CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING: THE KEY TO DIPLOMACY
Oct 15, 2013Written by Pauline Gebczak, Contributor
American University celebrated the third anniversary of the Initiative for Russian Culture at a
gala held at the National Building Museum last week. It was an evening of Jazz Diplomacy,
bringing together students, esteemed guests, and accomplished musicians to promote
understanding through music and culture. The event was a collaborative effort between
American University's Initiative for Russian Culture, the Open World Leadership Center, and
The Brubeck Institute.
Cultural understanding is the key for growth in democratic relations between any countries. The
Initiative for Russian Culture believes in this philosophy and it reflects in their efforts to engage
students in learning about Russian culture and history as well as taking up the language. Igor
Butman was the jazz maestro for the evening joined by the U.S.-Russia Rising Stars Jazz Band
to perform for guests, which included Open World alumni and the Brubeck Institute Jazz
Quintet.
The Open World Leadership Center fosters U.S.-Russia exchange programs to encourage
students to study abroad in Russia as well as other post-Soviet nations.
The Brubeck Institute combines a passion for music education and international relations
through their music programs that allow young artists to experience performing in many different
cities and venues. Recently the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet performed at a forum entitled
"Jazz: A Language for Peace" as well as at the United Nations. Brubeck students joined Igor
Butman and the Open World All Star group for an evening of great music, food, and culture.
Initiative for Russian Culture Chair Susan Carmel Lehrman spoke about her goal for the
initiative: "Through events like this one which emphasize importance of common cultural bonds
especially to younger generations I believe we are helping find common ground necessary to be
able to work together and to interact with mutual respect well into the future."
Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak, spoke about the collaboration
between the Embassy of Russia and the Initiative for Russian Culture. The initiative hosts
events for students at the Embassy such as movie screenings and discussions that help further
student interest and understanding in Russian culture. The films range in all genres to capture
the interest of many students. Both Kislyak and Lehrman spoke about dispelling stereotypes
about Russia through education, especially in light of recent events.
The Initiative has seen many accomplishments since its launch three years ago. Applications for
Russian culture, history, and language studies at American University have quadrupled and at
least doubled at consortium universities such as Georgetown, George Washington, the
University Maryland, and George Mason among others. There has been a steady increase in
attendance at events hosted by the Initiative with many students being placed on waitlists
because of full capacity.
Executive Director Simon Rowe from the Brubeck Institute summarized the evening of jazz
diplomacy, "Even without words we can come together and begin to understand one another".
Guests bonded over their mutual enjoyment of music into the evening and set the tone for the
spread of cultural understanding so that diplomatic efforts between the United States and
Russia can continue to develop through student interest and appreciation of culture. Although
quite different the two have many similarities which will continue to be recognized by future
leaders through the efforts of the Initiative for Russian Culture.
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Last modified on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 05:52
The Record, Stockton, Calif., Tony
Sauro column
October 10, 2013
YellowBrix
Oct. 10--THERE WAS A TIME -- not that long ago, really, in terms of world history -- when
discovering music could be a much more personal experience.
A song, say "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles, would burst out of the car radio,
prompting grins of wonder and joy.
Humming it was the only way to "hear" the tune again until another disc jockey played it.
Whenever.
Now, an instantly appealing song can be listened to endlessly in cyberspace. Within nanoseconds.
Which is a good thing: Musicians, particularly the independent kind, get easier access to an
audience.
What's not so good: The loss of curiosity, hope and expectation required to patiently wait to
"catch" the song again, and make a personal "discovery."
Still, during repeated conversations with musicians, the Internet's advancements have proven
beneficial -- enabling them to expose their music to a wider audience at lower cost without
allowing record-industry executives to keep siphoning off most of the profits.
Through Internet sites such as Kickstarter, musicians now can raise production costs from
people who are loyal to their music and vision.
Of course, there's always sobering reality.
"In the digital age ... a CD is just a business card," said Madeline Holly-Sales, the singer in
Beleza, a Virginia-based world music duo that performed Sept. 27 in Lodi. "Now, there's less
motivation."
