This Memorial Day Weekend, Rogue World Music and the Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission invite you to join the community and the arts IN PERSON at the Ashland World Music Festival. The 2023 AWMF features a live main stage event highlighting culture-bearing musicians at the Butler Bandshell in Lithia Park, a HeartBeat Stories event, a percussion workshop, a community samba dance on Ashland’s downtown Plaza, and a weekend of SoundWalking through beautiful downtown Ashland. In today’s interview I spoke with Ana Byers, the executive director of Rogue World Music, to learn more about the upcoming event and all the festivities.
Hi Ana, thanks so much for speaking with me today. I am excited to hear about what the Ashland World Music Festival has in store for the community.
Thank you for the opportunity to share, Shields! The Ashland World Music Festival is a FREE, family-friendly opportunity to connect and engage through incredible performances featuring music from cultures around the world, storytelling, and visual art by local artists. All AWMF offerings invite guests to learn and participate in addition to presenting performances. Our hope is that the AWMF offers the opportunity for folks to experience something new, see diverse representation on stage, learn about the cultural context of all these amazing forms of music being shared, participate in the events, and have fun!
The mechanics of the Festival experience is unique to most others in the area. Instead of having all of the happenings occur in one location, we hold AWMF events at a number of locations in Ashland. Each event has a different focus, and while all feature music a key component, not all the events are concerts. There’s a workshop, a storytelling event, a talkback with our headlining artist, etc. Festival goers are encouraged to attend any or all of these events, but they really get to curate their own experience over the 4 days of Memorial Day weekend.
Last year, we had over 3,000 people attend AWMF events, and the Park Performances (the main stage event) was packed all day long with people dancing, enjoying great food, and having a wonderful time. This year we are anticipating attendance to reach 5,000 people – especially since we have added two new events to the Festival offerings.
To begin with, can you give us a little background to Rogue World Music?
I’m so glad you asked. Rogue World Music is a 501(c)(3)arts nonprofit. Our mission is to build community and cultural connection through world music experience. We’re a multi-faceted presence in the community and we’ve undergone a dynamic evolution over the past 7 years with really exponential program growth since 2020.
We actually began as the Rogue World Ensemble in 2009. For many years, this adult SAB choir was the primary program of the organization. The Ensemble program ended in January of 2020, with a retrospective concert revisiting favorite pieces the group had performed over the previous decade.
Now, RWM has 3 programs: Songbirds World Music Education, the Ashland World Music Festival, and our Cultural Outreach Program. Songbirds uses world music, call and response teaching methods, and play to help K-2nd graders develop their own innate musicality as a means for connection and engagement. Our Cultural Outreach program supports community-building events produced by other local organizations or community leaders AND works to amplify the work of regional culture bearers. And then we have the Ashland World Music Festival plus the Winter SoundWalk (the off-season AWMF offering) that we produce in collaboration with Ashland Park & Recreation Commission and with the support of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, the Ashland branch of the Jackson County Library Services, and lots of Rogue Valley businesses.
You’ve designed this event to be a multi-day celebration and experience. Please break it down for us.
Gladly. The 2023 Ashland World Music Festival has 6 events to attend:
The Percussion Workshop on Friday, May 26th offers the opportunity to learn about the samba rhythm, its history, its importance to current Brazilian music, how to ground it in movement, and how to play it!
The Musician Talk Back on Saturday, May 27th with 2023 AWMF headlining artist and ethnomusicologist Jake Blount focuses on the history and diaspora of roots music.
The HeartBeat Stories on Saturday, May 27th at the Lithia Park Butler Bandshell features stories and music of ‘home’ by visiting AWMF artists and local community members.
The Park Performances on Sunday, May 28th is the main stage event, held at the Butler Bandshell. It features a fantastic performance series by 6 different performing groups covering everything from sitar music of North India to roots music of Appalachia in beautiful Lithia Park.
The Plaza Community Dance on Sunday, May 28th is inspired by a traditional bloco de Carnaval, featuring local Brazilian band Exá. This event directly follows the Park Performances and we are closing Ashland Plaza to traffic for this event- dancing in the street is encouraged!
The SoundWalk. This is an ongoing offering all Memorial Day weekend and features a self-guided walk through the beautiful downtown cityscape of Ashland featuring music from local, national and international musicians curated to align with art displays in local business windows.
Going into detail with each event, please start by telling us about this year’s Percussion Workshop.
The Percussion Workshop is one of our AWMF event staples, and produced in partnership with the Southern Oregon University Music Department.
