RESEARCH
NW Coast Kwakwaka’wakw Music
Editorial assistant for Dr. Ida Halpern
Prepared liner notes
Transcribed select music examples
Conducted literature search on specific topics
Consulted with Bill Holm and Kwakwaka’wakw authorities (William Wasden Jr, Tony Hunt)
Observed Tsequa and Tlasila ceremonies at a Potlatch in Alert Bay
English morris dance
Participant observer with the Vancouver Morris Men
The VMM are one of only two teams from outside England to be accepted into the membership of the English Ring Association of Morris Dancers.
Engaged in field trips as a member of the VMM during their tours in England
Observed the process of aural transmission in the context of traditional folk dance
Recorded the dynamics of musician-dancer interaction in my role as a musician
Conducted ethnographic interviews with male and female members of the Vancouver and English communities of morris dancers
Tested theories of reception and re-enactment in my role as public liaison
Triangulated performance strategies with the VMM and the Romanian Calusari Dancers of Regina during a unique joint venture in Vancouver, re-enacting Whitsuntide customs common to both traditions
Mapped the common practice of spontaneous group singing in pub sessions
Initiated discussions / actively participated on an international listserv
English traditional instrumental folk music
Researched and engaged in the process of spontaneous, amateur music-making sessions
Studied aural transmission among musicians who only play music by ear
Observed various scenarios relevant to reception theories in folk music performance
English and continental mummers music-dramas
Conducted interviews with authorities such as Ron Shuttleworth of England
Tested theories of performativity by re-enacting context-sensitive performances
Initiated discussions / actively participated on an international listserv
Examined multiple texts as derivatives and hybrids
Timbral Brigades of the Salvation Army
Conducted interviews with authority figures in Toronto, California, and Australia
Observed timbral performances at the North Toronto Salvation Army Community Church
Interviewed performers in Toronto, Vancouver, and Saskatoon
Contrasted gender roles in performance and religious contexts
May Day celebrations in New Westminster
Observed and recorded annual performances in New Westminster
Conducted interviews with May Day participants
Researched historical May Day accounts in New Westminster museums
Focused on Ms. Cave-Brown-Cave, a pioneer of New Westminster and its May Day
Corresponded with May Day activists and researchers in England
Recorded transformations of the annual custom across generations
Militia music in Vancouver
Participant observer in the British Columbia Regiment Band as musician, then conductor
Researched archival sources in civic archives
Examined historical material in the Beatty Street Armory regimental museum
Examined etic and emic perspectives as a musician and officer in Remembrance Day and Church Day Parades
Triangulated conditions of reception and performativity with other militia musicians in the Seaforth Highlanders and the 5th Field Regiment, RCA (Victoria)
Noted tension between amateur performers and military expectations
British Brass Band Culture
Interviewed English brass band composers and transplanted English brass band players newly moved to Vancouver
Observed the interplay of amateur performance standards and concert expectations
Recorded the varying levels of appreciation for the genre of performance ensemble in relation to cultural heritage and previous experience
Powwow Music
Analyzed music using recorded music samples from Western Canadian Drum Circles
Discovered and notated complex polyrhythmic features
Developed a unique system of prescriptive notation and critiqued historical descriptive notation
Lee-hom Wang, Jay Chou and East Asia Soft Pop
Compiled ethnographic material from East Asian university music students’ musical tastes
Triangulated “shidaigu” and “zhongguo feng” with Chou and Wang
Conducted literature search for Western Middle-of-the-Road popular music stylistic traits
Contrasted East Asian Popular Music reception in Canada among non-East Asians