Ulali is the Tuscarora word for the song of the wood thrush and is the name three Native American women have chosen for their accapella ensemble, founded in 1987, creating their own sound from their strong traditional roots and personal contemporary styles. Ulali features Pura Fe (Tuscarora), Soni (Mayan, Apache, Yaqui), and Jennifer (Tuscarora).

Accompanied by traditional drums and rattles, their stellar songs blend Southeast choral singing, pre-Columbian (before the borders) and Indigenous music, call-and-response work songs, and sacred chants, Ulali captures the spirit of Native America and evokes the hallowed harmonies of blues and gospel.

They have played extensively throughout the US, at such events as the United Nations International Women's Day Panel with Hillary Clinton, the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The have added their distinct voice to the recordings and performances of the Indigo Girls. They have also been featured on recordings of Robbie Robertson, and have appeared on NPR and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Their video, "Follow Your Heart's Desires" won Best Music Video at The First Americans in the Arts Award.

Alchemy Handbell Ensemble
Saturday, October 9, 1999
St. James Presbyterian Church, 7:30 pm

Director: Boude Moore
Ensemble: Kelly McClintock, Karen Petersen, Nick Lowry, Stephen Reasoner, Katherine Geeslin, and Lenny Pettinelli

The Alchemy Handbell Ensemble is a sextet of skilled handbell players from Prince of Peace Episcopal Church in Woodland Hills. Named for the medieval concept of wresting gold from base metal, Alchemy refines the art of handbells, ringing gold from bronze. The lift, strike, and recovery of each note creates a choreography that is descriptive of the music as the bells fly, catching the light. Alchemy performs for church services, weddings, choral concerts, community events and numerous workshops and conferences. Director Boude Moore holds a degree from Cal State Northridge and he has served as choirmaster and organist at St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Santa Monica and the United Methodist Church of Sepulveda before his appointment atPrince of Peace Episcopal Church. He conducts workshops and master classes, as well as writing for the American Guild of Handbell Ringers.

Halau O Kekuhi
World Festival of Sacred Music?the Americas Opening Ceremonies
Sunday, October 10, 1999
Hollywood Bowl, 4 pm

Pualani Kanahele, Kumu Hula
Nalani Kanakaâole, Kumu Hula

Company on tour: Iliahi Anthony, Kauwamakani Elia, Kia Fonda, Kaipo Frias, Puaâala Garmon, Haku Hoâopai, Hiâiaka Kahalewai, Oâilipua Kaikaina, Akolea Ioane, Manaiakalani Kalua, Kekuhi Kanahele-Frias, Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Kaui Kanakaâole, Kehau Nelson-Kaula, Kamuela Moraes, Kanoâeau Noguchi, Eowane park, Kauilanui Santiago, Kaumakaiwa Santiago, Ulumauahi Santiago, Kuhaâo Zane

Two of the oldest traditions of Hawaiian culture are mele oil (song chants) and mele hula (song dance). Halau o Kekuhi has received through general transmission the responsibility of continuing the classic hula and oli tradition, sustained through matrilineal descent. Halau o Kekuhi's foundation is on the island of Hawai'i in the district of Hilo and it is celebrated today for its mastery of the Îaiha'aâ style of hula which echoes the volcano goddess Pele's eruptive persona and speaks to the belief that Pele is alive and well. The Halau has travelled throughout Europe, Asia and Russia as well as across the US. It has performed as part of President Clinton's inauguration celebration and the welcoming ceremonies for the Dalai Lama during his visit to Hawai'i. In 1993, the Halau earned the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

World Tea Party

The expression of early Japanese tea masters ichigo ichie "one time/one meeting" is the spiritual thread that runs through the Art of Tea. That each meeting is particular to the moment and will never arise exactly under the same circumstances again is in itself the beginning of the Sacred Way.

