UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
World Music Summer InstituteJune 20 - June 26, 2010
Faculty
Music of African Americans (gospel)
James Roberson is a Grammy-nominated producer and choir director who has produced for such diverse artists as Norman Hutchins, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Howard Hewitt and others. A professor on the faculty at UCLA for the past eight years, Professor Roberson is the director of UCLA’s award-winning gospel choir. A graduate of the Grove School of Music, with a specialization in vocal studies, Professor Roberson is also the founder and president of JDI Records, the fastest growing indie gospel record label in the world. JDI’s roster includes Norman Hutchins, Chester D. T. Baldwin, and DeNetria Champ, among others.Music of Korea
DongSuk Kim is founder and director of the Korean Classical Music and Dance Company and president of the Korean-American Culture and Arts Association. He and his groups have performed at prestigious venues such as the New York Metropolitan Opera House, the Los Angeles Music Center, the White House, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Hollywood Bowl, the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival, and the 1988 Seoul Olympic Arts Center. He ahs also performed extensively and given workshops through the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Intercultural Awareness Program, the Music Center on Tour Program, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, San Diego Young Audience, Santa Barbara Children’s Creative Project, San Jose Young Audiences, and the Performing Tree. Kim has had his own radio program for over ten years through the Radio Korea Broadcasting system. He teaches at private colleges and gives lessons at his private studio on Korean traditional instruments and dance.Music of Mexico (mariachi)
Laura Sobrino was first dubbed the "Mariachi Queen" in 1995 by the Los Angeles Times. She has been playing mariachi music for the violin since she was in elementary school. After graduating from Aptos High School in 1972, her career as a semi-professional mariachi began in 1975 while studying for her B.A. in music at the University of California in Santa Cruz. After finishing her studies, she moved to the Los Angeles area to perform professionally, becoming the first woman to play in some of the nation's most prestigious mariachi groups, including the Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey and the Mariachi Sol de México de José L. Hernández. Laura Sobrino is the former director and lead violinist for the Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, and was originally responsible for searching for the female talent in that mariachi. Mrs. Sobrino is currently the musical director and violinist for the new all-female mariachi show group, "Mariachi Mujer 2000."
Music of China
Li Chi is a highly accomplished performing artist on the erhu, the Chinese two-string bowed fiddle. After graduating from the Conservatory of Chinese Music in 1982, she served as erhu soloist for the National Traditional Orchestra of China (the most renowned orchestra of Chinese musical instruments). In the 1980s, she frequently performed in presidential concerts in Beijing. In the United States she has been featured in concerts held at prestigious venues such as Madison Square Garden, the Lincoln Center, the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington DC, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. She is co-founder of the American Chinese Performing Arts Institute, advisor to the Los Angeles Chinese Music Ensemble, and director of the San Francisco Valley Chinese Music Ensemble.