I was sitting at the Westergasfabriek last night watching the Pelargos Quartet play aboard and to the accompaniment of helicopters juddering over Amsterdam in Stockhausen’s opera, Aus Licht when I received a text message announcing that I won the ASCA 2019 Best Article award! I did not even think I would be nominated! My sincerest… Continue reading
Jamal Tuschick reviewed Echoing Europe – Postcolonial Reverberations on der Freitag. “meLê yamomo zeigt in seinem Soundwerk „Echoing Europe – Postcolonial reverberations“ die europäische Aneignungs- und Kategorisierungsarroganz und ihre wissenschaftlichen Maskierungen im Geist der Traurigen Tropen. Er untersucht die Grenze zwischen „Musik“ und „Geräusch“ als gewaltsame Setzung nicht zuletzt. … Er spielt mit Tonspulen und Grammophontrichtern…. Continue reading
In time for our premiere, music critic Christoph Möller produced a feature on “Echoing Europe – Postcolonial Reverberations” on Deutschlandfunk Kultur. “Was Musik ist, entscheidet nach wie vor der Westen, meint der Musikwissenschaftler und Performer meLê yamomo. In seiner Sound-Performance „Echoing Europe“ will er koloniale Denkmuster in der Musik offenlegen und kritisch hinterfragen.” (The West… Continue reading
On 16 May, I will be premiering a new music theatre/sound performance piece entitled »Echoing Europe – Postcolonial Reverberations«. You can read the dramaturgical notes on the Theater Ballhaus Naunynstrasse website. Tickets are now available on the Berlin Bühnen website. (Up there is a picture at the rehearsal studio.) If you are in Berlin, it… Continue reading
I will be doing a Philippine launch of my book »Sounding Modernities: Theatre and Music in Manila and the Asia Pacific, 1869-1946« on 21 February at the University of the Philippines Diliman-College of Music! As part of the Musikolokya, I will also give a lecture on the nineteenth-century theatre and musical practices in Manila and… Continue reading
In December, I will be participating in the »Permanente Beunruhigung« Performance Festival at Theater Ballhaus Naunynstrasse in Berlin. It’s an unusual format! I’ll be meeting three other artists from other cities across the globe, whom I’ve never met before, and we will have 48 hours to create a performance! This is going to be exciting!
You can read more about the project (and get your tickets) here. And here is the trailer:
I’m excited to announce that my book, »Sounding Modernities: Theatre and Music in Manila and the Asia Pacific, 1869-1946« is now out! I would like to cordially invite you to a small gathering of friends to celebrate the launching of the book. This will take place on 12 October at the University Theatre in Amsterdam… Continue reading
On 31 January 2018, I will be launching my new research project »Sonic Entanglements: Listening to Modernities in Sound Recordings of Southeast Asia, 1890-1950«. During the launch, Kati Röttger will introduce the project. I will talk about the content of the research, introduce the website, and present the trailer for the project’s podcast. I am… Continue reading
Many thanks to the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin for sponsoring and hosting our Explorative Workshop “Acoustic Histories/Historiographies in the Asia Pacific” on 11-12 January 2018. Here is a short interview where I talk about our upcoming colloquium.
Sarong Banggi is an ongoing conversation between meLê yamomo (performance and sound artist-scholar) and Pepe Dayaw (food and performance artist) who talk, sing, dance, and cook about macro- and micro-histories of Filipino diasporas and musical movements. The journey starts in 1571, with the establishment of the city of Manila as the beginning of globalization. Their stories… Continue reading