Drawing on a wide array of transcultural traditions: including performance and visual art, spiritual and social rituals, and the considered act of human discourse: World Tea Party fuses art and culture . Creator Bryan Mulvihill, his team of assistants and Winnepeg, Canada's Plug In Gallery cultivate congenial exchange by going to various World Festival of Sacred Music events with the World Tea Party trolley, inviting others to share in the uniqueness of the moment and appreciate the succession of moments called life.

Meredith Monk
A Vocal Offering
Tuesday, October 12, 1999
Harold M. Williams Auditorium, The Getty Center, 8:00 pm

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, and creator of opera, musical theatre works and films. A pioneer in what is now called "extended vocal techniqueâ" and interdisciplinary performance, she is a fourth-generation singer in her family. Since graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1964, she has created more than one hundred works. During a career that spans some thirty years, she has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major creative force in the performing arts. Monk has made more than a dozen recordings, most of which are on the ECM New Series label, including her full length opera ATLAS: An Opera in Three Parts. In March 1997, ECM released her newest CD Volcano Songs. Her work has been performed by numerous soloists and groups including the Chorus of the San Francisco Symphony, Musica Sacra and Bang on a Can All-Stars. Her latest production, Magical Frequencies, premiered in Munich in October 1998. She is the receipient of such prestigious awards as the MacArthur Genius Award in 1995, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Brandeis Creative Award, three Obies, two Villager Awards, a Bessie for Sustained Creative Achievement, sixteen ASCAP awards for musical composition and she holds honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from Bard College, the University of the Arts, the Juilliard School, and San Francisco Art Institute.

The Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery
Mandala Sand Painting, the Architecture of Enlightenment
Saturday, October 9, 1999
UCLA Hammer Museum of Art, 9:00 am: midnight

Blessing the World Festival of Sacred Music by constructing a sand mandala or cosmogram over five days, the monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery work painstakingly to lay millions of grains of colored sand into place to create a "world in harmony" that t then is swept away once finished. On the outer level of the world, the creation of a sand painting purifies and heals by virtue of its divine form; on the inner level, the ordinary mind is transformed into enlightened mind. Of all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, the ancient ritual of painting with sand, called Îdul-tson-kyil-khorâ in Tibetan, ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite.

Drepung Loseling Monastery was established near Lhasa, Tibet in 1416 and was forced to close after the Chinese Communist invasion in 1959. Some 250 monks from Loseling managed to escape to rebuild their institution in Karnataka State, South India. The number of monks presently there has increased to over 2,500. In 1991, as a result of the Mystical Arts of Tibet tours, the monks were invited to establish a seat in North America which is now called the Loseling Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. Under the direction of Geshe Lobsang Tenzin, this Institute is dedicated to the study and preservation of Tibetan Buddhist traditions of wisdom and compassion and a center for the cultivation of the heart and intellect. In 1998 and inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Loseling Institute established academic affiliations with Emory University with the objective of promoting transcultural understanding and scholarly exchange.

Robert Een
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Kol Tikvah Temple, 7:00 pm

Robert Een is an acclaimed composer, singer and cellist. A recipient of a 1998 Bessie Award for music composition, Een has performed his music throughout the world, including Buddhist Caves of Ellora, India, a Shinto shrine in Tsurugi, Japan and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. He has recorded six albums of his compositions as well as composed music for dance which can be heard in the repetoires of Jennifer Muller, Liz Lerman, David Dorfman, Irene Hultman, Yoshiko Chuma among others.

Percussion Artist Workshop (PAWS)
Saturday, October 9, 1999
Japanese American National Museum, 2:00 pm

Bridging two disparate cultures, the Japanese American National Museum presents a musical cross-pollination of Afro-Cuban drums. The roots of African musical tradition were carried by slaves across the Middle passage from West Africa to the Western Hemisphere. Transformed and integrated into the island culture of Cuba, the Yoruban bata and other drums played by PAWS maintain the sacred sounds of both homelands. The drummers and dancers of this Afro-Cuban ensemble honor the music of Old and New worlds, preserving a spiritual tradition and updating the rhythm for today.

