tension between music for dancing and music for purely listening purposes that is perhaps ever present in the tradition. This paper describes how, along with dance halls, radio, and recording, these early theatrical productions offered another avenue into professional musicianship for Irish traditional musicians in urban America. This paper draws upon sources in Irish music from Mick Moloney (2009)(1993)(1992) and Harry Bradshaw (1991) (2015), as well as early theatre from Robert Lewis (2007) and Robert Snyder (2006). Stage productions like variety shows, minstrelsy, and vaudeville are also analyzed using primary sources like historical Irish-American newspapers. This paper explores how theatrical performances helped Irish traditional musicians develop their skills as entertainers and their music for the American stage.

Link to Saturday Conference Zoom Meeting is here.

9.30am – Panel 10 – SCOTTISH TRADITIONS

Daithí Kearney (Dundalk Institute of Technology)

• • • • My Brigadoon Moment: Distinguishing Between Heritage and Tradition in Fochabers

        William Marshall (1748–1883) is a significant figure in the ‘Golden Age’ of Scottish fiddle music and a composer of note. Born and buried in the village of Fochabers, this paper engages with my experiences of the local music scene, focused in particular on two recurring events, Fochabers Fiddle Week and Speyfest. Moving between the activities of the festival in the village and the sites of memory associated with or dedicated to Marshall, it is notable that Marshall is more evident in the narratives and landscapes rather than my experience of the soundscape of Scottish traditional music in Fochabers. This paper provides a brief introduction to Marshall and his music with a focus on his presence in the landscape and soundscape of the north east of Scotland today. Informed by ethnographic experiences at festivals, participating in workshops and sessions, and conversations with musicians, I reflect on the different emic and etic perspectives on a local musical figure and his representation as part of local heritage. The paper raises questions regarding the disconnect between musical heritage and musical traditions, highlighting the processes of memory and selectivity in the evolution of traditional musics, the impact of commercialisation, and the importance for ethnomusicologists to engage with lived musical experiences.

Dir: Xian Wei Desmond Ooi and Daithí Kearney (Dundalk Institute of Technology)

• • • • Film: Finding Fochabers

        ‘Finding Fochabers’ follows composer and performer Daithí Kearney to the North East of Scotland where he participates at the Celtic music festival Speyfest. It reflects on his engagement as a researcher over a number of fieldtrips with the history and culture of the area and his response through creative arts practice. ‘Finding Fochabers’ highlights the legacy of a local musician and teacher, James Alexander and older fiddle traditions of composer William Marshall, who is buried near Fochabers and includes new instrumental and vocal compositions by Kearney. The documentary film provides a medium through which a creative artist can present new composition in context, engaging with ethnomusicology in a digital sphere by creating new possibilities for performance and composition and develops the concept of ‘Performance as Research.’

Stuart Eydmann (University of Edinburgh)

• • • Jock Ritchie of Inverkeithing, Fife: A fiddler and his music in the early folk music revival in Scotland.

      This proposed paper will be focussed on the fiddler Jock Ritchie of Inverkeithing, Fife, and will be principally concerned with his role in, and contribution, to the first, crucial phase of the instrument’s usage in mid-twentieth century Scotland. Just as the post-war folk music revival took off, Jock was ‘discovered’ and adopted into the activities of the young promoters of a new traditional music culture in Scotland as they worked to emulate the lively musical developments they had experienced Ireland.The presentation will consider how Jock’s rootedness, unaffected authenticity, experience, personality and, of course, his music, made him an ideal choice as a role model and how this was fulfilled. It will also explore how his music was affected and changed in return, before his position was assumed by other figureheads from a younger generation with different emphases and directions. Attention will be paid to the relevance and potential of Jock’s music today and the recent rediscovery of his compositions by current musicians, including those of his own family. The paper will draw on the presenter’s previous detailed and theoretical work on instrumental revivals in Scotland and will help fill important gaps in the field and in scholarship on music change more widely. Use will be made of archival recordings and photographs, ephemera and family-held material.

11.30am – Panel 11 – MELODIC AND MUSICOLOGICAL ANALYSES

Anthony Cahill (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • ‘Connection with the song’: examining the representation of sean-nós singing style in a traditional fiddle player’s adaptation of Port na bPucaí

        Despite a growing body of literature on both Irish traditional instrumental music and sean-nós song, scholars have largely neglected the topic of slow airs. Within the few existing sources that discuss them, a prevalent theme is their interpretation and the relationship between song-based airs and their corresponding sean-nós songs. Many agree that the phrasing, ornamentation and variation in a song-based air should resemble the practices of the sean-nós singing tradition (Ó Canainn 1993, 1995; Ó Riada 1982). While this view is widely accepted by traditional musicians, there are also many instrumentalists in the living tradition who do not prioritise the close referencing of the associated song in their air playing. Thus, I have identified two contrasting schools of thought in slow air playing: essentialist and non-essentialist (Cahill 2020). In relation to the essentialist approach to air playing, two major questions arise: how does an instrumentalist effectively represent sean-nós singing style, and to what extent do instrumentalists balance this representation with the conventional ornaments and techniques associated with their instrument? In comparing the analysis of a well-known traditional fiddle player’s interpretation of the slow air version of Port na bPucaí with the analysis of the song version from which they have stated that their interpretation was informed, this paper aims to shed new light on the relationship between sean-nós songs and their corresponding slow airs.

