New Delhi, Indian and New York City Connect Through Distance Learning on Friday, December 3 in Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall

December 5, 2004 -- Today, The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall presented a distance learning event connecting 400 New York City high school students with 200 of their counterparts in New Delhi, India. This 7,300 mile cross-cultural exchange was designed to create a framework for understanding the geography and regional music of both countries: classical/folk music from India and bluegrass/brass-band jazz from the United States.

Musical performances from both locations were supported by video segments introducing the geography and culture of each region as well as question-and-answer sessions between the students and musicians. This distance learning event was part of an increased effort by Carnegie Hall to enhance its education programs using the technological and multimedia capabilities of its third stage, Zankel Hall.

Key components for this cultural exchange included:
- Tabla player Sandeep Das in New Delhi, and Nick Spitzer—host of the radio program American Routes—in Zankel Hall, as moderators
- Bluegrass music originating from Appalachia, led by master guitarist Wayne Henderson
- Brass-band jazz of New Orleans, featuring Brice Miller and the Mahogany Brass Band
- Odissi dance of eastern India and classical music of southern India
- Giddha folk dance and classical music from northern India
- Video segments to introduce each region’s geography, environment, and culture
- Question-and-answer session between the high school audiences in both countries

This distance learning event launched The Weill Music Institute’s 2004-05 Global Encounters program for New York City high school students, which uses music as a window into global history and cultures. Each year the program focuses on a different region, culminating with a concert at Carnegie Hall. This year’s Global Encounters focuses on the music of India, with its myriad regional styles. The distance learning launch-event juxtaposed these with traditional music of the U.S. to aid students’ understanding of regionalism.

Indian regional styles included Odissi dance, one of the country’s best known classical styles; Karnatak classical music of southern India, which remains largely a religious and cultural tradition; Hindustani classical music of northern India, which has origins in the Sanskrit texts of the Aryans with influences from

Hindu, Muslim, and Persian cultures; and giddha, a folk dance originally performed by women as part of harvest celebrations, which today is a component of most festive occasions in the northwestern state of Punjab.

U.S. regional styles featured bluegrass, which grew out of the traditional string band music from the Appalachian region that formed the roots of country music, and brass band jazz from New Orleans, which after the American Civil War became associated with the public ceremonies in African American communities, particularly parades and funerals.

The music exchange was augmented by introductory video segments and a Q&A session between the high school audiences in both countries. Also, student performers on both sides discussed their experiences performing traditional music. In the U.S., virtuoso young musicians included banjo/mandolin player Ryan Holladay (age 12) and fiddler Tyler Andal (age 16).    

At Carnegie Hall, The Weill Music Institute employs the latest technology to enhance music education and to expand its reach to new audiences. In addition to online resources, Zankel Hall’s advanced educational technology facilitates video and distance learning to bring programs to audiences around the world. As Carnegie Hall moves forward in expanding its education programs, The Weill Music Institute will be at the forefront in its use of web-based and distance learning technology for music education.

Upcoming distance learning events in Zankel Hall by The Weill Music Institute include an interactive musical game for 4th to 6th graders in Hawaii and New York City on February 18, 2005, as part of its LinkUP! program; and a long-distance rehearsal, led by Craig Jessop, of Duruflé’s Requiem for high school choirs in California, North Carolina, and Ohio on January 23, 2005, as part of its National High School Choral Festival.

Global Encounters is part of the Isaac Stern Education Legacy, a program supported by the U.S. Department of Education. Global Encounters is sponsored, in part, by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. This event is made possible, in part, by The Tishman Fund for Education through Technology and by an endowment grant from the Citigroup Foundation in support of the Isaac Stern Education Legacy project.

The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall uses the world-renowned resources of Carnegie Hall's three stages to provide music education to a wide variety of audiences—from preschoolers to adults, concertgoers to emerging professional musicians—serving those in the New York City metropolitan region, across the United States, and around the world. Central to The Weill Music Institute are its school-based programs, which enable students to participate in music education from preschool through the 12th grade. These programs feature Carnegie Hall curricula that are age-appropriate, interactive, sequentially linked, and based on New York City, state, and national standards.    

Contact: Matt Carlson
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