PAWS is an innovative international organization dedicated to the preservation of percussion, with Cuba Maestro Lazaro Galarraga as the current Folkloric Musical Director. A native of Cuba, Galarrga is the founding member of Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba and has achieved world-wide fame recording with such artists as Cachao, Chucho Valdes, Paquito D'Rivera and Herbie Hancock. He has performed at the 1996 Olympics, at the White House, USC and the Latin Jazz Festival. His life is captured in films such as Andy Garcia's "Cachao Documentary," and Oscar Valdesâ "Documental La Rumba." Maestro Galarrga is the musical director for the Galarrga Y Su Son project and PAWS Afro-Cuban Ensemble. He has received his Honorary Doctorate Degrees in Music Theory, History of Art and in Cuban Folklore from the Escuela Nacional de Arte for his prophetic vision and solid influence that have pierced the global heart with vibrant passion for Afro-Cuban music.

Elk Whistle
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Kol Tikvah Temple, 7:00 pm

Bill Neal, also know as Elk Whistle, is a Native American flutist, recording artist, storyteller, teacher and director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble. Neal whose native ancestry is Cherokee, plays the plainstyle cedar flutes of the Lakota, Kiowa, and Comanche Nations and the river cane flutes of the Choctaw and Cherokee. For 22 years, Neal did professional environmental work, including 10 years with the US Forest Service, teaching forestry and natural resource management. Bill has no formal music training, he plays only the songs he hears from within, drawing upon the sounds he hears in nature. He has been spoken of as the Keeper of Songs.

Pasha Nineteen
Thursday, October 14, 1999
University Catholic Center, UCLA, 7:00 pm

Anna Homler - voice, toys, found objects
Stephanie Payne - mbira, keyboard, samples, melodica
Sharon Berman - accordion, hurdy gurdy, tromba marina

Pasha Nineteen is Anna Homler, internationally reknowned music, spoken word, installation and intermedia artist, Stephanie Payne, musician most notably recognized in LA for her performance and recording work as Dark Arts and Sharon Berman, a visual anthropologist/ethnomusicologist focusing on religious folk arts and artists. They have been performing in North America and Europe since the 70's. Nonsense syllables are universally believed to hold magic and spiritual powers. Anna follows this tradition by singing in melodic invented languages that transcend words and cultures. Through the layering of vocals with an eclectic array of instruments-both ancient and modern, Pasha Nineteen creates a dreamy, timeless atmosphere.

Adaawe
Thursday , October 14, 1999
University Catholic Center, UCLA, 7:00 pm

Adaawe is six dynamic, diverse women percussionists and vocalists creating music in the tradition of Ghana, West Africa, where women gather in the moonlight to create music and sing songs about life's joys and sorrows. Adaawe's music unites the sounds of the African Diaspora by weaving together original and traditional music from America, Cuba, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

Adaawe are:
Joselyn Wilkinson: She is the founder of Adaawe. Born in Montana, educated at University of Ghana, UCLA, Academy of African Music and Art, Ltd., and the Conservatoire Nacional of Dakar, Senegal, she has written, recorded and performed original music with Makina Loca, the African Brazilian Connection, Circle Rhythm, and others. She brings voice and her skills on the tama talking drum, djembe and conga to Adaawe.

Anindo: Born in Kenya, she became known in Europe as Kenya's "singing sensation". She enjoyed a successful singing career in European popular music and when she relocated to the US, she turned her talents towards working with Babatunde Olatunji, Leon Mobley, De Lion & DWAAD Company, Mystique D'Afrique, Katherine Dunham, Foday Mussa Suso and Angaza. She brings to Adaawe powerful djembe rhythms, graceful choreography and exquisite harmonies.

Bridget Graham: She is classical vocalist, actress, filmmaker and photographer who has been featured in many musical recordings with such artists as Hassan Hakmoun, Jimmy Fosto and Wadada. Bridgetâs solo voice shines in Adaaweâs musical fabric.

