Music of Afghanistan in Peacetime
With Ethnomusicologist Mark Slobin
Mark Joins Artists 4 Peace to discuss how he fell into the world of Ethnomusicology, his graduate research in Afghanistan from 1967 to 1972, and the importance of ethnographic research and preservation, particularly within today’s shifting political landscape. You can find more information about Mark and his work at markslobin.com.
Video produced by Artist 4 Peace founding member Eric Galm (eric.galm@trincoll.edu), professor of Music and Ethnomusicology at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Audio, film, and photography by Mark Slobin
Additional photography courtesy of Eleni Mylonas
Videography by Helder Mira
Interview and editing by Eric A. Galm
Produced by Eric A. Galm
“Nagra IV-S Tape Recorder” by Slava Rodinov, 2018
Photo of Mark Slobin by Helder Mira 2021
“Afghanistan” and “Afghan Internally Displaced Persons” by United Nations Photo
Supplemental audio examples from “Afghanistan Untouched” Traditional Crossroads CD 4319, recorded by Mark Slobin
About the Artist
Mark Slobin
Mark Slobin is the Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Emeritus at Wesleyan University and the author or editor of many books on Afghanistan and Central Asia, Eastern European Jewish Music, film music, American Music and Ethnomusicology theory. Two of his books have received the ASCAP Deems-Taylor Award: “Fiddler on the Move: Exploring the Klezmer World,” and “Tenement Songs: Popular Music of the Jewish Immigrants.” He has been the President of the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Society of Asian Music.
Eric Galm
Eric Galm is Associate Professor of music, chair of the music department, and co-director of the Center for Caribbean Studies at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. He founded the Trinity Samba Ensemble and the Samba Fest, a regional music festival that has presented the United States debut performances of Brazilian artists including Berimbrown, Dinho Nascimento and the Orquestra de Berimbaus do Morro do Querosene, Ivan Vilela, the Meninos de Minas, and Adrianna, among others. He has conducted research, presented and performed in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, the United States and Canada. He was invited to serve as a featured participant at the “International Seminar on Education Research: Theory and Practice” at the Universidade Estadual de Piauí/Teresina, and “Música em Debate” at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. In September 2018, he was awarded Honorary Citizenship from the City of Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In addition to currently serving as a selection committee member for the national Fulbright Fellowship Program and the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program, he has received awards from the Fulbright Fellowship Program, Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation, Trinity College (Trustee Award for Excellence and Hughes Teaching Achievement), the Community Music Center of Boston’s prize for teaching excellence, and the 2020 Steve Balcanoff Award for community engagement from the Hartford-based Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance. He has performed with icon Pete Seeger, and has recorded several CDs including traditional Renaissance music and Brazilian Jazz. His publications include The Berimbau: Soul of Brazilian Music (Mississippi) and “Baianas, Malandros and Samba: Listening to Brazil Through Donald Duck’s Ears” (Global Soundracks: Wesleyan). He holds degrees from Wesleyan University, Tufts University and the University of Michigan, and performance certificates from Escola Brasileira de Música and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.