Kay Kaufman Shelemay receives funding from none at present. I have held many national fellowships in the past, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the John Simon Guggenheim ...

Ethiopian jazz musician Mulatu Astatke smiled as he held his arms aloft to acknowledge his audience for the last time. Last ...

During the second half of the 20th century, cosmopolitan Ethiopians were delighted to see jazz giant Duke Ellington receive their country’s Medal of Honor from Emperor Haile Selassie. At the same time ...

Left: Ayalew Mesfin [Photo by Hannah Brooks]. Right: Hailu Mergia [Photo courtesy of the artist] For many people outside of the Habesha community, their first experience with Ethiopian music came from ...

Falcetto was a promoter of music when he first heard Ethiopian music in 1984. As he explained when I met him, “A friend of mine was a stage manager for a theatre troupe who had been touring Africa and ...

TO WESTERN EARS, the music seems both foreign and familiar. Its mood stretches from sultry and haunting to upbeat and vibrant. Soulful Western undertones are audible, yet the overall impression is ...

Fifteen first-graders encircled one of their classmates on a colorful rug in a Maryland classroom, trilling a children’s song in a language unfamiliar to most of them. Ro-za ro-zeenuh, ro-za shuko-ree ...