She and husband Humberto Sales raised $8,000 to record and release their latest CD, meaning
they keep all the profits. Yet, "I'd absolutely say 'no,' " about repeating it. "I don't necessarily
wanna ask for help again."
Andy Nagle discovered an odd way in which the Internet made an impact while he was
developing "In My Life: A Musical Theatre Tribute to the Beatles" -- a stage show that included
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (1964) and played Sept. 28 in Stockton.
When he created the show in 2007, Beatles songs weren't yet available on iTunes. So, the 220
musicians who initially auditioned imitated existing tribute groups.
"Before, a lot of them could hit the notes," Nagle said. "They were a little off on the harmonies
and melodies."
They learned to sound more convincing by downloading the real thing.
Audrey Andrist, a former Stockton resident who plays piano in Strata, a Maryland-based
chamber-music trio, has experienced the same sense of musical populism.
"Most definitely," said Andrist, whose group performed here Oct. 6. "They don't necessarily have
to go and buy the recording to see if they like it. You can look it up on YouTube. It's a great
resource. Even your iPod. Put it on shuffle and you can randomly listen to lots of different
styles."
Patrick Lamb, a very independent jazz saxophone player from Portland, Ore., no longer hangs
posters on poles.
The Internet "allows me to reach fans directly," said Lamb, who performed in Stockton on Sept.
22. "It's great. I remember postering on poles with a staple gun to get people to gigs. Since they
put Facebook together and the tweets, it's been wonderful.
"The Internet is very good for indie artists. Also, for CD sales. I only make money selling CDs at
concerts. I probably give away as many as I sell."
Computerized clicks and microchips have "made it a smaller world" for David Friesen, a
Portland, Ore., jazz musician who developed a mini-acoustic bass.
"(The Internet) plays my music to people all over the world," said Friesen, who performed Oct. 2
at San Joaquin Delta College. "They hear my music in Israel, Cuba, China and Japan. I get 10
new fans every day. It's very good in an overall sense."
In the very cross-hatched world of hard rock and heavy metal, it's crucial.
Though Lodi's A Skylit Drive was "off the road" for eight months, the five-man band didn't
disappear.
Singer Michael Jagmin said the group's YouTube "channel" stayed active, they provided
"deluxe" material on iTunes' "hot topic" and uploaded expanded versions of their new album
("Rise").
Still, no technology can compare to being suddenly transported into a new world on a crackly car
radio.
Politics, jazz don't mix
Politics and music can be a very unpleasant combination.
The political partisanship that's shut down the U.S. federal government forced the Brubeck
Institute Jazz Quintet to alter its musical logistics Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
The University of the Pacific students -- performing with Igor Butman and the U.S.-Russia
Rising Stars Jazz band -- had to play at the National Building Museum because the Library of
Congress is closed.
The 2013-14 Quintet includes bassist Sarah Kuo (Pasadena); drummer Ja lon D'Mere Archie
(Houston, Texas); trumpeter Max Boiko (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.); guitarist Sean Britt (Hingham,
Mass.); and vibraphone player Joel M. Ross (Chicago). Butman is a Russian jazz saxophone
player who's also a band leader, club owner and TV host.
"This is the sort of jazz diplomacy Dave Brubeck believed in so much," said Simon Rowe, the
Brubeck Institute's executive director. "Playing with the Russian musicians (is) something they'll
never forget."
Jazz Diplomacy…..
SOCIAL CHRONICLES
by Janet Donovan | on October 10th, 2013 |
Photo credit: Courtesy of ImageNet
American University’s Initiative for Russian Culture, along with the Brubeck Institute and the Open World
Leadership Center, hosted a fabulous and unique evening focused on jazz diplomacy between Russia and the
U.S.
Originally slated to take place at the Library of Congress, the event was moved at the last minute to
the National Building Museum as another casualty of the government shut down.
More than 400 university students from AU and around the city, along with hundreds of VIP’s, were treated to
a high energy concert by the first ever U.S. Russia Rising Stars Jazz band – a group of young musicians that
rocked the house.
Russian Jazz Great Igor Butman took the stage to jam with them – much to the audience’s delight.