Jean Duval, (Independent scholar)

• • • • The Irish influence on traditional fiddle music in Quebec

        Many people in Quebec will spontaneously say that Irish music has had a major influence on traditional music in the province. Is this general opinion substantiated, or is it merely a perception? This paper will give an overview of the influence of Irish traditional music on the repertoire and fiddle styles played in Quebec. It will be based on commercial recordings, musical analyses, and archival material, and will cover the period from 1760 to the present.  Fiddlers from French musical backgrounds had assimilated the Scotch reel and the English hornpipe by the end of the 18^th century. Long before mainstream Irish immigration to Quebec (1820 to 1870), a definite Québécois fiddle style already existed. During the 19^thcentury, influences from continental European music (quadrilles, polkas, waltzes) and from American music – through the French Canadian diaspora in New England – were dominant. An analysis of fiddle recordings made in Quebec during the 1920s and 1930s reveals very few examples of what might be regarded as ‘an Irish influence,’ whether in tune types (very few double jigs), or tune modes (very few tunes in Myxolydian or Dorian modes). In areas where Irish immigrants settled (Portneuf, Outaouais), there were more obvious exchanges and influences. After the Second World War, fiddler Jean Carignan’s admiration for the Sligo masters had an influence on the repertoire played, but this was largely secondary to the omnipresent influence of American fiddle music. Since the revival of Québécois traditional music in the 1970s, direct access to recordings and bands playing Irish traditional music has facilitated a constant influence of Irish traditional music on the repertoires and playing styles of fiddlers in Quebec. The paper will argue that the perceived influence of Irish traditional music on Québécois music is probably greater than it actually was in reality. Reasons for this perception, for example, the long-standing historical and cultural empathy between the two peoples, will be explored in the conclusion.

Seán Doherty, Dublin City University

• • • • Melodic Structures in Irish Traditional Dance Tunes

        This paper will introduce a standardised methodology that has been developed for the motivic analysis of dance tunes in Irish traditional music. This methodology is built on a survey of the  double jigs in O’Neill’s 1001 Gems (1907), an historical collection that constitutes the core repertoire of the tradition. This dataset of 365 tunes demonstrates the prevalence of three melodic structures: period (39%), sentence (10%), and hybrid (37%). Of these structures, sentence and non-standard structures are more likely to occur in the tunes’ second part and beyond. Tunes with parallel structures (e.g. double period, double hybrid) are more common than their divergent counterparts. This survey considers the repetition of motives both within their originating part (internal repetition) and outside their originating part (external repetition) and shows that as the number of parts increases, so too does the amount of average overall repetition. The findings of this survey provide a baseline to assess other tune types (reel, hornpipe, etc.), historical tune collections, regional repertoires, and the output of individual composers.

Conor Arkins (University College Cork)

• • • Taking Flight: Exploring the Life and Music of Bobby Casey.

      This paper explores aspects of my ongoing MRes research on the life and music of the prolific West-Clare fiddle player, Bobby Casey. The study employs ethnographic fieldwork interviews with exponents of Bobby’s music. It also engages in musical analysis of Bobby’s music from published recordings as well as recordings from the ITMA and Clare County Library. Initial research examining Bobby’s musical life, from rural Clare to Dublin and England highlights the prominent theme of ‘People and Place’ as a creative influence.  This research is informed by studies of creative process in Irish traditional music and the historical study of musical culture (Ó hAllmhuráin 2016, Ó Riada 1982 & Ó Suilleabháin 1987). Understanding Bobby’s musical legacy will contribute to our understanding of contemporary practices in Irish traditional music.Bobby, a proud Clare-man, was born in 1926 in Annagh, a small townland five kilometres south-west of Miltown Malbay. From an early age Bobby’s music was heavily influenced by his father, John ‘Scully’ Casey, and he is reputed to have learned all of Scully’s music by the age of thirteen. Scully and his cousin, Thady Casey, the noted dance master also gave lessons to the well-known fiddle player and composer, Martin ‘Junior’ Crehan. Following the passing of Scully during Bobby’s early teens, Junior Crehan tutored Bobby and the two remained life-long friends. With such a musical pedigree, it’s hardly surprising that Bobby went on to become one of the great legends of twentieth-century traditional fiddle playing. This paper will focus on Bobby’s creative practice, his fiddle style, his musical journey and will share early insights from analysis of recordings supported by ethnographic insights from research participants.

