221. Interview with Daniel Ho, Los Angeles, California/Honolulu, Hawaii (06:34)

Date:
2020-09-24
Main contributors:
Daniel Ho
Summary:
Daniel Ho (Los Angeles, California/Honolulu, Hawaii) Daniel Ho is an ‘ukulele virtuoso, slack key guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and record company owner. Daniel’s collaborations transcend genres, from Hawaiian regional roots to world music with Mongolian nomads, to duets with Pepe Romero, the maestro of classical guitar, to jazz and rock with Tak Matsumoto of the Japanese supergroup, B’z. Daniel is a six-time GRAMMY Award winner, eleven-time GRAMMY Award nominee, six-time Taiwanese Golden Melody Award winner, and recipient of multiple Hawaiian Music awards. Always on the move, Daniel is an American cultural ambassador, with tours completed to Japan, Thailand, Brunei, and Australia. In infinite pursuit of new musical adventures, he is also the designer of the Romero Creations Tiny Tenor ‘ukulele, Ohana Bongolele, and Shakerlele. His custom-designed six-string ‘ukulele is on exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/24/2020.

222. Interview with Dan Ansotegui, Boise, Idaho (06:06)

Date:
2020-06-10
Main contributors:
Dan Ansotegui
Summary:
Dan Ansotegui (Boise, Idaho) Dan Ansotegui was raised by the scents and tastes of his mother’s cooking and the sound of his father’s music. The music came from the accordion and the aromas that filled the house were brought to this country by his grandmother Epi. His exposure to the traditions of the Basque Country prepared him for a life of immersive study, commitment to preservation, and a talent for performance. Through his role as master, mentor, and entrepreneur, Dan is a bearer of Basque music, dance, and foodways traditions that contribute to the creative growth and sustainability of his cultural community. Dan is a National Heritage Award recipient (2019), performs traditional Basque dance music, and plays in a fusion Basque pop band called Amuma Says No. He is also one of the primary teachers in the Boise trikitixa and pandero teaching program, training new players of Basque music on diatonic accordion and tambourine. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 06/10/2020.

223. Interview with Dewa Berata, Los Angeles, California (05:57)

Date:
2020-10-23
Main contributors:
Dewa Berata
Summary:
Dewa Berata (Los Angeles, California) Bapak I Dewa Putu Berata is an internationally acclaimed Balinese musician, teacher, and composer based out of the San Francisco Bay Area and Pengosekan, Bali. A graduate of STSI Denpasar (Bali’s National Academy of the Arts), he has been an artistic collaborator with dance troupes, theater companies, and music ensembles in multiple countries. He has served as Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Guest Music Director many times since his first residency in 1994. Berata is the founder and director of Çudamani, one of Bali’s most innovative and acclaimed gamelan ensembles that has toured extensively including appearances at the Cultural Olympiade (Greece), EXPO (Japan), Tong Tong Festival (Holland), and Lincoln Center & Zellerbach Hall (USA). Çudamani has become one of the most vibrant centers of artistic activity in Bali, endeavoring to study rare classic forms of Balinese arts. Berata’s life’s work has been dedicated not only to the arts, but to creating community by providing opportunities for active arts engagement to children, youth, women, and elders. He is also the musical director for Gamelan Sekar Jaya, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering artistic exchange between Bali and the United States and to sharing the excitement of this exchange with diverse audiences in California, the US, and abroad. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/23/2020.

224. Interview with David Romtvedt, Buffalo, Wyoming (06:19)

Date:
2020-09-10
Main contributors:
David Romtvedt
Summary:
David Romtvedt (Buffalo, Wyoming) David Romtvedt was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in southern Arizona. He is a writer and a musician. A recipient of two NEA fellowships, the Pushcart Prize, and the Wyoming Governor's Arts Award, David served as the poet laureate of the state of Wyoming from 2003 to 2011, his work has appeared in numerous magazines, and he has published books of fiction, poetry, and essays including Gernikako Arbola, translations of the nineteenth century songwriter and poet Joxe Mari Iparragirre, and the 2021 poetry collection No Way, an American Tao Te Ching. He is a multi-instrumentalist and for many years played dance music of the Americas with the Wyoming-based band the Fireants. He is an ambassador of Basque culture and plays trikitixa, a two-row accordion designed specifically for Basque music. Romtvedt served as the program manager for the Centrum Foundation's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and International Folk Dance and Music Festival and continues to work with the Children's Band Lab program at Fiddle Tunes. He lives in Buffalo, Wyoming, with his wife, the potter Margo Brown. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/10/2020.

