The West Virginia University World Music Program presented a two-hour marquee event Friday at the Canady Creative Arts Center.
Performances were held in the Davis Theatre and the Blaney Lobby.
Performances in the theater were from the African Music and Dance Ensemble and steel bands, while in the lobby were Brazilian-themed refreshments and music from the program’s Brazilian Ensemble with special guests, Jazz Ensemble 2 (JE2), directed by Dr. Robert Sears.
This year’s event was dedicated to WVU World Music Performance Center founder Phil Faini, who died last June. In his honor, the African Music and Dance Ensemble used the royal akadinda, a Ugandan xylophone, that the dean emeritus personally brought from the country to WVU in the 1970s. The steel bands played selections from “West Side Story,” which Faini frequently used with his percussion ensembles.
The World Music event is part of the College of Creative Arts’ Curiosity Series. For more information on the World Music Program, visit music.wvu.edu.