11.30am – Panel 12 – MUSICAL EXPERIENCE

Cormac Byrne (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • Distributed Creativity: Exploring remote musical collaboration in the time of COVID

        In the time of COVID, musicians have significantly changed the way they engage in collaborative music-making practices. Despite the restrictions of travel and movement that COVID has placed upon societies, and in spite of the inability to be physically present in the same space, musicians have both upskilled in self-recording methods and embraced available hardware and software technologies to facilitate an alternative form of collaborative engagement via remote means. My PhD arts practice research, focusing on bodhrán performance, has been directly impacted by COVID. While the intended in-person collaborative composition explorations associated with my research have not been possible to carry out, I have adapted to embrace a remote collaborative composition and recording process. One such collaboration is with traditional Irish fiddle player, Áine McGeeney. As increasing numbers of musicians upskill to enable them to record and collaborate remotely, research in remote artistic collaboration has come sharply into focus. In 2017, in his discussion of how musicians innovate with existing musical materials, or “coded voices” (p.46), Toynbee proposed that, “increasingly, musical labour is digital labour, involving new kinds of interaction – such as remote collaborations by music-makers potentially thousands of miles apart” (Toynbee 2017, p.46). While Toynbee acknowledges the importance of these developments, he argues that it “seems unlikely that they have fundamentally changed the way in which voices are coded, recoded and combined” (Ibid). This paper explores whether the impact of COVID, which has triggered an acceleration in remote collaborative engagement, has begun to challenge this view. Through my research experiences of remote collaboration with various musicians, I explore the methods, challenges and opportunities that this form of collaboration presents, and the resulting effect it has upon the “distributed” nature of the creativity involved (Ibid, p.38).
        

Claire Watts (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • Covid Concerts – The Changing Nature of Performance Practice

        This presentation focuses on the exploration of new creative practices and how this is influencing my songwriting practice. I approach this primarily through the frame of arts practice.  The advent of the Covid Pandemic has caused a huge shift in the way I approach performance and because of this both my practice and performance contexts have changed immeasurably. As I am presently unable to travel to different places to perform, it has been necessary to find new alternative ways to reach my audience. Having transferred all of my performances on-line into the digital sphere, this has led to changes in the way I play, perform and interact with my audience. The new creative practices I am exploring include incorporating themes of place and identity into my songwriting in a new and innovative way, introducing elements of new genres such as jazz into my singing and writing and exploring how my experience of being an Irish traditional musician can meaningfully shape the songs I write. Previous to Covid travelling and performing in different places was always a huge external source of inspiration. Having to contain both my practice and subsequent performances to being based at home has shown extraordinary results in terms of my songwriting output and my subsequent performances. One of the benefits of online performances, as noted during a review of audience members recent zoom concert is that my music is now reaching a global audience. As Lee, Baker and Haywood write: “Covid may act as a cultural propagation catalyst with the potential to spread cultural outputs around the world faster than ever before” (Lee, Baker and Haywood, 2020).This paper will provide new insights into the creative process of performance and through a focus on autoethnographic reflection, will stimulate debate on the nature of musical creativity, identity and practice in the 21st century.

Olivia Barry (Irish World Academy at UL)

• • • • Turning to the Nature of the Lived Experience: Exploring the Intersections Between Phenomenological and Arts Practice Research Methodologies

        This presentation focuses on the exploration of new creative practices and how this is influencing my songwriting practice. I approach this primarily through the frame of arts practice.  The advent of the Covid Pandemic has caused a huge shift in the way I approach performance and because of this both my practice and performance contexts have changed immeasurably. As I am presently unable to travel to different places to perform, it has been necessary to find new alternative ways to reach my audience. Having transferred all of my performances on-line into the digital sphere, this has led to changes in the way I play, perform and interact with my audience.The new creative practices I am exploring include incorporating themes of place and identity into my songwriting in a new and innovative way, introducing elements of new genres such as jazz into my singing and writing and exploring how my experience of being an Irish traditional musician can meaningfully shape the songs I write. Previous to Covid travelling and performing in different places was always a huge external source of inspiration. Having to contain both my practice and subsequent performances to being based at home has shown extraordinary results in terms of my songwriting output and my subsequent performances.  One of the benefits of online performances, as noted during a review of audience members recent zoom concert is that my music is now reaching a global audience. As Lee, Baker and Haywood write: “Covid may act as a cultural propagation catalyst with the potential to spread cultural outputs around the world faster than ever before” (Lee, Baker and Haywood, 2020). This paper will provide new insights into the creative process of performance and through a focus on autoethnographic reflection, will stimulate debate on the nature of musical creativity, identity and practice in the 21st century.

Mark Slobin (Wesleyan University)

• • • Stability and Mobility in the Yiddish Song

      Jews have been on the move for millennia, with little musical documentation. But since 1900, publications, recordings, and oral histories have produced rich sources of insight for folk instrumental music and song. Living conditions, song context, technology, and material culture have changed from then until today, often radically, but some underlying social processes, as well as aesthetic and personal development issues, have held steady across a very troubled time even as new trends have added complexity.  This is a period of demographic and musical flowering, loss, and recovery, unfolding from the major migrations of the east European Ashkenazic Jews that began in the 1880s, as they moved from diaspora to diaspora, to their subsequent annihilation in the Holocaust and recent regrouping and rethinking their creative lives. The paper considers the experience of singers of the early twentieth century and brings the story down to the present. Recently, there has been a real upsurge of interest in the Yiddish folksong even by quite young musicians who find that this genre speaks to their current interests in self-fulfilment, political orientation, and collaborative activity. Music examples will fill out the acoustic dimension.