This year, local musician Felipe Archer is teaching the workshop, with a focus on the samba rhythm of Brazil. He will be getting participants up on their feet, grounding the rhythm in their movement as much as their drums, and speaking to the history and cultural significance of samba as well. Felipe’s music group, Exá, will be performing at another AWMF event later in the weekend – so this is the perfect time to come out, get a better understanding of samba, and then take that new-found understanding to the AWMF Plaza Community Dance!
This event is a sleeper hit of the AWMF. People are so surprised by how much fun it is. Each year, we book a culture-bearing percussionist to teach about a specific traditional format of drumming/percussion. The instructor scales the workshop to be accessible enough for a novice to participate, but layered enough for a skilled percussionist to learn something new as well. Terry Longshore (the director of percussion studies in the SOU Music Dept.) opens the rich collection of percussion instruments he keeps on campus to the public for use, so you don’t even need to own your own drum to participate.
Last year we had over 65 people join us. This year we are anticipating at least that many participants again. The workshop is taught outside (if nice) on the lawn in front of the SOU Music Building, so imagine a big circle of people making music together on the beautiful SOU campus – and having so much fun doing it!
“Musician Talk Back” is a new addition to the festival. Please tell us more.
Yes! We are really excited about this event produced in partnership with the Ashland Branch of the Jackson County Library Service. One of our overall goals of the festival is to create more opportunities for the artists to share the context of their work, the backstory, the cultural significance.
Jake Blount, our 2023 headlining artist, will have a chance to really dive into the ethnomusicology side of his work. He has undertaken a deep study of the history of Black music/roots music in America from the 1600’s to today. During the Musician Talk Back, Jake has the opportunity to share that history through the lens/demonstration of a couple of his songs. There is so much thought and historical knowledge that goes into his albums – we are excited to amplify other layers of his work in addition to his performance.
And while this might all sound really esoteric, it won’t be. Jake is a passionate presenter on this topic.
We say that listeners of all ages are welcome, especially if they are good question-askers – and we are hoping for LOTS of good question-askers. This event is held in the Gresham Room of Ashland Library, which can accommodate about 65 attendees. Like all of our events, this one is free, unticketed, and all seats are available on a first arrived, first seated basis.
On a side note, this new event wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Ashland Library. While the Ashland Branch of the Jackson County Library has been a great partner as a SoundWalk site over the past two years, this is a really fun new development they are excited to partner on with us.
I’d love to hear about the “HeartBeat Stories.” What is this and how does it work?
The HeartBeat Stories is another staple event of the AWMF. We invite a mixture of AWMF lineup artists and local community members to share stories and music pieces connected by the theme of “home.” This is a pretty wide topic. Stories shared could be about leaving home, finding home, home in identity or culture, home as a place, home in a practice, etc. Sticking to a theme this broad each year has opened the field for a rich array of stories! In the past we have had storytellers share stories about immigrating from El Salvador, maintaining a sense of home via traditional dance after moving far away from family, a Diné creation story, home in the practice of the traditional fishing technique someone grew up learning during their childhood in Hawai’i, etc. It is always such a magical evening, filled with a sense of quiet connection.
This year, we are so lucky to have 2023 AWMF artists Jake Blount, Fabiola Mendez, Arjun Verma, and Kevin Carr each sharing a story and music. Their offerings will be interspersed with stories by local community members Precious Yamaguchi and Kamud Gokani. Last year, about 80 participants attended the event, and we anticipate between 80 and 100 people to attend this year. Since we are holding the HeartBeat Stories at the Bandshell this year, there is plenty of room for that many people and more to attend, bring a picnic, and be transported during the ‘golden hour’ by warm stories and beautiful music.
Sunday opens the door to the Park Performances.
The main stage event! This is such a dynamic day with 6 different performances, and 6 hours of incredible music in beautiful Lithia Park, at the Butler Bandshell. We’ve got a great mix of national, regional, and local artists planned, including:
12 pm: The Family Carr – Music of the Celtic diaspora.
1 pm: Arjun Verma – Sitar music from Northern India.
1:45 pm: Malinka World Music Collective – Music of the Balkan diaspora.
2:30 pm: Jake Blount – Music of the Black diaspora in North America from the 1600’s to now.
3:30 pm: Fabiola Mendez Trio – Music from Puerto Rico.
4:30 pm: San Francisco Yiddish Combo – Klezmer music with a modern twist.
We make sure to invite a carefully curated mix of food trucks to attend each year and work to have a variety of free family-friendly activities for all, like face painting, henna art, instrument making, lawn games, a photo booth, etc. Between the delicious food, the rockin’ music, and the extra opportunities to ‘play,’ the Park Performances are celebratory in vibe and energy.
Last year over 2,000 people attended this event. We had the people who had planned to come, but we also had all the people who heard great music while they were on a walk downtown, or hiking or mountain biking in Lithia Park and just had to see what was going on. It was a great crowd, with everyone so excited to be sharing such a joyful moment in such a lovely location. This year, we anticipate about 4,000 people attending throughout the day. It will definitely feel like a festive occasion!
