Cynthia Tse Kimberlin
Encyclopedia
Cynthia Tse Kimberlin is an American ethnomusicologist
. She is the Executive Director and Publisher of the Music Research Institute and MRI Press, based in Point Richmond, California. Her primary area of expertise is the music of Africa
, in particular Ethiopia
and Eritrea
.
Kimberlin was born on the Navajo Nation
, in Ganado, Apache County, Arizona
and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area
of Northern California
. She earned a B.A. degree in musicology
from the University of California, Berkeley
in 1962, directly after which she joined the Peace Corps
, which had been founded a year earlier. Traveling to Ethiopia
, she was sent to the northern province of Eritrea
, where she served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1962 to 1964. During this time she took it upon herself to conduct ethnomusicological fieldwork, although she had not yet received training in the field. She recorded many types of Eritrean and Ethiopian music (including songs of the Tigray-Tigrinya people
), using a borrowed Philips
reel-to-reel tape recorder with 3-inch reels. Many of these recordings are now of historical significance, as younger Tigray-Tigrinya people are largely unfamiliar with these songs.
In 1968 she received a master of arts degree in ethnomusicology
from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), writing her thesis on the subject of contemporary Ethiopian popular songs. While there, her instructors included Mantle Hood
, Klaus Wachsmann
, Charles Seeger
, David Morton
, Tsun-yuen Lui, Nicolas Slonimsky
, and Paul Chihara
.
In 1972 she returned to Ethiopia for more extensive fieldwork, recording a total of 97 reel-to-reel tapes of music performed by musicians from Shewa
, Wollo
, Begemder
, Gojjam
, Tigray
, Eritrea, Welega
, and Gamu-Gofa
, in Addis Ababa
, Harar
, and Jijiga
. While there she also devoted intensive study to the masenqo
, a traditional one-stringed bowed instrument. While in Addis Ababa, she spent six months as a Fulbright Professor at Addis Ababa University
in the Theater Arts Department, which was at that time under the chairmanship of Tesfaye Gessesse
.
In 1976, she received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA. For her Ph.D. dissertation, she focused on the theory and practice of qenet (mode
) among masenqo players of the Amhara people
of Ethiopia, which she recorded in and around Addis Ababa.
In 1983 Kimberlin released an LP recording entitled Ethiopia: Three Chordophone Traditions, which included her field recordings of plucked and bowed string instruments of Ethiopia (begena
, krar
, and masenqo), along with her extensive liner notes. She also wrote the liner notes for The Music of Nigeria: Igbo Music (Bärenreiter Musicaphon, UNESCO Collection, 1983), an LP recording featuring the music of the Igbo
ethnic group of Nigeria
, where she has also conducted fieldwork. Music from her Three Chordophone Traditions LP was used in the 1999 documentary film Adwa, by Haile Gerima
(who was a classmate of Kimberlin's at UCLA).
In addition to African musics, Kimberlin's scholarly interests include intercultural music after 1950, American music, African-East Asian reciprocities in music, ethno-biography, global issues relating to music change, and theoretical studies in music.
The Music Research Institute, of which Kimberlin serves as Executive Director, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational institution, which was founded in 1984 by Dr. Marcia A. Herndon, who served as Executive Director from 1984 to 1997). Kimberlin joined the Institute in 1986 and has served as Executive Director since 1997.
Kimberlin has taught at San Francisco State University
, the University of California, Berkeley, Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), and the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University
, Nigeria).
Kimberlin has presented papers at numerous music conferences in the United States, Europe
, Nigeria
, Japan
, and China
, including many symposia organized by the ethnomusicologist and composer Akin Euba
, whose opera Chaka has been released on CD by MRI Press.
She is the recipient of a Fulbright Dissertation Award, a Fulbright Teaching/Research Award, an American Council of Learned Societies
grant, and a Beyond War Award recipient (for U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, 1987).
Kimberlin lives in Point Richmond, California with her husband Jerome. For many years she was affiliated with the Office of the President (Academic Affairs) at the University of California, Berkeley, and she also served as archivist for the Ethnomusicology Archive at UCLA.
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
. She is the Executive Director and Publisher of the Music Research Institute and MRI Press, based in Point Richmond, California. Her primary area of expertise is the music of Africa
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
, in particular Ethiopia
Music of Ethiopia
The music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of Ethiopia's ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Some forms of traditional music are strongly influenced by folk music from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia. However, Ethiopian religious music also has an...
and Eritrea
Music of Eritrea
Eritrea is a country in the Horn of Africa. Perhaps the most famous Eritrean musicians in history are Eng. Asghedom W.Micheal, Bereket Mengisteab, Yemane Baria, Osman Abderrehim, Alamin Abdeletif & Atowe Birhan Segid, some of whose music were banned by the Ethiopian government in the 1970s...
.