The Building Museum was transformed into a world-wide jazz club, with food reminiscent of the great clubs
from New Orleans, Moscow, New York City and Chicago. A gigantic globe in the center of the room
reflected photos and jazz clips from both countries.
Said IRC Advisory Board Chair Susan C. Lehrman, “The AU’s IRC was established with the fundamental
belief that the greatest tool for understanding people and reaching their hearts and minds is through their
culture. Tonight’s event, focused on the cultural bond that we share with Russia through jazz, was an
important step forward towards our goal of greater cultural understanding between our two nations.”
Added Ambassador Kislyak of the Russian Federation, “The Initiative for Russian Culture is something that
can not only generate more interest but also more understanding of Russia by American students, and I wish
we had more of these programs both here in the United States and in Russia as well.”
Radio Interview with Simon Rowe on Insight:
http://ia601902.us.archive.org/3/items/Insight-131004/Insight-131004d.mp3
Pacific’s Brubeck Quintet in D.C. to Salute to Jazz Diplomacy
October 3, 2013
University of the Pacific, in partnership with American University’s Initiative
for Russian Culture and the Open World Leadership Center, will host an Oct. 8 event that spotlights jazz
diplomacy, especially the special cultural relationship that exists through jazz between Russia and the United
States.
Five Pacific students, all University of the Pacific Brubeck Fellows who make up the Brubeck Institute Jazz
Quintet, will join Open World alumni musicians to form the first-ever U.S.-Russia Rising Stars Jazz Band. The
band will reprise works that the late Dave Brubeck performed at the 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Summit during
an Oct. 8 performance at the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
The 2013-14 Brubeck Fellows include bassist Sarah Kuo of Los Angeles, the first-ever female Brubeck
Fellow; drummer Jalon D’Mere Archie of Houston; trumpeter Max Boiko of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; guitarist
Sean Britt of Hingham, Mass.; and vibraphonist Joel M. Ross of Chicago.
Джазовая дипломатия открыла
год Российской культурной
инициативы в США
09:1209.10.2013 (обновлено: 22:14 10.10.2013)20410
По мнению организаторов, джазовая дипломатия способствует активизации
двусторонних связей, помогает россиянам и американцам преодолевать
стереотипы и находить общий язык.
© Fotolia/ KLimAx Foto
ВАШИНГТОН, 9 окт — РИА Новости, Алексей Богдановский, Петр Мартынычев. Третий год
Российской культурной инициативы при Американском университете открылся во вторник вечером
в Вашингтоне концертом саксофониста Игоря Бутмана и коллектива молодых исполнителей из России
и США. По мнению организаторов, джазовая дипломатия способствует активизации двусторонних
связей, помогает россиянам и американцам преодолевать стереотипы и находить общий язык.
Российская культурная инициатива на сегодняшний день охватывает несколько сотен студентов
в восьми американских университетах, изучающих русский язык (крупнейший из них —
Американский университет в Вашингтоне).
"Это дает возможность американскому молодому поколению лучше понять нашу
страну, нашу культуру. Более 6 тысяч студентов посетили мероприятия,
организованные Инициативой. Это были интересные семинары и встречи. Мы
обсуждали, как стереотипы влияют на отношения России и Америки", — сказал
журналистам посол РФ в США Сергей Кисляк.
По его словам, сотрудничество Москвы и Вашингтона развивается, несмотря на разногласия. "Мы
взаимодействуем по нераспространению, антитеррору, (Российско-Американская двусторонняя)
президентская комиссия по-прежнему работает, и недавно была очень продуктивная работа в формате
"2+2". Отношения крепче, чем кажется извне", — сказал посол.
Основатель и президент Российской культурной инициативы, меценат Сьюзан Лерман также считает,
что взаимодействие в сфере культуры сближает две страны.
"Это замечательный пример американо-российской джазовой дипломатии. На будущее у нас
запланированы кинопоказы, ежегодный симпозиум — студенческая конференция, связанная
с дипломатией и стереотипами. Выставка фотографий о Сибири. Студенческие путешествия. Такие
большие мероприятия проходят раз в год. Это потрясающе, что молодые исполнители из США
и России репетируют и выступают вместе", — сказала Лерман в интервью РИА Новости.
