Lecture/Concert: SOUTHERN ITALIAN PEASANT MUSIC IN A POST MODERN WORLD: From Lomax to Today

In 1954 Alan Lomax made a historic year long trip through Italy making ethnographic field recordings of the music that defined every-day Italians' identity and way of life. These documentations were the first of their kind for Italy, and stand as a valuable testimony of an extremely rich diversity of expression that was already beginning to give way to modernization and social change. 

Inspired by the field work of Lomax, David Marker, a young field recorder, Italian American and NYU student, has made a significant effort to document what remains of this music today. In comparing the recordings of Lomax to contemporary recordings, a picture of changing cultural identity and values becomes apparent. This presentation will showcase a handful of select recordings from Lomax's 1954 trip as well as a number of recordings from Marker's contemporary work. Additionally, Marker and another Italian American musician, Dominic Porco, will perform live music rarely heard in the US. Alan Lomax's daughter, Anna Lomax Wood, director of the Association for Cultural Equity, and who was in Italy in 1954 with her father, will be part of the discussion.