Items

• Voices of the Spirit IV
  Interviews and short clips of performances at Voices of the Spirit 4 held at Asia Society Texas Center.
• A VISUAL POEM_FOLKLORE FILMS
  Houston is a remarkably diverse city —and in no domain of city life is that more apparent than in its faith communities. Many immigrants to the city have created a sense of home for themselves through membership in churches, mosques, temples and the like. It is not surprising, then, that most of these communities have fostered rich sacred music traditions. FOLKLORE FILMS documents the process of putting together the 5th iteration of Voices of the Spirit at Asia Society Texas and follows the Folklife team behind the scenes to witness fieldwork and capture events leading up to the concert.
• VOTS_6 Walagante Garifuna
  Walagante Garifuna is a dance and drumming group. Most of the musicians hail from Honduras.
• VOTS_6 Mariachi Estrellas de Mexico
  Mariachi Estrellas de Mexico
• VOTS_6 Ameer Abuhalimeh - Mu'ezzin at the Da’wah Islamic Center
  Mu’ezzin Abuhalimeh serves as executive director at the Da’wah Islamic Center, using his position to further understanding of the rich history and culture of Islam by establishing a library and a museum, the first of its kind in the United States.
• VOTS_6 Neak Porn Ensemble
  Neak Porn Ensemble is a Cambodian musical group.
• VOICES OF THE SPIRIT 6 promo card
  Artist/performers for Voices of the spirit 2017
• VOICES OF THE SPIRIT 5 ARTISTS
  Artist/performers for Voices of the spirit 2016
• VOS 4_Concert at Asia Society Texas Center_Group photos
  Houston is a remarkably diverse city —and in no domain of city life is that more apparent than in its faith communities. Many immigrants to the city have created a sense of home for themselves through membership in churches, mosques, temples and the like. It is not surprising, then, that most of these communities have fostered rich sacred music traditions.
• VOS 4_Concert at Asia Society Texas Center_Pandit Suman Ghosh
  Houston is a remarkably diverse city —and in no domain of city life is that more apparent than in its faith communities. Many immigrants to the city have created a sense of home for themselves through membership in churches, mosques, temples and the like. It is not surprising, then, that most of these communities have fostered rich sacred music traditions.
• VOS 4_Concert at Asia Society Texas Center_Soul Influence
  The Soul Influence is a five man African American a cappella gospel quartet who perform everything from what is known in the Black church as “The Old One Hundreds” to more contemporary Christian vocal music. They maintain a style, based on four-part harmony (thus, the term quartet -- when this group, like most, is comprised of five members), that is seldom heard these days, in church or out. In fact, their style is likely familiar to most listeners as comparable to doo-wop, an early form of rhythm and blues music that emerged in the 1940s and gained widespread popularity in the 1950’s and 60’s. However, it was the gospel quartet tradition itself that actually gave rise to doo-wop, rather than the other way around. Performing together as an ensemble for close to 15 years, all members of The Soul Influence belong to Church of Christ congregations, which have traditionally disallowed the use of musical instruments in the worship service. Hence, the group’s a cappella singing, and choice to do so in an older style, is enriched by this connection. They perform regularly in special church programs throughout Houston, keeping the rich repertoire and distinctively-syncopated style of this vocal music vital and dynamic.
• VOS 4_Concert at Asia Society Texas Center_Chung Mei
  The members of Chung Mei Buddhist Temple, both the Venerables who conduct the dharma services there and the adepts who assist them, are followers of Fo Guang Shan and the International Buddhist Progress Society, founded by the Venerable Master Hsing Yun. The temple was established in Stafford in 2001 and is home base to a small but energetic group of Buddhist nuns, referred to as Venerables. The Venerables lead the dharma services utilizing intoned praise and chanting as central to the worship activities of the congregation. They instruct key members of the congregation in the use of traditional liturgical instruments such as the gong, hand cymbals, drums and other percussion to accompany this aspect of Buddhist practice. As part of his teachings and from his earliest years, the Venerable Master Hsing Yun stressed the significance of these sacred items and their sound, and the role they can play in transforming contemporary Buddhism. In fact, his second book-length publication, now available in English as Bells, Gongs and Wooden Fish: Voices for Buddhist Change, uses personifications of the different sacred instruments to describe and assess Chinese Buddhism in the mid twentieth century.
• VOS 4_Pandit Suman Ghosh
  As a senior disciple of the renowned Padma-Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj-ji, Pandit Suman Ghosh is an especially noted flagbearer of the school of Hindustani music known as Mewati Gharana. Now a seasoned and celebrated vocalist and musician, Pandit Ghosh is a third generation musician who began his involvement with music at the age of 7 under the guidance of his mother. He continued to study with other well-known teachers and graduated eventually to work with the living legend of Indian music, Pandit Jasraj-ji, who transformed him into a full-fledged performing musician. As a result, Pandit Ghosh has performed throughout the US, India and across the globe, sharing the rich musical traditions of Mewati Gharana style worldwide. Now a resident of Houston, Pandit Ghosh has also carried on the tradition by serving as a teacher to many young musicians in the Houston area and beyond, and by founding the Center for Indian Classical Music Institute of Houston. The music he performs and teaches is associated with Northern India and has always contained a strong devotional component identified with the Hindu religion, but its roots combine several musical elements, including the Vedic chants, ancient Persian music, and various folk traditions prevalent in the north of Indian.
• VOS 4_Soul Influence
  Voices of the Spirit IV A concert celebrating devotional music from Houston’s diverse faith communities.
• VOS 4_Chung Mei Temple-various