Timothy Rice is Professor of Ethnomusicology and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of the Arts and Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles. A specialist in the music of the Balkans, he has written two books on Bulgarian music, as well as numerous journal articles on this and other topics.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses his field and some of his work within it. He shares his experiences learning and playing alongside Bulgarian musicians, and talks about some of the central issues that his field and department face - for example, how to understand a culture well enough to correctly assess the role music plays, or how to break down cultural barriers between yourself and the musicians you study - and some of the perks and characteristics of a career in ethnomusicology. He also speaks about the Ethnomusicology department at UCLA, and the changes in structure and curriculum that he will be undertaking in the next few years.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, shares some of what he has learned about Bulgarian music in the course of his study of the field - the cultural mindset, where the songs originate, some of the common instruments used and how they are played, and the common keys, modes and ranges the songs are written in.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses some of the originators of his field, and a few of the people who have led innovation since its founding in the 1950s. He also assesses the current state of the field - how many programs are there in the USA, what the job market looks like, and what the prospects are for the future.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses some recent landmark publications in the field of world music and ethnomusicology, such as the recently-released Garland Encyclopedia, as well as recently written textbooks that are being used in the growing number of world music classes in the USA.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles discusses the position of ethnomusicologists in the pecking order of your average music department, and offers some thoughts on why ethnomusicologists tend to gravitate toward administrative positions within the department (e.g. department head).
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, gives advice to parents of music students about the ancillary benefits of an education in music beyond teaching someone to play an instrument.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the future of the study of music at UCLA, including the proposed founding of a School of Music to combine the existing departments of Music, Musicology and Ethnomusicology, and what some of the core goals of the School will be. He also discusses the essential role that creativity plays in music education, and how UCLA hopes to recapture some of that energy in their music programs.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, shares one of the perks of working in his field - the opportunity to be among the first people in the Western world or in academia to become aware of a new genre of music emerging somewhere in the world.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses one of the central debates of his field - whether music is a representation of culture, or whether it creates culture - and if both, in what measure.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles discusses the moment he first became interested in ethnomusicology - at a Bulgarian line dancing festival - and how he turned that interest into careers in music and music education.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles explains ethnomusicology, or "the anthropology of music" - what it is, what ethnomusicologists study, what some of the research techniques are, and the primary goals of the field.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the storytelling tradition in Bulgarian music, compares it to the music of other world cultures, and reveals a little of what Bulgarian story-songs say about the culture of that nation.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, talks about the role of costuming in traditional Bulgarian music and dance, and what the significance of traditional costuming is.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the challenges and joys of teaching ethnomusicology at the college level, articulates some of his teaching goals, and shares his approach to bringing such an esoteric body of study to students He also discusses the effect that his teaching methods have had on the careers of some of his former students.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses why he and his department aim to make students understand the deep structure of the cultures they study - social structure, religion, history, storytelling tradition, etc. - as a frame for the music that is their primary focus.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses what universal commonalities music reveals across all cultures, as well as some of the important differences in how cultures think of and use music, and why these differences are more interesting to ethnomusicologists.
Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, talks about a phenomenon he has observed repeatedly - the ability of music to achieve a breakdown of personal and cultural barriers between an ethnomusicologist and the musicians he or she studies.
