Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH)

The beautiful spring afternoon of April 13 found the Fellows at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH), where our topic was “The Social Power of Music”, and our presenters were Dr. James Deutsch, Curator and Editor, CFCH and Dr. Atesh Sonneborn, Associate Director of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Dr. Deutsch began the afternoon by providing an overview of the CFCH, and its mission which includes promoting understanding and sustainability of the world’s diverse cultural traditions, expanding understanding of world cultures through pubic engagement, and championing cultural vitality and building organizational capacity of various organizations and institutions through partnerships and programs.

Functions of CFCH include research and education, Smithsonian Folkways recordings, maintaining the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archive and Collections, engaging in activities that generate cultural heritage policy and producing the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival which is about to celebrate its 50^th year.  Fellows learned about efforts in each of these areas, as well as the history as to how each has evolved.

This overview was followed by Dr. Sonneborn leading us on a tour of CFCH, the highlight of which was being taken into the archives of Folkways Records, where we were able to see the richness of the collection, and learn about how master recordings are created and preserved. Seeing some of the prized early recordings from the collection was a special treat.

On returning to the conference room, our two speakers focused on the social power of music, accompanying their talk with examples from the Folkways collection. Pieces we heard represented music from a variety of religious traditions and cultural groups, both contemporary and from the earliest years of the collection. With each, a different kind of social power was illustrated. The day ended with a robust question and answer session, and with no one wanting the session to end.