Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne to help pick 2010-11 Fulbright-mtvU Fellows
Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman Archives)
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and mtvU announced today that a new slate of leading musical artists will review and help nominate candidates for the 2010-11 Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships.
The review panel includes: Wayne Coyne, lead singer and songwriter of Oklahoma City-based band The Flaming Lips; Kim Gordon, who in addition to being a founding member of Sonic Youth, one of the leading progressive-rock groups of our time, is also an established artist and curator; Tom Morello, the Grammy Award-winning American guitarist of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club and also known under his folk alter-ego The Nightwatchman; and Beth Ditto, American singer from indie rock band Gossip.
The fellowships, administered by the Institute of International Education, were established to promote the “power of music” as a global force for mutual understanding. Applications for the 2010-11 fellowships are being accepted now through Oct. 19, with more information available at www.us.fulbrightonline.org.
The final selection will be made by the presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Winners of the 2009-10 Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships are currently conducting research abroad on their self-designed projects, each centered on an aspect of international musical culture. The winners were chosen through a multi-tiered, merit-based selection process beginning with field and discipline merit reviews by U.S. and foreign academic leaders and area experts. Each has been sharing her or his experiences with peers via video reports, blogs and podcasts on mtvU and http://fulbright.mtvu.com.
The 2009-10 Fulbright-mtvU Fellows are:
Andrew Magill, who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) with a B.A. in Cultural Studies in May 2009, is traveling to Malawi to work with the UNC Malawi Project and AIDS organizations to video-record narratives of Malawian families and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Andrew is collaborating with Peter Mawanga, a well-known musician and social activist, to develop a concept album whose sales will benefit AIDS social service networks.
Michael Silvers, a doctoral student in Ethnomusicology at UCLA, is traveling to Brazil to study the relationship between the culture of forró, a kind of popular dance music, and the climate of northeastern Brazil. Working with Vila Estúdio, a recording studio in Fortaleza, Ceará; accordionists from around the state; and a quadrilha square dance ensemble, he is exploring the ways in which climate change and drought have impacted how and why people make music.
Rod Solaimani, who graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Foreign Policy in 2008, is traveling to Morocco to study and participate in the Afro-Arab-Gnawa-Western musical exchange. A skilled percussionist, he is researching the impact of U.S.-Moroccan musical partnerships in three cities, use his findings in local high school music curricula and promote cross-cultural collaboration with a student concert.
Tina Wadhwa, who graduated from Columbia University in 2007 with a BA in Political Science and Economics, is traveling to India to create a documentary exploring the impact and influence of Bollywood music on underprivileged youth in Mumbai. She is also developing the music and drama center of the Akanksha Foundation, while focusing on the role of music as a vehicle for collective expression and understanding among the children.
-BAM
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