You then are shutting down the Plaza for a Community Dance.
This is the SECOND new event that we are adding to the AWMF event schedule this year, and it is a big one! The minute the Park Performances are over at the Butler Bandshell in Lithia Park, a samba percussion line of students from the SOU Music department percussion program is going to lead a procession from the bandshell to the Plaza in downtown Ashland. We are hoping that all the folks at the bandshell for the final act decide to process with us through Lithia Park to the Plaza for this next event.
At the Plaza, the incredible local Brazilian band Exá (formerly called Alquimistas) will be playing fabulous samba music. The street (N. Main) directly around the Plaza will all be closed to traffic, and we hope to fill them all with dancers. We are expecting a minimum of 200 people to attend. As pointed out to us by Felipe Archer (band leader of Exá), this really is creating a good version of a bloco de carnaval from Brazil. As shared with us by Felipe, “An authentic bloco closes down the street (check), has a moving percussion band (check) and arrives somewhere with a stage, with a full band playing songs (check).”
While this is our first time producing this AWMF event, we are anticipating a GREAT turn out. It will just be so much fun. There is something about closing streets to traffic, claiming that space for people to gather, and adding joyful music that immediately transforms parking space to connecting space.
Please tell us about the SoundWalk and how your planned ‘user experience’ update for this year.
A soundwalk is a curated audio meant to be listened to within the context of a specific location. The Ashland World Music Festival SoundWalk curates music sourced from local, regional, national, and international musicians to be listened to while walking between and viewing a series of displays of local artists’ work showcased in downtown Ashland business windows. The walk is self-guided, and both the art displays and SoundWalk audio are only available over Memorial Day weekend. It is such a great way for us to weave in visual art of all sorts (textiles, paintings, collage, photography, culturally-specific clothing/traditional costumes, etc) into the AWMF. It also makes it possible for us to showcase the music of more artists than we would be able to otherwise – especially the music of artists who would otherwise need to travel long distances to participate.
This year, we are updating the way SoundWalk-ers can access the AWMF SoundWalk audio. It has always been streamable on our website (and will continue to be this year) BUT this year, it will also be accessible via the ECHOES interactive sound walks app. Users will need to download this FREE app if they want to use it for the AWMF SoundWalk. When users hit play on the AWMF SoundWalk playlist in the ECHOS app, it will play a specific audio file based on the user’s GPS coordinates. This means that app users get an incredibly curated experience. For example, we are showcasing both the visual art and a reading of poetry by the same artist. App users will hear this artist’s poem being read as they are approaching her art display. The app will be using GPS coordinates to activate playing the specific audio file.
Using GPS-activated apps to facilitate a user’s sound walk experience is really common in larger sound walk productions in places like San Francisco, Central Park in New York City, and Portland. Britt Festival even used a similar app for a classical music sound walk of new compositions in 2021. We are super excited to be able to offer this level of curated listening/viewing experience for 2023 AWMF attendees. It is also important to note that app use isn’t required for AWMF SoundWalk attendees to access the SoundWalk audio.
This all may sound like a lot, but full instructions and a SoundWalk map will be accessible to the public on the Ashland World Music Festival page of our website no later than May 1st. www.rogueworldmusic.org/awmf.
Ana I love that you all have paired all of this great music with a fundraising benefit as well. Please say more.
This will be our 4th year of leveraging this free, 4-day-long community event to support the Rogue Valley community members impacted by the 2020 Almeda Wildfire. On September 8th, 2020, the Almeda Wildfire swept through the Rogue Valley in an unprecedented natural disaster. One third of the communities of Talent, Phoenix, and neighborhoods on unincorporated county land between Ashland and Medford were burned. It destroyed over 2,500 buildings, and displaced thousands of people. Senior, workforce, and low-income housing were disproportionately decimated.
Rogue World Music’s mission is building community and cultural connections through world music experience. We decided to turn the free events of the Ashland World Music Festival into a fundraiser for an organization directly serving those Rogue Valley community members impacted by the Almeda Wildfire, putting our mission into tangible action. All festival events remain free. Instead, we use the festival events as a platform to share the story of the organization we are fundraising for and the work that needs to be continued in order to rebuild our Rogue Valley community. While rebuilding and recovery is happening at a comparatively fast pace, it will still be a decade before these communities are fully recovered. There are still so many people who have yet to be able to return home, 2.5 years later.