© РИА Новости. Дмитрий Донской | Купить иллюстрацию
Игорь Бутман. Архив
Игорь Бутман играл на концерте музыку из мультфильма "Ну, погоди", а также прочел лекцию о джазе
в Советском Союзе и России — от Леонида Утесова и Эдди Рознера до Алексея Козлова и Олега
Лундстрема. На сцене также появился сборный коллектив восходящих звезд джаза из России и США.
"Объединяя молодежь и музыкантов старшего поколения на единых площадках, как в России, так
и здесь, мы показываем, что от молодежи многое зависит… Будут люди, которые проповедуют ту же
религию, что и мы — выдающийся современный джаз. Которые играют его на том уровне, на котором
необходимо играть, чтобы он был интересен людям", — сказал Бутман РИА Новости.
По его словам, взаимодействие в рамках проекта — это обмен талантами и идеями.
Участница концерта вокалистка Юлиана Рогачева рассказала РИА Новости, что российские
и американские музыканты познакомились лишь на репетиции.
"Мы буквально здесь познакомились, подружились во время репетиции, сыгрались. Это замечательные
музыканты, я рада возможности выступать сегодня с ними. Хорошо бы было, чтобы это был
не разовый проект", —
РИА Новости http://ria.ru/culture/20131009/968693438.html#ixzz2hnkHg3K4
Jazz Legend Igor Butman Brings Russian Passion to
US
WASHINGTON, October 9 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Russian jazz legend Igor
Butman wrapped up a tour of the US East Coast in Washington Tuesday night, playing his
saxophone the same way he’s played since the tour began nearly three weeks ago: as if he’s
giving the very last concert of his life.
Then again, Butman said, he plays like that all the time, blowing for all he’s worth, bending
backwards to squeeze out every note until perspiration is pouring from his forehead, his face
flushed and a look of pure joy in his eyes.
“In Russia we have a saying that ‘he opens up his soul like a shirt,’ you know, that people can
rip the shirt and your soul is getting out, like it’s escaping,” Butman told RIA Novosti during
an interview before a performance at the Russian Embassy in Washington earlier this week.
By comparison, some US musicians, while technically brilliant, “are too cool, they play too
well,” as if emotionally, “something got lost in the music,” he said.
It’s a difference he attributes to the “wonderful, very positive” reception he’s had from
audiences in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington.
“A lot of people say they haven’t heard anything like that, and we’re getting standing
ovations every time, maybe because we’re passionate,” he added.
© Imagelink
Butman’s final performance won a standing ovation from a packed audience at the National Building
Museum in Washington.
But he hopes that based on the idea that jazz is a universal language, American audiences
will also come away with a deeper sense of today’s Russia and its people.
It should go beyond just, “they have ballet, they have classical music, and they have nuclear
weapons. In the old days everybody was saying only the bears are walking the streets and
the babushkas, the old ladies, but Russia’s ladies are beautiful, incredible, and also, there
are no bears in Moscow,” Butman said.
“People in America think Russians are all communists, or now, they’re all pro-Putin, very
aggressive, they don’t have heart, they don’t have soul, they’re only evil. So how can we
change it? With music, that we love the same music, lots of passion, and maybe some people
will listen to that music and have a different view,” he said.
© Maria Young
Butman performed at the Russian Embassy in Washington Oct. 7.
Already, his one-man mission appears to be working.
“In music, everybody has to listen, you have to be really selfless, to make the music really
work you have to be part of the team, and then if you’re playing with someone from Russia,
and all you know is about the Cold War and the tensions, when you see how they play you
might think, ‘This guy’s not as different from me as I thought,’” said 18-year-old drummer
Jalon Archic, in comments to RIA Novosti.
Archic is from the University of the Pacific’s Brubeck Institute and one of five US students
selected to perform with Butman as part of the US-Russia Rising Stars Jazz Band Tuesday
night at the National Building Museum in Washington.
