Ladakhi Music For Siddhartha School

http://kck.st/1atyao8

This is a project for teaching music to school children

Let's put together a music camp and performances to inspire Ladakhi folk culture at a rural school in the high mountains of India

We are Siddhartha School, a rural school in the Himalayan region of northern India called Ladakh. Rapid modernization poses real challenges to us as we educate our children in the 21st century while fostering an appreciation for their unique cultural heritage. In this spirit, we look to bring more opportunities for students seeking to learn traditional music by hosting a six-week music camp for interested children.

Formed over centuries in the crossroads of high Asia, Ladakhi music has a rare, special sound all its own.

Curious? 

Listen to this short audio clip. It's from a visit local musicians made to Siddhartha School last summer.

Why is a camp in traditional music important? At our school we strive to offer a sensitive curriculum that honors our rich traditions and life ways. We've found that when our kids are given the chance to meet local artists and musicians, they are left wanting more. They want to learn by playing and mastering the forms under the guidance of real performers. We'd like to give them that chance. Will you join us?

Siddhartha School kids admire a local musician's drums.

 

The Basics: Our first goal is to create a six week music camp for 30 students as an extracurricular activity, to introduce interested students to the study of music. We're fundraising now to:

• Create and host a six-week music camp to teach traditional Ladakhi folk music.
• Perform and record a capstone cultural show with special guests and the students playing traditional instruments.
• Build a successful model for teaching Ladakhi folk music thereafter. (And hopefully inspire other local schools to do the same!)

By meeting this goal we will set the foundation to expand the program into the school day, alongside other elective subjects offered at the school. But first we need traditional instruments! These include high-pitched flutes called surnas, copper kettle-drums known as damans and small hand flutes.

Musicians performing for the students with surnas and damans.

We also need to hire three local music instructors to teach these unique instruments. They will teach the students a selection of Ladakhi folk songs over the course of the camp, which will culminate in a community performance to be recorded for DVD and broadcast on Local Ladakhi Radio. This will be a special performance that welcomes guests, students, master musicians, and local officials. It will show the significant role Ladakhi folk songs have in Ladakh by emphasizing their unique sound and historical, storytelling qualities.

Our music camp will be part of a larger movement to pass on the artistic traditions Ladakh to future generations, and the capstone performance will promote pride in tradition as well as promoting new voices and creative performances. Teaching young people their folk music heritage will help insure the continued practice of this tradition as well as encourage innovation within the form. We believe it is a powerful way to insure that new generations will contribute their own voices and vision to Ladakh's musical heritage. For the arts to flourish in a culture facing significant changes, new generations need to pick up the tools and add their own voices, visions, and songs to the creative conversation.

Ladakhi musicians want to keep their musical traditions alive and vibrant, and our children are eager to learn from them. Our music camp will support these artists in their work, and give them the opportunity to pass on this unique musical knowledge to the younger generation. We hope to make the music camp an annual, self sustaining event by selling recordings of their music in the local bazaar during tourist season. This will help to cover annual expenses including the upkeep of the instruments and teacher stipends.

Thank you for thinking of us and Jullay!

P.S. If you'd like to learn more about Ladakh and its music, please check out this youtube video above made by Conor Gillies for PRX. It's awesome.

P.S.S. Join the Siddhartha School email list. Drop us a line at this address: info@siddharthaschool.org. It's a great way to keep in touch with exciting developments at the school and the children. We'll never share your personal information with anyone.

Risks and challengesLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

Finding great musicians, who are also skilled teachers, can be challenging anywhere in the world. We are especially appreciative for the support of the Ladakh Arts and Media Organization (LAMO), a local NGO in this endeavor. It will help us recruit musicians and provide a performance space at its Centre based in two historic houses in Old Town, Leh. As a hub of contemporary and traditional Ladakhi arts and music, we are delighted to partner with LAMO.

Another challenge will be sourcing and procuring the instruments, given that surnas can be hard to find. There is one family in a nearby village that still makes them. Our plan is to commission them if we can't find ready made ones. This may delay the start of music camp, but we can postpone the start date if necessary, so that everyone can start with an instrument to play.