Kimberlin was born on the Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
, in Ganado, Apache County, Arizona
Apache County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*23.3% White*0.2% Black*72.9% Native American*0.3% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.0% Two or more races*1.3% Other races*5.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. She earned a B.A. degree in musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1962, directly after which she joined the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
, which had been founded a year earlier. Traveling to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, she was sent to the northern province of Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, where she served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1962 to 1964. During this time she took it upon herself to conduct ethnomusicological fieldwork, although she had not yet received training in the field. She recorded many types of Eritrean and Ethiopian music (including songs of the Tigray-Tigrinya people
Tigray-Tigrinya people
Tigray-Tigrinya are an ethnic group who live in the southern, central and northern parts of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia's Tigray province. They also live in Ethiopia's former provinces of Begemder and Wollo, which are today mostly part of Amhara Region, though a few regions...
), using a borrowed Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
reel-to-reel tape recorder with 3-inch reels. Many of these recordings are now of historical significance, as younger Tigray-Tigrinya people are largely unfamiliar with these songs.
In 1968 she received a master of arts degree in ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(UCLA), writing her thesis on the subject of contemporary Ethiopian popular songs. While there, her instructors included Mantle Hood
Mantle Hood
Mantle Hood was an American ethnomusicologist. Among other areas, he specialized in studying gamelan music from Indonesia. Hood pioneered, in the 1950s and 1960s, a new approach to the study of music, and the creation at UCLA of the first American university program devoted to ethnomusicology...
, Klaus Wachsmann
Klaus Wachsmann
Klaus Philipp Wachsmann was a British ethnomusicologist of German birth. Born in 1907 in Berlin, he is considered a pioneer in the study of the traditional musics of Africa...
, Charles Seeger
Charles Seeger
Charles Seeger, Jr. was a noted musicologist, composer, and teacher. He was the father of iconic American folk singer Pete Seeger .-Life:...
, David Morton
David Morton
David H. Morton was an American poet.Born in Elkton, Kentucky, he graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1909....
, Tsun-yuen Lui, Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian born American composer, conductor, musician, music critic, lexicographer and author. He described himself as a "diaskeuast" ; "a reviser or interpolator."- Life :...
, and Paul Chihara
Paul Chihara
Paul Seiko Chihara is an American composer.Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent several years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho....
.
In 1972 she returned to Ethiopia for more extensive fieldwork, recording a total of 97 reel-to-reel tapes of music performed by musicians from Shewa
Shewa
Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...
, Wollo
Wollo
Wollo was a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie. The province was named after the Wollo Oromo, who settled in this part of Ethiopia in the 17th century...
, Begemder
Begemder
Begemder was a province in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. There are several proposed etymologies for this name...
, Gojjam
Gojjam
Gojjam was a kingdom in the north-western part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. This region is distinctive for lying entirely within the bend of the Abbay River from its outflow from Lake Tana to the Sudan...
, Tigray
Tigray Province
Tigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. The province of Tigre merged with its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and the prominent Enderta province and towards the end of 19th century it...
, Eritrea, Welega
Welega Province
Welega was a province in the western part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Welega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries....
, and Gamu-Gofa
Gamu-Gofa
Gamu-Gofa was a province in the southern part of Ethiopia, named after two of the ethnic groups living within its boundaries, the Gamo and the Goffa. First incorporated into Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II in the 1880s , its capital was first at Chencha, then around 1965 the capital was moved to...
, in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, Harar
Harar
Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...
, and Jijiga
Jijiga
Jijiga is a city in eastern Ethiopia and the capital of the Somali Region of that country. Located in the Jijiga Zone approximately 80 km east of Harar and 60 km west of the border with Somalia, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,609 meters above sea...
. While there she also devoted intensive study to the masenqo
Masenqo
The masenqo is a single-stringed bowed lute commonly found in the musical traditions of Ethiopia and Eritrea. As with the krar, this instrument is used by Ethiopian minstrels called azmaris...
, a traditional one-stringed bowed instrument. While in Addis Ababa, she spent six months as a Fulbright Professor at Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University is a university in Ethiopia. It was originally named "University College of Addis Ababa" at its founding, then renamed for the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962, receiving its current name in 1975.Although the university has six of its seven campuses within...
in the Theater Arts Department, which was at that time under the chairmanship of Tesfaye Gessesse
Tesfaye Gessesse
Tesfaye Gessesse is regarded as one of the most important exponents of Ethiopian modern theatre. During a career that spanned 40 years, he has been an actor, director, writer and managing director...
.
In 1976, she received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA. For her Ph.D. dissertation, she focused on the theory and practice of qenet (mode
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
) among masenqo players of the Amhara people
Amhara people
Amhara are a highland people inhabiting the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26% of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
of Ethiopia, which she recorded in and around Addis Ababa.
