The “We Have Much to Learn from One Another” exhibit opened yesterday at the University’s School of Music lobby documenting the work of the Robert E. Brown Center for World Music.  Robert E. Brown (1927-2005) was an American ethnomusicologist.  Recognized for having coined the term “world music,” Brown studied ethnomusicology under Mantle Hood at UCLA and eventually established the Ethnomusicology program at Wesleyan University. He assisted in founding the American Society for Eastern Arts in 1963.  Later it was renamed the Center for World Music in San Diego of which Brown was also its founding president. Near the end of his life, Brown donated his personal papers and instrument collection to the University of Illinois.  With this gift, the Robert E. Brown Center for World Music was established at the University of Illinois in 2006 and officially inaugurated in 2008.

This exhibit explores the educational initiatives of both the Center for World Music in San Diego and the Robert E. Brown Center for World Music at the University of Illinois, focusing on their use of the Gamelan as a medium for educating the public about world music.  Brown once stated “We have much to learn from one another.”  This exhibit highlights the contributions of Robert E. Brown and the educational and outreach initiatives of the two centers, by examining archival records housed at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music and the music instruments at the School of Music.

This exhibit was curated by the MUS 421/521 class’s students Henrique Assi Hernandes, Megan Ferrari, Andrew Gaffey, Mengqi Lai, Reza Torangan, Alexandra Yaralian, and Lilia Yaralian and their instructors Nolan Vallier and Scott Schwartz.  For further information about this exhibit email Nolan Vallier.