Stories about Music from December, 2008
Cuba: Remembering José Silvestre White
AfriClassical profles José Silvestre White, an Afro-Cuban violinist who became a composer and professor after graduating from the Paris Conservatory.
Chile: Creative Commons Licensed Album Nominated for Prize
Creative Commons Chile [es] applauds the album by Antonio Díaz titled Minimental, which was recently nominated for the Qwartz Prize in France. The highlight is that this album is licensed under Creative Commons.
India: The Top Five Newsworthy Events in the Indian Blogosphere in 2008
Gaurav Mishra at Gauravonomics digs into the Indian Blogosphere to find the top five events in 2008, in which the Indian blogosphere itself became newsworthy.
Philippines: Music Teacher's Memoirs
A young music teacher from the southern Philippines shares her experience on teaching musical expression to children.
Trinidad & Tobago: Booming
Caribbean Free Radio posts an interesting podcast with Trinidad rapso artistes 3 Canal.
Central and Eastern Europe: A Christmas Roundup
A holiday season roundup: Tanja of Czechmatediary recalls family Christmas celebrations of her childhood, writes about the Czech Christmas Mass, and shares a recipe of Vanocka (“Christmas bread”); CzechFolks.com writes about a calorie-free yet mouth-watering way of decorating a holiday table with crocheted Czech Christmas cookies; The Foreigner's Guide to...
Czech Republic: A Politics-Free Roundup
Politics-free posts from the Czech Republic: a charity project to help orphans organized by Czech model Tereza Maxova, bankruptcy of one of the largest Czech glass companies, and Karel Gott's lasting popularity – at CzechFolks.com; the winner of the Bravest Czech of the Year award, and tips on how to...
Ukraine: Hutsuls and Crimean Tatars
My Simferopol Home writes about her dissertation plans to compare histories of exoticism in the Ukrainian Hutsul and Crimean Tatars cultures: “So, why these two groups? While distinct in ethnogenesis, history and territory, Hutsuls, the superstitious, hard-drinking subsistence farmers to Poland and Austro-Hungary’s urban intellectuals, and Crimean Tatars, the perceived...
Ukraine: Holiday Season Update
Ukrainian holiday season update: music – at Natalia Antonova's blog; sights – at Greetings from Kyiv; politics – at Ukrainiana.
Caribbean: 2008 in Review
From natural disasters to lightning bolts of the athletic kind, 2008 was a busy one for the Caribbean blogosphere. Here are some of the highlights...
Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane: Celebrating Christmas with “Chanté Nwel”
With Christmas approaching, the French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyane are vibrating to the tune of their folk musical instruments like ka (a big drum)[Fr], ti-bwa (two bamboo sticks)[Fr] and of Christmas Carols. Welcome to the world of “Chanté Nwel” (Singing for Christmas). In the blog Sous le...
Israel: LivniBoy Gives ObamaGirl a Run For Her Money
Check out LivniBoy, Israel's answer to ObamaGirl. His YouTube video, “Love Song to Tzipi Livni,” has received over 6,350 views this week alone. Tzipi Livni is the Kadima Party candidate for prime minister in the upcoming winter elections. You'll be able to enjoy the feel of the video even if...
Bolivia: The Business of Digital Piracy in El Alto
Music and movie piracy in Bolivia is commonplace. Wilfredo Jordán takes a look at the business in El Alto, Bolivia and how many vendors travel to the Peruvian border to purchase goods to resell [es].
Costa Rica: Call for Collaborative Christmas Video
Costa Rican online humour collective nosedecirlaerre.com which translates into "I can´t pronounce the R" has set out a call for participation from Costa Ricans and those familiar with their culture to create a collaborative video for Christmas. The campaign is called Uniting Ticos for Christmas and the requirements are quite simple: dancing in the Costa Rican style of "swing criollo" the popular end of the year song Jugo de Piña and saying something in Costa Rican slang, on video.
Turkey: Dario Moreno
Mavi Boncuk posts a profile of musician Dario Moreno, most noted for his career in France, he was actually a Turk with Jewish origins.
UAE: Hip Hop Documentary Opens
The Palestinian music documentary “Slingshot Hip Hop” opens in Dubai according to Bataranzi.
Cuba, Brazil, U.S.A.: Composer Honoured
AfriClassical is thrilled that the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo is honouring renowned Cuban composer Leo Brouwer.
Peru: Iron Maiden in Lima Set for March 2009
Now that the visit of British heavy metal band Iron Maiden has been confirmed for Lima on March 26, 2009, bloggers, who are big fans like Slayer_X [es] and Idioteca [es] are buzzing about it. Javier Lishner from Rock Around the Blog [es] rounds up a series of opinions of...
Armenia: Musical Prime Minister
Unzipped posts a summary in English of an informal meeting between some local bloggers and the new prime minister of Armenia. The blog notes that the posts by Alkhimik and 517design reveal the prime minister plays guitar and enjoys art-house films. All three blogs post photographs.
Guinea: ‘African Music Treasures’ first anniversary
To mark its first birthday, the blog African Music Treasures about African music rarities of the Voice of America music archive, features some of the more famous recordings in their collection of Guinean music.
Bahamas: Death of an Icon
“Mr. Farrington was one of the most brilliant men I have ever met. He was often in another world, but when he was in ours his intellect was staggering”: Nicolette Bethel acknowledges the passing of a Bahamian “cultural giant”.