In 1983 Kimberlin released an LP recording entitled Ethiopia: Three Chordophone Traditions, which included her field recordings of plucked and bowed string instruments of Ethiopia (begena
Begena
The begena is an Ethiopian and Eritrean string instrument that resembles a large lyre. According to Ethiopian tradition, Menelik I brought the instrument to Ethiopia from Israel, where David had used the begena to soothe King Saul's nerves and heal him of insomnia...
, krar
Krar
The krar or kraar is a five- or six-stringed bowl-shaped lyre from Eritrea and Ethiopia. The instrument is tuned to a pentatonic scale. A modern krar may be amplified, much in the same way as an electric guitar or violin....
, and masenqo), along with her extensive liner notes. She also wrote the liner notes for The Music of Nigeria: Igbo Music (Bärenreiter Musicaphon, UNESCO Collection, 1983), an LP recording featuring the music of the Igbo
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
ethnic group of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, where she has also conducted fieldwork. Music from her Three Chordophone Traditions LP was used in the 1999 documentary film Adwa, by Haile Gerima
Haile Gerima
Haile Gerima is an Ethiopian filmmaker, who resides in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have received wide international acclaim. Gerima has also been an influential film professor at...
(who was a classmate of Kimberlin's at UCLA).
In addition to African musics, Kimberlin's scholarly interests include intercultural music after 1950, American music, African-East Asian reciprocities in music, ethno-biography, global issues relating to music change, and theoretical studies in music.
The Music Research Institute, of which Kimberlin serves as Executive Director, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational institution, which was founded in 1984 by Dr. Marcia A. Herndon, who served as Executive Director from 1984 to 1997). Kimberlin joined the Institute in 1986 and has served as Executive Director since 1997.
Kimberlin has taught at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, the University of California, Berkeley, Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), and the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria...
, Nigeria).
Kimberlin has presented papers at numerous music conferences in the United States, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, including many symposia organized by the ethnomusicologist and composer Akin Euba
Akin Euba
Akin Euba is a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist.Euba studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the Trinity College of Music, London, obtaining the diplomas of Fellow of the Trinity College London and Fellow of the Trinity College London . He received B.A. and M.A...
, whose opera Chaka has been released on CD by MRI Press.
She is the recipient of a Fulbright Dissertation Award, a Fulbright Teaching/Research Award, an American Council of Learned Societies
American Council of Learned Societies
The American Council of Learned Societies , founded in 1919, is a private nonprofit federation of seventy scholarly organizations.ACLS is best known as a funder of humanities research through fellowships and grants awards. ACLS Fellowships are designed to permit scholars holding the Ph.D...
grant, and a Beyond War Award recipient (for U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, 1987).
Kimberlin lives in Point Richmond, California with her husband Jerome. For many years she was affiliated with the Office of the President (Academic Affairs) at the University of California, Berkeley, and she also served as archivist for the Ethnomusicology Archive at UCLA.
Publications (selective list)
- Kimberlin, Cynthia Mei-Ling (1968). "Ethiopian Contemporary Popular Songs." M.A. thesis. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles. Unpublished.
- Kimberlin, Cynthia Mei-Ling (1976). "Masinqo and the Nature of Qanat." Los Angeles, California: The University of California, Los Angeles.
- Kimberlin, Cynthia Tse, and Jerome Kimberlin (1984). "The Morphology of the Masinqo: Ethiopia's Bowed Spike Fiddle". In Selected reports in Ethnomusicology 5, pp. 249-61.
- Kimberlin, Cynthia Tse (1989). "Ornaments and Their Classification as a Determinant of Technical Ability and Musical Style." In African Musicology: Current Trends: A Festschrift Presented to J. H. Kwabena Nketia, ed. Jacqueline Cogdell Djedje and William G. Carter. Atlanta: Crossroads Press. Vol. 1, pp. 265-305.
- Kimberlin, Cynthia Tse (2000). "Women, Music, and 'Chains of the Mind': Eritrea and the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, 1972-93." In Music and Gender, ed. Pirkko Moisala and Beverley Diamond. Foreword by Ellen Koskoff. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
- "Orchestra Ethiopia 1963-1975: Halim El-Dabh, Catalyst for Music Innovation and Preservation" (2005). In Multiple Interpretations of Dynamics of Creativity and Knowledge in African Music Traditions: A Festschrift in Honor of Akin Euba on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, ed. Bode Omojola and George Dor. Point Richmond, California: MRI Press. ISBN 0-9627473-7-8.
Discography
- 1972 - Ethiopia [West Germany]: Barenreiter Musicaphon. LP. Anthology of African Music series; vol. 3: Three Chordophone Traditions. Recorded in 1972 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by Cynthia Tse Kimberlin. Re-released on CD by Auvidis/UNESCO in 1996.
External links
- Cynthia Tse Kimberlin page at Music Research Institute site
- Cynthia Tse Kimberlin biography from UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive page
- Music Research Institute, Inc. site