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| | | Michael Ward-Bergeman at Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay area; the mountain is sacred to many California Native American peoples, and according to some it was the point of creation © OSCAR CAINER
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During our September residency at Harvard, the Silk Road Ensemble will develop new pieces of music by Lev (Ljova) Zhurbin and Michael Ward-Bergeman. These composers will have an opportunity to shape their music with members of the Ensemble who will perform it, and we are looking forward to hearing the results of these workshops.
For a preview, we recently reached Michael Ward-Bergeman in Scotland, where he was performing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. You can follow his adventures on his GIG 365 blog, where for 365 consecutive days he is posting videos of himself creating music in diverse settings with people from many different backgrounds. The video below (GIG #169—filmed on June 18, the 169th day of the year), features conversation and music with Floyd Buckskin of the Achumawi, Pit River Tribe.
Michael's interest in shamanic traditions stems from his longtime exploration of spirituality entwined with music making. For the Silk Road Ensemble, Michael has been working on a piece called "Damagomi," which explores a legend of the Yakut people in Siberia—and the bird-soul and world tree mythology that permeates almost every ancient culture—through the musical techniques of Achumawi shamans in the Fall River Valley in northeastern California. A damagomi is a guardian spirit that a shaman entices, through song, to guide him. Michael's piece is scored for Korean vocals and jang-go, the Persian kamancheh and ney, cello, percussion, accordion, and looped bird whistles and forest environment. SRP: What made you want to write for the Silk Road Ensemble? MJWB: I've always had an intense curiosity and fascination with diverse traditions from around the world. Playing the accordion has been a real door opener and education, as the family of free-reed instruments plays such an integral part of much of the folk music on our planet. The excitement of working with the Silk Road Ensemble is the sensitivity and diverse cultural experiences brought to the table by each member. There is a sincere desire to explore new musical landscapes brought about by the combination of instruments and traditions. I sense that the workshop in September will be incredibly enlightening, as the Silk Road players each have such a depth of experience and knowledge of their respective traditions. They will of course bring this to the piece, and I expect it will evolve and change considerably as a result. SRP: Were there particular musicians or instruments you knew you wanted to work with?
MJWB: The instrumentation of the piece was guided by my interest in working with particular musicians, notably kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, but also by timbre and expressive considerations of their instruments, and the needs of the Project. I was also aware that Dong-Won Kim has worked with shamans in Korea and has a great deal of experience performing shaman music. It is believed that the practice of shamanism predates all organized religions. There is also a deep connection between the numerous shamanistic practices around the world. It has been a journey of discovery bringing the shaman music from these different regions together. I've been surprised by some of the connections. SRP: What connections have you found between the Yakut and the Achumawi? Why juxtapose these two culture's traditions?
MJWB: In writing this piece, I initially thought the Yakut shaman myths of the bird-soul and world tree, and of ritual death/dismemberment and resurrection, would be the most important thematic ideas. Forms of these myths exist in many ancient cultures with shamanic traditions. As the piece developed, the Yakut myths became more of an underlying element in light of the time I spent with the Achumawi in June. SRP: Did you plan your visit with the Achumawi with the idea of gaining a new perspective for the piece?
WJWB: My visit to the Fall River Valley was guided by my current GIG 365 tour. It wasn't planned, actually, but it worked out. When I looked at the map heading from Ojai to Eugene (where I needed to be for the Bach Festival and a performance of Osvaldo Golijov's "Azul" with Yo-Yo Ma) I saw that I could rearrange my route and head to eastern California for a bit. SRP: But you left with some new ideas? WJWB: Spending about a week in the area and meeting with Floyd Buckskin, one of the current-day spiritual guides of the Achumawi, and others from the Pit River Tribe was incredibly inspiring and informative. I camped in the forests and had some intimate, profound experiences with the nature there, particularly in Modoc National Forest. Floyd was incredibly gracious and we shared music making together. He sang some of the traditional songs used to summon the shaman's damagomi (spirit helper) and also the tinihowi (lay person's spirit helper). I am drawing on both these melodies in the piece. I also became acquainted with the writings of linguist/ethnomusicologist Jaime de Angulo. The Achumawi were the first tribe that he lived with and they remained a special people to him throughout his life. SRP: Do you make field recordings? How do you approach integrating them into your music?
MJWB: Some of my earlier pieces actually had field recordings as part of the score. For "Damagomi" the environmental sounds will be created live and captured in a wide loop to create a rich texture, along with environment happening in real time. I have also made field recordings and video in the Fall River Valley area that include the natural sounds of the forest as well as examples of shaman music as demonstrated by Floyd Buckskin.
SRP: You'll perform along with the Ensemble in "Damagomi." What does the accordion bring to this motley assortment of instruments?
MJWB: That's a great question. Actually, Kayhan implored me to write for myself, to include accordion. Breath and wind, as elements of nature, are an important part of this piece. We also have the ney as an air element, but the accordion is very different; it's breathing externalized—you see the lungs moving.
Michael Ward-Bergeman is a passionate performer, songwriter and composer. His sensitive and creative approach to music making has led to performances and collaborations with world-class musicians and composers from across a wide range of genres. Michael aims to remain faithful to the spirit that unites many of the world's richest music traditions while continuing to develop his own unique voice. In addition to his more traditional accordion playing, Michael has created innovative performance techniques that work in harmony with his inspired use of 21st-century music technology, culminating in the hyper-accordion, an acoustic accordion with extended range and expressive abilities. Michael has brought his music to many venues around the globe, from the local pub to Carnegie Hall. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
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