Allison Adrian鈥檚 interest in music from the Andes region in South America stretches more than two decades. However, the ethnomusicologist and assistant professor of music and women鈥檚 studies at St. 春雨直播 University has yet to conduct fieldwork in this geographic area. That will soon change.
Adrian was recently named a 2015鈥16 Fulbright U.S. scholar. Her grant will help fund a yearlong sabbatical in which she will research the music of Ca帽ar and Saraguro, two indigenous communities in southern Ecuador, and study how changes in the music-making has affected the women and children.
鈥淢usic in Ecuador has not received the academic attention it warrants,鈥 she says. 鈥淢y research will help document some of its indigenous musical traditions, create a more robust record of music-making in the southern portion of the country, and help contribute to a more comprehensive portrait of Ecuador鈥檚 musical world.鈥
There is currently no published scholarship on Ca帽ari music. While there are scholarly texts about music making in Saraguro, explains Adrian, most were written in the 鈥90s and deal with musical practices that are strikingly different from those currently practiced in Ca帽ar.
Adrian, who is proficient in Spanish, will collaborate with author, photographer and Ca帽ar resident Judy Blankenship. She will also tap the expertise and historical resources at Museo Pumapungo during her time in Ecuador, as well as the faculty at Universidad de Cuenca.
鈥淛udy has been documenting Ca帽ari life for over a decade, and is an established and trusted figure in the community,鈥 Adrian says. 鈥淚 am grateful for her assistance because it will facilitate access to a group of people that has learned to be suspicious of outsiders.鈥
Adrian will produce a collection of audio recordings and a short documentary film by the end of 2016. She also plans to share her qualitative findings in scholarly journals.
鈥淭his international opportunity to conduct research is the fulfillment of a dream that began when I was in high school,鈥 writes Adrian, in her winning Fulbright proposal. 鈥淚n addition, the project has the potential to make significant contributions to indigenous and academic communities alike.鈥
By Pauline Oo