World Music

Center

Specialized
Collections

In 2015, the World Music Center at UCLA was founded to harness the remarkable assets of three entities established in the 1950s-60s. The World Musical Instrument Collection, with more than 1000 instruments, is one of the largest such university-based collections anywhere in the world. The Ethnomusicology Archive, founded by renowned ethnomusicologist Mantle Hood, was one of the first of its kind, and today is the second-largest ethnographic sound archive in the United States, behind only the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. And Ethnomusicology Publications distributes and publishes reports, CDs, songbooks, DVDs and monograph series on a range of specialized topics – from Ghost Dance songs to jazz to traditional music of Thailand.

Music Alive in the Archive: An Exploration of Kulintang Music in the Danongan Kalanduyan
The Ethnomusicology Archive holds one of the world’s great collections of audio and video recordings documenting kulingang gong music and dance around the world. They are now freely accessible to the public on the California Revealed website. Archivist Maureen Russell documented the celebration of the collection’s launch for Ethnomusicology Review.
UCLA Ethnomusicology Professor Named Bakë-Jairazbhoy Chair for Indian Ocean Studies
Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, has been appointed the inaugural holder of the Bakë-Jairazbhoy Chair for Indian Ocean Studies at the Pocker Sahib Memorial Orphanage College (PSMO), an affiliate with Calicut University in Kerala, India. The chair was created for the specific purpose of recovering and
Six-time GRAMMY Winning 'Ukulele Virtuoso, Daniel Ho, Performs for Archive's 60th Anniversary
Daniel Ho, 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 will present a virtual concert of his compositions as the third installment of the Musics from Around the World: Southern California Composers in Concert series, part of UCLA World Music Center‘s

About the World Music Center at UCLA

For More Information:

Helen Rees, Director

On Wednesday 7 October 2015, the Cabinet of the Herb Alpert School of Music approved the establishment of the World Music Center at UCLA, which will operate under the aegis of the Department of Ethnomusicology. The Center, first proposed by then-chair Helen Rees in 2011, brings together three outstanding assets belonging to the Department: the World Musical Instrument Collection, founded in the late 1950s; the Ethnomusicology Archive, founded in 1960; and Ethnomusicology Publications, which began operations in the 1960s. Bringing these three units together under one administrative and conceptual umbrella offers two major advantages: first, improved functionality and coordination, since all three are frequently involved in different aspects of the same events; and, second, improved visibility and development opportunities.

World Music Center Resources

Ethnomusicology Archive
Ethnomusicology Publications
World Music Instrument Collection