On Friday, March 24th, students from our El Monte and Pomona sites traveled to UCLA to participate in a special music workshop for high school students. The workshop featured music from Northeast Thailand and was directed by Dr. Supeena Insee Adler, a native Thai and Lao speaker who, in addition to serving as an associate professor, is also a performer and ethnomusicologist specializing in classical Thai music on traditional stringed instruments.
Every quarter, Dr. Adler puts on a workshop for high school students. This year she asked one of her current ethnomusicology students-- and former YouthBuild Charter School of California English teacher-- Learsi M. if she wanted to have students from the school site she used to teach at attend. Ms. Learsi invited students from El Monte and Pomona to come to UCLA earlier in the day to get a tour of the entire campus, where she also showed them a new mural by acclaimed artist Judy Baca. Then, they headed over to the Ostin Ensemble Room at the Herb Alpert School of Music to attend the workshop with Dr. Adler.
During the workshop, students had an opportunity to learn about Thai musical traditions and get hands-on experience playing different Thai instruments, including the Pong Lang, Phin and Woot. They had a great time and we hope to have students attend this workshop again in the future. Thank you to Ms. Learsi and Dr. Adler for this amazing opportunity!
Check out photos and video from the workshop below.
Students from our El Monte and Pomona site traveled to UCLA to participate in a Music of Thailand workshop. They learned how to play instruments like the pong lang, a traditional Thai xylophone.