The debut recital for the World Music Ensemble at Denison University will feature the sounds of "Karimba," "Nyanga" and Andean panpipes, and songs from African and South American traditions. The recital is set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday (March 27) in Burke Recital Hall and is free and open to the public.

The "Karimba," a thumb-piano from Zimbabwe, will be featured in four traditional songs, with lyrics in the Shona language. The "Nyanga" panpipes from Mozambique will be featured in works which require four separate panpipe parts playing in interlock to create a single melody. Another form of traditional panpipes from the indigenous people of the Andes in South America will also be played in interlocking separate parts to create a whole melody. No single player can play the entire melody, as each set of panpipes only has half of the necessary notes; so partners alternate playing to complete the melody.

The final genre to be performed in this debut recital is the "Saya," an Afro-Bolivian song and dance genre. The Afro-Bolivians use these tuneful songs to spread awareness of their social movement, as they are working to gain recognition of their culture. Student performers will be singing and dancing saya songs with newly-composed "coplas," or solo sections, between the repeated stanzas.

Assistant Professor Kristen Smith Stoner is director of the World Music Ensemble. She studied world music performance at the University of Cincinnati while pursuing her master and doctoral degrees in music. She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Texas. She has been featured as a flutist in a number of concerts at Denison with fellow music department faculty members.

Two Newark students and two Denison students from Zimbabwe are part of the ensemble. Student members of the World Music Ensemble who will be performing are: seniors James Clawson, Jeffersonville; Ashley Wildman, Cloverdale, Ind.; Ann Reinheimer, Springfield; Natalie Jackson, Newark; Leah Smith, Stow; Rachel Colina, Cincinnati; and Nancy Espinoza, Wilmington, Calif.; junior Diane Skinner, Zimbabwe; sophomores Audrey Childs, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Brandice Jackson, Newark; and first year student Anusha Jogi, also of Zimbabwe.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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