This year we are fundraising for the ACCESS Center for Community Resilience. As outlined on their website, “ACCESS helps transition fire survivors from living in hotels and other short-term housing to stable, suitable housing options. The Center for Community Resilience (CCR) was created in August 2021 along with ACCESS partners, including case managers from the State of Oregon and other local agencies, to assist those who were impacted by the 2020 Jackson County wildfires. Help is available for finding a place to call home.”
There is, already, a generous $2,500 matching donation on the table for this fundraiser made by the Ashland branch of Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty. Any community member who is moved to contribute to this fundraiser can donate at www.rogueworldmusic.org/awmf/#firefundraiser. Because these donations are made through RWM, which is an Oregon-based arts nonprofit, donors are also eligible for a tax credit after a matching donation made to the Oregon Cultural Trust. An important note: Rogue World Music does not keep any of the funds generated by this fundraiser.
All of the events are totally free and that is amazing.
Absolutely. All 6 of these events showcasing international, national, regional, and local artists are FREE. RWM and APRC are committed to producing events that are inclusive and community building, with events accessible to as many people as possible. Removing the barrier of a ticket price is a good start to enacting that goal.
Because of this commitment, we spend a LOT of time fundraising to cover the costs of production via soliciting sponsorships, writing grants, and developing partnerships. We are so lucky to have some really dedicated community sponsors of this event, including Evergreen Federal Bank, SOPBS, KSKQ, Pacific Power, Full Circle Real Estate, Harry & David and Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s Real Estate. All of these sponsors are returning supporters of the AWMF, some for many years. They really see the value in contributing to community events that are open to all.
Of course we welcome support from community donations as well. Individuals who would like to support Rogue World Music and the Ashland World Music Festival can make a contribution at www.rogueworldmusic.org/donate. Businesses who are interested in becoming an AWMF sponsor can contact our Development Manager, Sophia Blanton, at sophiablanton@rogueworldmusic.org.
Please tell us more about your artist line up.
We say this every year, and every year it is true – we are just SO EXCITED about this year’s collective of performing artists. We have a few familiar faces in the mix, along with whole genres of music that have yet to be represented on the AWMF stage. It is particularly exciting that so many of these artists are participating in multiple events, making it possible to showcase their personal stories and how that context has shaped their art.
Our 2023 AWMF Artists include:
Jake Blount, a Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist, 2022 Rolling Stone Top 25 Country/Americana artist, International Folk Music Awards 2023 Artist of the Year nominee, 2023 Tiny Desk Concert performer, & Folk Alley “Best of 2022” Artist in addition to being an extremely knowledgeable ethnomusicologist. His performances seamlessly merge centuries-old traditional songs with the trappings and techniques of modern Black genres. 2023 AWMF events: Musician Talk Back, HeartBeat Stories, & Park Performances.
Musician and singer, Fabiola Mendez, who is a National & international Puerto Rican performing artist, composer (including for Alma’s Way [PBS Kids] and Sesame Street’s Mecha Builders [HBO Max]), educator, & 2022 Boston Landmarks Orchestra Artist in Residence. She’s a master at playing the cuatro, a traditional 10-string, guitar-like instrument and was the first to graduate from Boston’s Berklee College of Music with a specialty in the cuatro. 2023 AWMF events: HeartBeat Stories & Park Performances.
Arjun Verma, a renowned national & international sitar player (with collaborations with the London Symphony and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), composer (including film & tv scores, opera) and educator (North Indian Classical Music at the Ali Akbar College of Music and the East-West School of Music). 2023 AWMF events: HeartBeat Stories & Park Performances.
The San Francisco-based San Francisco Yiddish Combo, back for a 2nd year in a row. The SFYC presents klezmer music through a 21st century lens, incorporating influences from jazz, blues, folk, & hip hop. 2023 AWMF events: Park Performances.
Southern Oregon-based folklorist, storyteller, educator, & musician Kevin Carr shares his deep love and knowledge of music of the Celtic Diaspora, pulling from music traditions in Ireland, Galicia, Brittony, Canada, Appalachia and more. The Family Carr (Kevin & Daniel Carr and Josie Mendelsohn) is a returning AWMF artists group, and participated in the 2021 virtual AWMF. 2023 AWMF events: HeartBeat Stories (Kevin Carr) & Park Performances (The Family Carr).
Ashland-based music collective Malinka, whose repertoire features an eclectic mix of vibrant music of Eastern European, Romani, Latin, hot jazz/swing, and music of the Balkan diaspora. 2023 AWMF event: Park Performances.
Ashland-based Felipe Archer & Exá (formerly known as Alquimistas) bringing traditional Brazilian rhythms fused with a modern soundscape. 2023 AWMF events: SOU Percussion Workshop (Felipe Archer) & Plaza Community Dance (Exá).
Learn More:
Rogue World Music
2305-C Ashland St. #421
223 5th St, Ashland