Danya: She has studied music and dance at CCNY in New York, the University Comutense de Madrid in Spain, and privately in Bahia, Brazil and in Havana, Cuba. In LA, she has performed as a dancer and percussionist on stage and on screen with groups such as Swing Brazil. With Adaawe, she uses her skills on conga, djembe, and with her voice.

Monique Afenjar: Born in Morocco, she grew up in Israel. She has studied bendir (Egyptian tambourine), darabukah, doumbek, djembe, guitar and bass. She has performed with Wadada and Yoruba House as well as recorded with Jimmy Fosto, Hassan Hakmoun and Wadada. She brings the rhythms of the Middle East and the timbre of the frame drum on the djun-djun to Adaawe.

Phyllis Bailey Brooks: From LA, she grew up working in the entertainment industry. She is an accomplished director, producer, sound engineer, pianist and vocalist. She has performed internationally with her one-woman cabaret and featured on many television and film programs. She came to Adaawe as vocal director and has now added her harmonies and virtuoso talent the music as a featured vocalist.

The Agape International Choir
All Rise in the Land of I Am
Friday, October 15, 1999
John Anson Ford Amphitheater, 7:30 pm
The Agape House Band is:
Cal Bennett: horns
Stephen Bray: drums
Ben Dowling: keyboards
Todd Hunter: keyboards
Al McKay: guitar
Kevin Ricard: percussion
Rob McDonald - bass

The Agape International Choir is the core Music Ministry of the Agape International Center of Truth, home of the Agape Church of Religious Science. A multi-ethnic group with an average active roster of 150 members, the Agape International Choir started off as a 30-voice holiday season presentation in December of 1988. With the combined writing and composing talents of music director, Rickie Byars, and founder/minister, Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, the choir began performing original Beckwith/Byars compositions. As the choir evolved and grew in artistry and membership, so did the beauty and uniqueness of Rickie Byarsâvocal and instrumental arrangements. Over the past ten years, the Agape Choir has become known for its signature sectional harmonies and devotional creative expression.

The Sound of Agape has been experience everywhere. Through live appearances or via church service, studio or live concert tapes, Agape Choir music has been heard from Santa Monica to South-Central; from Somalia to South Africa; from all across the United States to all around the world. From the power of a cappella prayer to rousing rhythmic celebration and affirmation, Agape International Choir has audiences from all walks of life shedding tears of inexpressible joy and literally dancing in the aisles. To "experience" the Agape International Choir is to truly have an experience of the Choir's Purpose Statement:

"We, the Agape Choir Ministry, come together for the sole purpose of revealing the Kingdom of God through the medium of music. As a collective voice, we dedicate ourselves to being an open channel through which the Holy Spirit may express through word and song. Through meditation, prayer and service in our spiritual community, we sincerely endeavor to hone a spiritual awareness of our oneness and union in God."

Andrae Crouch & the Valley Gospel Choir
Thursday , October 14, 1999
Temple Israel of Hollywood, 7:30 pm

Andrae Crouch, Grammy-winning vocalist, songwriter, producer, and performer, is without question one of the most vital and influential artists in contemporary music today. His artistry has touched, and changed, millions of lives around the world. His songs transcend color, class and creed with a vibrant message of hope, faith, and joyous celebration. With his music Andrae Crouch testifies to the enduring power of faith through times of trial, tribulation, and life-changing choices.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Saturday, October 9, 1999
Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, 8:00 pm
Performers: (* guest artists)
Luh Estiti Andarawati, Scott Barnes, *I Dewa Putu Berata, Avi Black, Kathy Bouvier, Marianne Cherry, Phil Cox, Kompiang Metri Davies, *I Wayan Dibia, Sonja Downing, Carla Fabrizio, Al Finn, Mary Francis, Sasah Friedlander, Lisa Gold, Barbara Golden, Todd Greenspan, James Harding, Reiko Hasegawa, Jim Hogan, Maddie Hogan, Lars Jensen, Andreas Johns, Steve Johnson, Colum Keelaghan, Nick Lenzmeier, Debbie Lloyd, Edmundo Cruz Luna, Paul Miller, Susanna Miller, Mudita Nisker, Rose Nisker, Jeff Pumont, Made Putrayasa, *I Wayan Rai S., Mark Salvatore, *I Gusti Ayu Srinatih, Emiko Saraswati Susilo, Ken Jaya Susilo, *I Wayan Suweca, Wayne Vitale, Richard Wallis, Samuel Wantman, Zac Weiner, *I Nyoman Wenten, Sarah Willner, *I Nyomar Windha, *Ni Made Wiratini, Ken Worthy, Rotrease Yates, Caren Zilber

Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a nonprofit performing arts organization composed of San Francisco Bay Area artists dedicated to the study and performance of Balinese music and dance. Since the groupâs inception in 1979, Sekar Jaya has invited many of Baliâs finest performing artists to join the group for residencies as Guest Artistic Directors. Under their direction, the ensemble has presented more than three hundred concerts throughout California, undertaken tours to the Pacific Northwest, the East Coast, Canada, Mexico and Indonesia itself, and sponsored the creation of more than fifty new music and dance works by Balinese and American artists. Gamelan Sekar Jaya also offers an extensive outreach program, including workshops, lecture-demonstrations, and school programs in Balinese music and dance. Gamelan Sekar Jaya is now celebrating its 20th Anniversary Festival with eith of Baliâs finest musicians and dancers in residence as guest teachers and performers.

Jai Uttal & the Pagan Love Orchestra
Tuesday, October 12, 1999
Agape International Center of Truth, 7:00 pm

Jai Uttal: voice
Love Pagan Orchestra:
Geoffrey Gordon: percussion
Jeff Cressman: trombone
Will Bernard: guitar
Keith McArthur: bass
Kit Walker: keyboards

Jai Uttal is a pioneer in the world music community. His eclectic east-meets-west sound has put his music at the forefront of the world beat movement. Jaiâs musical roots embrace a rich variety of cultures and traditions that span the globe and the centuries. From the hillbilly music of the Appalachian mountains to the passionate strains of Bengali street singers, from the haunting rhythms and melodies of ancient India to contemporary electric rock sounds, Jaiâs music distills the essence of diverse musical forms. Jai became a student of Ali Akbar Khan at the age of 19 and trained with Khansahib in voice and sarod. He later traveled to India, being deeply inspired by the Bauls, wandering street musicians of Bengal. During the 70s and 80s, he performed in reggae, motown, punk and blues bands while continuing to experiment musically. In 1991 Triloka Records released his album Footprints, featuring world beat pioneer Don Cherry, to rave reviews. By the time his second album Monkey was released in 1993, Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra, his band, had gained a large following, and the album landed in the top ten on national world music charts. Jaiâs highly acclaimed Beggars and Saints, released in 1994, is a tribute to the Bauls, and further established his place at the forefront of the world beat movement.

Ali Jihad Racy Ensemble
Mystic Voices-Music of Devotion in Islam and Hinduism
Tuesday, October 12, 1999
Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 8:00 pm

Ali Jihad Racy: nay, salamiyyah, buzuq, mijwiz
Khaled Khalifa: cello
Ahmad Asmar: voice
Souhail Kaspar: tar, tablah, darbukkah, riqq
Nasser Musa: Îud

Ali Jihad Racy, virtuoso performer, composer, and scholar of Middle Eastern music, began his career in Lebanon. He has appeared as a soloist in major concert halls throughout the United States, including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. His scores for television, documentaries, and feature films include the ten-part series, The Arabs, shown on BBC and PBS, and his compositions have been commissioned by major ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet. Professor of Ethnomusicology at UCLA, Dr. Racy has authored numerous publications on Middle Eastern music. In addition to the nay and Îud, he is a master of the buzuq, long-necked fretted lute, the mizmar double:reed, the rabbab spiked fiddle, and the mijwij double pipe. His LP, cassette, and CD releases include Hellucination Engine in which he performed with major world artists including Zakir Hussein and Wayne Shorter, and Ancient Egypt (Lyrichord), praised in CD Review as "exquisitely beautiful - immaculately performed"

