“Music Around the World” was an event featured during the Global Understanding Convention. The event took place on Wednesday, April 10 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. It was a streamed radio show on WMCX hosted by graduate student and news director for WMCX Jen Hom, also known as “Sonic,” and guest DJ Stuart Rosenberg, associate professor of management.
The event aired during the usual time of Hom’s radio show, “Sonic Stir Fry.” It played music from all over the world, such as Asia, Europe, South America, United States, Australia, Sweden, Japan, and Denmark.
“My objective was to play songs by artists from as many parts of the world as possible in two hours,” said Rosenberg. “It was important for me to play music that would appeal to a broad audience, so the playlist included original songs that are indigenous to a particular country as well as cover versions in other languages of popular songs that we are familiar with.”
Rosenberg said that there were a total of 30 songs on the playlist. Originally, he had come up with 50 songs for the playlist but had to cut it down. Some of the songs included “Big Time Sensuality” by Bjork, “Fairy Tale of New York” by The Pogues, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me (Para El Buzz Espanol)” by The Gipsy Kings, “Those Nights” by Yannick and “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” by Domenico Modugno.
Many of the songs on the playlist were recognizable by students. Hom had no part in helping create the playlist, however, she had heard a few of the songs before. “I was familiar with about 17 or 18 out of the 25 songs that actually aired,” said Hom.
During breaks in between songs, Rosenberg would tell listeners facts behind the songs and artists. He explained that the song by The Gipsy Kings was featured in the movie Toy Story 3 and Yannick’s song was based off of the American song “Oh What a Night.”
When Rosenberg was attending Stony Brook University in New York, he had his own weekly radio show. “The type of music that my show featured was soul music, but a key element of the show was the information that I provided on each of the artists whose songs were played,” he said. “The show was entertaining, but it was also educational. Being able to tell the stories about the artists gives me a great deal of pleasure. And although the music played for the Global Understanding show was different, it’s no less important for me to share with the listeners information about the songs and the artists.”
Joe Rapolla, instructor of business of music and entertainment media, feels that listening to music from around the world is important. “I believe people should be open to all styles of music; let music take them on a journey, and then be honest about what appeals and speaks,” he said.
Rosenberg has participated in the Global Understanding Convention for the past two years. One year he had a classroom colloquium and the next year he had a painting featured in The Faces of Poverty exhibit. He had never done anything like the radio show before. Hom said, “He mentioned a number of times that he used to have a radio show back in college and that he missed it, so I offered the invitation to come onto my show sometime as a guest to relive his college radio experience. He finally took me up on the offer this semester.”
“As any lover of music can attest, there is no one song that I can single out as a favorite from the playlist,” said Hom.
Rosenberg agreed, but said he enjoyed researching and learning about the songs he was unfamiliar with.
What Rosenberg likes most about college radio in particular is the freedom the program has to do whatever it likes. “I hope that was evident in the show and I am grateful for having had the opportunity,” he said.
Rapolla said that people can truly learn from listening to music around the world. “We’re all in this together. When I listen to music, read or appreciate art, or even advertising from other parts of the world, it definitely confirms my observation that we’re all just trying to figure things out and do our best.”
PHOTO TAKEN from blogspot.com
Correction:
In the April 17, 2013 issue of The Outlook a story was published titled Students Listen to Music From All Around the World. Jen Hom was given the wrong title, it should have read “graduate student and news director for WMCX Jen Hom, also known as ‘Sonic.’”
