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Federal Funding Of Centre For Traditional And World Music Boosts Alberta's Recording Industry, Artists
Folkways Alive, a new initiative in traditional world sounds and music at the University of Alberta, is moving ahead thanks in part to a $486,000 contribution from Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD). Stephen Owen, Secretary of State (Western Economic Diversification Canada) (Indian Affairs and Northern Development) made the announcement today.
"Western Economic Diversification Canada's support of this partnership not only provides a home for the world's finest and most eclectic collection of folk and traditional music - it also contributes to the sustainability of our communities by generating new economic benefits and strengthening the cultural fabric of the region," said Secretary of State Stephen Owen. "The initiative will also spur innovation and economic spin-off opportunities through the use and development of new multi-media, bandwidth and web-based technologies."
Folkways Alive is a unique partnership between the University of Alberta and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. WD's contribution will kickstart a $2.6-million initiative that will see the 2,200 records in the Moses and Frances Asch Collection of Folkways Recordings digitized and archived for academic research and public access. The collection will also be expanded to feature locally-produced recordings, as well as offer a research laboratory and student research scholarships, a museum to visit in-person or online, and a concert series.
"This is the first time in Canada that such a collection will be digitized and searchable," said Senator Tommy Banks. "More importantly, it will feature locally-produced recordings from Alberta musicians, including Aboriginal artists. This will ensure the excellence, diversity and vitality of our local artists and music industry can be celebrated and enjoyed around the world as well as here at home."
"The very presence of the Asch Collection at the University is a tribute to the rich and diverse communities that exist in the province and are exemplified by other cultural resources like the CKUA Radio Network, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and Stony Plain Records," said Dr. Gary Kachanoski, Vice-President, Research at the University of Alberta.
"The Folkways Alive initiative provides a crucial reference for world music study and research and inspires the performance and teaching of global sound. We are very proud to partner with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in developing this Canadian initiative and exploring the full potential of the Folkways legacy."
The University of Alberta is contributing $500,000 towards this initiative, with another $1.66 million to be generated through operations and subscriptions.
Federal funding for this project was provided for in the February 2003 budget.
For additional information, contact:
Gordon Eckert
Regional Communications Manager (Alberta)
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Edmonton, Alberta
Tel: (780) 495-3370
Lorna Arndt
Project Lead, Partnership
Research Services Office
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Tel: (780) 492-7887
http://www.ualberta.ca/folkwaysalive
WD Toll-Free Number:1-888-338-WEST (9378)
Teletypewriter (TTY): 1-877-303-3388
WD Website: www.wd-deo.gc.ca.
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Backgrounder
Folkways
The Folkways initiative is a non-profit, wholly-owned entity of the University of Alberta. The project will be housed in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Arts – Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology and is made possible through a partnership with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The public will be able to access the digitized multi-media archive and Asch collection through a new museum in the University of Alberta's Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology. The database, which will include 177,000 recordings from 2,200 albums, album covers, and extensive liner notes, will enable subscribers, students and researchers to quickly search for sound and text.
The archiving and researching will be done in partnership with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, which owns the copyrights to the collection.
Folkways music and musicians will be promoted through Folkways Alive concerts and recordings.
Folkways Alive will allow the University of Alberta, through a spin-off company, to develop innovative solutions to the real-time back-up requirements for the digital storage of the collection. This project will provide a test bed for the "BigBangwidth BroadLAN" solution to providing snapshot backups without tying up a local network environment.
Economic Benefits
The Folkways initiative will create economic benefits through the enhancement of the collection, exposure for new artists, increased use of local recording facilities and musicians, and from partnering with local organizations such as Folkfest and CKUA. The concert series will raise the profile of both Folkways and local artists and generate spin-off benefits in the restaurant and hospitality industries. Subscriptions to the digitized collection will create a revenue flow and benefit the economy by sustaining employment within Folkways.
The Moses and Frances Asch Collection of Folkways Recordings
The Collection includes original recordings by folk legends Woodie Guthrie, Lead Belly and Pete Seeger and features everything from political songs, American Indian music, and ethnic performance traditions from around the globe. The collection also preserves spoken word recordings and speeches, such as Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream, and interviews with Albert Einstein and Sir Edmund Hillary.
Folkways founder Moses Asch, who started the company from a small New York City office in 1948, donated the entire 2,200-albums collection to the University of Alberta in 1985 shortly before his death the following year. His son Michael Asch is professor emeritus in the University of Alberta's department of Anthropology.
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