Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles (review)

World music ensembles can be found in any number of colleges and universities throughout North America. One would thus assume that, given the recent decades of reflexivity in ethnomusicology, that a significant amount of literature would be devoted to the pedagogical and philosophical issues that surround the creation and perpetuation of world music ensembles, especially since much is written on the process of musical transmission. However, the authors of Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles make clear that there is, in fact, a curious absence in ethnomusicological literature concerning the relationships among world music ensemble directors, ethnomusicologists, and students. This work is an extraordinary amalgamation of essays that deal with the processes of forming, teaching, and analyzing world music ensembles in various academic settings. One of the true assets of the book is its treatment of the ethnomusicologist as "ensemble leader." Also, for those interested in the progression and history of the field of ethnomusicology, this book provides insight into how world music ensembles have helped to make a place for the ethnomusicologist in academia. Along these lines, the work also reveals how ethnomusicology sometimes conflicts with traditional academic frameworks.

World music ensembles generally comprise many different people with diverse cultural heritages. How do these different orientations create a mode for change within the ensemble, yet also provide continuity for the ensemble to continue year to year? How does the ensemble perpetuate itself? Drawing from various cultures, including Caribbean steelband, Indian, Balinese, Javanese, Philippine, Mexican, Central and West African, Japanese, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Jewish klezmer ensembles, and others, this work examines these and other questions that deal with the creative and pedagogical issues involved in the academic world music ensemble.

The volume's general organization is divided into four sections with sixteen essays. The overarching issues include the "intercultural and intergenerational transmission" and the "interlocking pedagogical relationships" within the ensemble. Part 1, "Sounding the Other: Academic World Music Ensembles in Historical Perspective," comprises an overview and introduction to the next three sections, which all deal with the principle challenges in teaching and transmitting knowledge about world music cultures through world music ensembles.

Ricardo D. Trimillos, Scott Marcus, Ted Solís, David Harnish, J. Lawrence Witzleben, Sumarsam, and Gage Averill provide the foundation for the book. Using contemporary perspectives and philosophies, their essays discourse on the general history of world music ensembles in the academic setting. Richard D. Trimillos's essay "Subject, Object, and the Ethnomusicology Ensemble: The Ethnomusicology 'We' and 'Them'" reflects on his more than four decades of personal involvement with world music ensembles through both "subjective-personal and objective-general" perspectives. Reflecting on the history of world music ensembles—from Mantle Hood's initial "study group" at UCLA to current-day issues of the "other," cultural heritage, ensemble credibility, mediation, and cultural advocacy, he presents "questions intended both to challenge the present perceptions of the study group and to advance arguments for its value within the academy" (p. 47). Chapter 2, "A Bridge to Java," is reflexive and consists of an interview with Hardja Susilo, conducted by David Harnish, Ted Solís, and J. Lawrence Witzleben. Drawing upon the extensive experience and emic knowledge of Hardja Susilo, this chapter reveals the negotiations one must take when creating an ensemble. The emic is the focus of this chapter, but, at the same time, it addresses broader issues of pedagogical diffusion in North America. Along the same theme, but different in construction and perspective, Sumarsam, in chapter 3 reveals the importance of the Javanese gamelan for the development of ethnomusicology as a discipline, especially in his teaching at Wesleyan Univeristy—"The study of Indonesian music, particularly gamelan music, was directly linked to the initial development of ethnomusicology during the post-World War II period" (p. 72). Chapter 4 focuses on the epistemology of world music ensembles and their value pedagogically. Overall, part 1 serves to organize the volume and...