cultural literacy is developed in many unlike ways. Learning music—and learning about cultures through music—is one of the most enjoyable ways to understand the world a little better. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Elena Moon Park, a musician and producer, who taught me a distribute about cultural sympathize through music. here is an excerpt from our conversation, and a musical treat she shared with our readers .
What was the inspiration for Rabbit Days and Dumplings?
Elena : I ‘ve been performing all-ages/family music with Dan Zanes and Friends for about six years, and through that time, I ‘ve experienced first hand how much the share of one ‘s music has a beautiful and profound impact on people of all ages. Music has a unique ability to cross borders of culture, speech, background, age, and more, giving the hearer ( and performer ) a terrific introduction to possibly unfamiliar worlds.
I was born and raised in East Tennessee, but both of my parents immigrated to the US from South Korea in their mid-twenties. As a inaugural generation korean American, I had a specify association to my own cultural background growing up, due to the fact that we were in a preferably little Southern township with an equally small asian american population. late, as I toured around the nation and the universe with Dan Zanes and Friends, I met a large number of asian american families and adopted asian children in our audiences, and I promptly realized that there was a miss of music from East Asia available in any musical scenery in the US. I besides realized that an exploration of this music would offer a beautiful opportunity for me to learn about my own background, and that of neighboring East asian countries. In a sense I was inspired by the meet know of performing music for families, and I decided upon an album of music from East Asia to add a personal season to the project .
Why did you produce it?
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Elena : In many ways this album is a very personal travel for me, allowing me to learn some great songs from around East Asia, and to plowshare them with a broader community. It ‘s besides an album that I would have liked to have growing up as a korean American, to fulfill ( or possibly grow ) a curio about music from my own cultural background. I hope that it will serve to fulfill or grow this curio in early asian american and non-Asian american young people across the country, as a mean of entrance into these beautiful cultural and musical traditions. As we are an fabulously divers state, filled with so many languages, foods, and traditions, I believe it can only be a positive feat to embrace, explore, and delight in this diverseness. I hope to add to that exploration .
You’ve shared a track with our readers. Tell us about it.
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Elena : Poong Nyun Ga is a gay korean song about the new harvest ( see the lyrics and learn more ). I love the tune because the discipline matter is sol universal—you can probably find a rousing harvest/farming song from any culture around the world. I besides love this track because it features an incredibly talented group of unseasoned musicians, called the Korean Traditional Marching Band, who play traditional drums and sing. The group is led by Chunseung Lee and rehearses in Flushing, Queens, keeping alive a fascinate custom of korean drumming to young students .
Learn more on the Rabbit Days web site .