The event was organized through American University’s Initiative for Russian Culture,
which aims to promote better understanding between the two countries, and the Open
World Leadership Center, a US agency that conducts exchanges and cultural programs
between the US and other nations.
Sean Britt, another Brubeck Institute student, echoed comments from the other US
performers in the program when he said he still knows “very little” about Russia, but knew
“a lot less” before he was asked to join the performance.
“It makes me curious, it makes me want to know more, and maybe someday travel to Russia
to see for myself,” Britt said.
Words like that are music to Butman’s ears.
“These kids are great, and who knows, maybe they can also help to change some of the
things that are confusing between the United States and Russia,” he said, “because it has to
change. We are very powerful countries, so we have to be friends because the whole world is
looking to us, at the US and Russia.”
Butman was headed back to Moscow Wednesday, but he is set to return to the US in
January, for a tour that includes New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz.
The Initiative for Russian Culture launches its
third year
October 12, 2013 Nora FitzGerald, RBTH
The IRC is American University’s “football team,” and it is expanding every
year into something of its own league, while the ARCCF preserves U.S.Russian history.
American jazz great Wynton Marsalis performs with virtuoso Igor Butman at
the Russian Embassy. Source: Press Photo
When Dr. Peter Starr, dean of the college of Arts & Sciences at American University (A.U.) and
honorary co-chair of the Initiative for Russian Culture (IRC) took to the stage at the National Building
museum on Oct. 8, his words may well have been the most meaningful of the evening.
“American University does not have a football team,” he said. “The Initiative for Russian Culture is
our football team.”
This is an extraordinary statement in an era that has seen a discernable lack of interest in Russian
studies when compared to other languages and cultures.
In the United States, it is difficult to find high schools where Russian is taught, and most college
freshman find themselves in rather small classes for Russian 101.
At the press conference before the festivities, Anton Fedyashin, executive director of the IRC,
acknowledged that Russian studies in the United States essentially begins in college. And even at
the college level, the pace has been lackluster.
US-Russian rising stars jazz band. Source: Press Photo
But American University wants to change all that.
Major philanthropist Susan Lehrman appears to have Peter Starr’s back on this one. She has
chosen A.U. as one of the primary beneficiaries of her largesse — thus Starr’s reference to IRC
being his “football team.”
Fedyashin also announced at the conference that in the three years since the IRC was founded, the
number of students in the program has quadrupled.
Fedyashin, a maverick promoter of Russian studies and culture, offers new, revamped courses
along with Eric Lohr, the Susan Carmel Lehrman chair in Russian history and culture; the courses
include “Russian Politics and Film,” “The Cold War and the Spy Novel,” and “Dostoevsky’s Russia.”
The IRC has wisely opened up this initiative to area colleges in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and
Maryland.
Jazz diplomacy takes flight
At the Russian Embassy on Oct. 7, the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation
(ARCCF) celebrated its 21st year with a sparkling black-tie gala that seemed to celebrate lots of
things, but most of all the150th anniversary of the Russian Navy’s goodwill visits to New York and
San Francisco.
American jazz great Wynton Marsalis performed at the gala with virtuoso Igor Butman, starting their
performance with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” a work Marsalis somehow managed
to make look elegant on the trumpet.
The Marsalis Butman performance, which seemed like a reunion of two old friends, was both
spectacular and intimate.
IRC’s James Symington Award for Russian studies was awarded to student Rebecca Darnell, which
will allow her to attend the 2014 summer program at the Moscow Institute of International Relations
(MGIMO-University).
There were so many partners, performances, discussions, awards and celebrations over the two
nights it was sometimes hard to keep track.
A few too many expository videos and self-congratulatory speeches markedly slowed the pace of the
Oct. 8 event for students (which was supposed to be at the Library of Congress but was moved late
in the game to the National Building Museum due to U.S. government shenanigans).
But finally a group of U.S. and Russian jazz students were allowed to perform.
There is little doubt that the IRC is showing off its growing influence with an increase in language
study, scholarships, and film studies for area students. Those interested in Russian studies can only
say, it’s about time.