UW Libraries Blog

ethnomusicology


March 29, 2024

Archival Silences and Sounds @ the UW Ethnomusicology Archives

UW Libraries

Founded in 1962, the UW Eth­no­mu­si­col­ogy Archives is home to more than 80,000 rare and unique films, videos, and sound recordings. One of the largest archives of its kind in North America, its collections represent a kaleidoscopic of array of sounds and styles from around the world, and around the block. A part of Libraries…


January 12, 2023

Roman Holiday – Ethnomusicology Study Abroad Summer Program 

UW Libraries

Pasta! Piazzas! Pianos! Imagine walking past the Pantheon on your way to class, stopping for a cappuccino, and walking up a marble stairwell to your classroom in a 15th century palazzo built on the foundations of a Roman temple to Venus*. If you are interested in music, history and have always wanted to go to…


March 21, 2022

UW Libraries in the Classroom: Looted? Ethnomusicology, Archives & Colonial Legacies

UW Libraries

Inside the echoing walls of the Smith Room* within the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, John Vallier, Ethnomusicology Curator for UW Libraries, presses “play”.  Students listen intently to the scratchy recording of a so-called “war chant”. Vallier explains that it was recorded in 1906 near Mount Kilimanjaro by an officer in Germany’s colonial force. “The singers…


February 7, 2020

The Seattle Sound: A Tribute to Kearney Barton

Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson, vice provost for digital initiatives and dean of University Libraries and John Vallier

Seattle’s Evening show on KING 5 recently visited the UW Libraries to uncover the story behind the soon-to-be released tribute album Kearney Barton: Architect of the Northwest Sound. The album was made possible through the generous donation of Kearney’s masters and support to UW Libraries from Barton’s niece, Patricia Maltsberger (THANK YOU!). This work is…