Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin
Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin is a collection of free educational media resources including high quality videos, audio files and educator engagement guides for general music programs. This is a partnership project of WSMA and PBS Wisconsin. The goal of the project was to create materials that explore the connections between music, identities, cultures and emotions.
Process
We began with a statewide survey and listening sessions with music educators in four locations across the state (Madison, Milwaukee, Eau Claire and Green Bay). We learned about the need for current, authentic, culturally diverse resources, as well as teaching materials about music from different cultures. The feedback that we received and the needs of music educators shaped the direction and goals of the collection. An advisory committee of music educators was established to help guide the project.
Performers
Musicians were nominated or could nomi- nate themselves with the criteria of being from and representative of a culture from Wisconsin. They submitted background information and audio or video files of their music. Four musicians were selected and are featured in the project.
Wade Fernandez lives on the Menominee reservation in northeastern Wisconsin. His featured song is called “Sawaenemi- yah” (We Are Blessed). He sings it in the Menominee language and he draws inspiration from nature, his roots in the Menominee culture, and other music that he has come into contact with. In addition, Wade demonstrates a native flute and drum in his interview video.
“To really truly define myself – I am part of life. I have the same substance in me that the trees have. I have the same substance as the animals have. We are all influenced by what is around us, for me, that was the forest. I think that inspired my music to have a little more space, and to have a little more peace in it as well.”
~Wade Fernandez 42 January 2021
Richard Hildner Arma- canqui and Juan Thomas Martinez are from Madi- son and are active per- formers of the music of the Latinx community. Their song is sung in Spanish and is called “El Niño Que Quiere Jugar” (The Child That Wants to Play). Their music is a mixture of the music that they learned from their families and the music they encountered in their travels in South America. Their song fea- tures Latinx percussion instruments and guitar.
“Music is a global language... everyone can communicate. You can express your feelings and your thoughts, your energy and your love. You can connect and communicate with the rest of the world, without limits or frontiers.”
~Juan Thomas Martinez
Maa Vue is from the Wausau area and is a recording artist who is dedicated to performing in the Hmong language. Her song is called “Txiv Lub Xim Xaus” (My Father’s Violin). She sings about the influence of her father’s music and how important it is to preserve your language and your culture. Her song features a tra- ditional Hmong instrument, the xim xaus, that is played by her father.
“I think the language is the most important part of my music... When I think about how I connect to my culture, it’s really through the Hmong words that I’m singing, and the fact that it’s poetry.”
~Maa Vue
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