Summary of my project

During my year as a Watson Fellow I will embark on a journey beyond my own Western musical (predominantly jazz) background by immersing myself in Hindustani and Islamic vocal music and afro-Brazilian rhythms. My journey will start in August in the heat and beauty of Istanbul where I will listen and explore the local music and culture for three weeks, making my way South along the coast of Turkey. In late August I will take a boat to Cairo, where I will reside for a little over two months, training my voice in classical Islamic singing (maqam) and repertoire at the Qithara Open School in Giza. I will then fly to Mumbai, India in November and attend the Jazz India Vocal Institute (JIVI) where I will study Hindustani vocal techniques, practicing every day for a minimum of an hour and taking 14 private classes over the course of two months. I will travel/live in India for approximately 4 to 5 months not only studying at JIVI, but also performing and going to a handful of music festivals and concerts once the monsoons have passed. I will fly through and visit Hong Kong, Thailand and Sydney in early to mid-April, and finally land in South America to begin the last leg of my travels. I will make my way to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil from Chile to continue* to study Afro-Brazilian rhythms from a local drum school there, while doing some capoeira on the side at the Associacão de Capoeira Regionál Do Mestre Bimba.

* To prepare myself for my year of musical exploration I took a week-long intensive course in Geneva, Switzerland led by the Ethnomusicology Institute of Geneva. I practiced both classical Arabic singing (maqam) with Aïcha Redouane and enrolled in a beginners course of Brazilian drumming with Giba Goncalves and Ayrald Petit in which I leant some incredible Yoruba (condomblé) music of Salvador de Bahia.