225. Interview with David Reihs, Portland, Oregon (05:40)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
David Reihs
Summary:
David Reihs (Portland, Oregon) Playing Arabic keyboard and accordion, Middle Eastern percussion, ud, and elektro-saz, David Reihs is a multi-instrumentalist turned producer and educator who currently focuses on music of Turkish and Arabic cultures. He has been studying a wide variety of Middle Eastern genres and instruments since 2001, including four years living in Istanbul, Turkey, where he learned and spent time with many of the country’s finest musicians. Aside from his work with Ritim Egzotik, David’s company produces concerts, workshops and instructional DVDs for Middle Eastern music and dance. He is the artistic director for Ritim Egzotik, a modern Turkish and Arabic music ensemble that respectfully plays classic and popular Arabic and Turkish compositions and tosses in prog rock and psychedelic spices to add their own twist and modernize the songs they love. Added to this feast of sounds are Greek and Turkish Roman favorites. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020.

226. Interview with Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti, Bay Area, California (06:15)

Date:
2020-10-31
Main contributors:
Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti
Summary:
Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti (Bay Area, California) Dewa Ayu Larassanti is a Balinese dancer, musician, and vocalist who regularly teaches at Sanggar Çudamani, a Balinese performing arts school founded by her parents in Pengosekan, Bali. With Çudamani, she has toured Greece, Japan, Canada, and the United States. Ayu grew up both in the Bay Area and in Bali, experiencing the challenges and the beauty of two worlds. She loves to study different forms of music and dance, including choral music, jazz dance, and hip hop. She is a student at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/31/2020.

227. Interview with Eddie Parente, Portland, Oregon (05:07)

Date:
2020-08-31
Main contributors:
Eddie Parente
Summary:
Eddie Parente (Portland, Oregon) Originally from Jersey City, NJ, Eddie Parente studied violin and four-part harmony at Jersey City State College and played in string orchestra while studying jazz with saxophonist Emile DeCosmo. Eddie also studied with violinist Julie Lyonn Lieberman in NYC and credits trumpeter Ted Curson, who held jam sessions in Hoboken and encouraged Eddie to play jazz in those formative years. In the early 1980s, Eddie lived in Boston, Massachusetts, where he played in a Mexican mariachi band while studying classical Indian music with tabla, attending Irish traditional music sessions, and playing in an international folk dance band. Upon moving to Portland in 1985, Eddie participated in Ron Steen's jam sessions and studied and played with the great jazz violinist/bassist Rob Thomas. Since then, Eddie has played and recorded with a wide variety of musical groups. These days, Eddie is leading his own jazz quartet and plays in Mariachi Viva Mexico, a successful working mariachi group in the large and growing Latino community in the Pacific Northwest. Eddie has a CD of his original jazz and Latin compositions entitled Touraco and a CD entitled Quartet Jazz. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 08/31/2020.

228. Interview with Del Rey, Seattle, Washington (06:36)

Date:
2020-09-22
Main contributors:
Del Rey
Summary:
Del Rey (Seattle, Washington) Del Rey started playing guitar when she was four years old. At thirteen, she was immersed in the world of folk music via the San Diego Folk Festival. She has tried to get a whole band onto her solo instrument from the beginning. This gives her music an interesting complexity, especially when applied to the ukulele. Rags, blues, and tunes of the early twentieth century are her specialty, even as she writes new music to add to the tradition. Del Rey also has fashion sense that would make Minnie Pearl smile. Del Rey has taught and played all over the world and brings her distinctive finger-style approach to guitar and ukulele to her teaching. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/22/2020

229. Interview with Erin Heist, Juneau, Alaska (05:57)

Date:
2020-09-23
Main contributors:
Erin Heist
Summary:
Erin Heist (Juneau, Alaska) Born and raised in Juneau, Alaska, Erin Heist plays guitar and sings bluegrass, old-time, Cajun, and country music. She performs in a duo with her husband and in a honky-tonk, old-time band that plays at bars, festivals, or local events. She works for the State of Alaska and considers music a very important part of her life. She is very involved in Juneau’s folk music scene and praises the sense of community music brings to the city, particularly through the Alaska Folk Festival. Interview by Raquel Paraíso, 09/23/2020.

230. Interview with Gao Hong, Northfield, Minnesota (06:08)

Date:
2020-10-21
Main contributors:
Gao Hong
Summary:
Gao Hong (Northfield, Minnesota) Gao Hong, a Chinese pipa player and composer, began her career as a professional musician at age twelve. She graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with pipa master Lin Shicheng. She has received numerous awards and honors. In 2019, Gao Hong became the only musician in any genre to win five McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. In 2018, she became the first Chinese musician to win a Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. She has performed throughout Europe, Australia, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the United States, and has world premiered numerous pipa concerti with important orchestras. She has been featured as both pipa player and composer in important festivals in the U.S. Her composition for solo pipa, “Flying Dragon,” won the 2012 Global Music Award of Excellence-Solo Instrumental (Gold Medal). Since her arrival in the U.S. in 1994, Gao Hong has presented hundreds of educational workshops for elementary through college-age students and has been on the faculty of Metropolitan State University and MacPhail Center for the Arts. Currently, she teaches at Carleton College in Minnesota. During the COVID pandemic, Gao Hong released two CDs, Hunting Eagles Catching Swans (Chinese Pudong pipa music featuring Gao Hong and her master, Lin Shichen) and From Our World to Yours (ARC Music in U.K.). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/21/2020.