Khaled Khalifa is an accomplished cellist, born in Aleppo, Syria, where he studied violin and cello at the Aleppo Conservatory (1973-1983). His distinguished teachers include Yeviguini Xavariov, cellist of the National Symphony of Moscow. Since then he has led an active career as one of the few cellists who have mastered the traditional Arab musical idiom. Having toured the US and many Arab countries and recorded widely, he has performed with the National Orchestra of Syrian Radio and Television, the Aleppo Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and both Spring and Aleppo Orchestras of Classical Arab Music. He has taught and held leading positions with various musical organizations and accompanied such distinguished artists as the Arab singer Sabah Fakhri.

Ahmad Asmar, a much-admired Arab singer and percussionist was born in Jerusalem. He comes from an artistic family, both his parents being gifted musically. At an early age he studied with an established drummer in Jerusalem and continued to learn through working with musicians in Amman, Jordan. Ahmad spent seven years in Europe where he performed at festivals and with ensembles from the Near East and North Africa. Since moving to the United States in 1974, he has performed in major nightclubs and concert halls throughout the country. He is highly respected for his vocal talent and mastery of the Arab song tradition.

Souhail Kaspar was born in Lebanon and received his early music training in Syria, assimilating the basic theory and technique of Arab percussion performance. He has performed widely in concerts and nightclubs in the US and abroad as well as conducing master classes and workshops, and is known for his brilliant technique and his ability to move the audience with his extraordinary rhythmic improvisations. His versatility extends from the tar frame drum to the tablah cylindrical Arab drum, the mazhar large tambourine, and the smaller riqq tambourine.

Nasser Musa is an accomplised Îud player, composer, singer, and lyricist. Born in Jordan, he studied music in Amman and, after arriving in the US in 1982, at Cal Poly Pomona. Nasser has performed and toured with major artists such as the Lebanese singer Sabah, and has appeared in major nightclubs in Southern California. He is widely appreciated for his stylistic versatility which can be heard on his cassettes of Arab and Middle Eastern music.

Cantor Eva Robbins
The Sacred Sounds of Jewish Mysticism
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Westwood United Methodist Church, 7:00 pm

Cantor Eva Robbins is the voice of Congregation NâVay Shalom (Oasis of Peace) and is devoted to inspiring love of Judaism and spiritual growth through music. Her recent debut CD is Caressing the Soul and a new cassette recording is Râfa-aynu, a healing tape of her music with meditations by her husband, Rabbi Stephen Robbins. She believes that music opens paths to wholeness and is a constructive course for creating a stronger sense of community between people.

First AME Church
with the Brookinaires Gospel Choir
Sunday, October 17, 1999
First AME Church, 10:00 am

The Brookinaires Gospel Choir consists of 125 members under the musical direction of Joe Westmoreland who praise the Lord and uplift the congregants by singing traditional and modern spirituals every Sunday morning at the First African Methodist Church, the oldest African American congregation in Los Angeles. The First AME Church housed the first black school and nurtured achievement throughout its history. It was founded by an escaped slave and midwife, Mrs. Biddy Mason in 1872 and presently includes some 16,000 caring members. Minister Dr. Cecil L. "Chip" Murray is very prominent in the community at large and representative of the church's motto, "First to Serve" and under his leadership, the Church has become a beacon of reconciliation and healing.

Honoring the Sea
Sunday, October 17, 1999
Waterâs edge at Ocean Park Boulevard in Santa Monica, 2:00 pm

Vida Vierra and the Swing Brasil dancers and drummers engage in a sunset ceremony to honor Yemanja, Goddess of the Sea, through offerings of music, chant and dance. Everyone is invited to return to the sea for rememberance, renewal and respect for deep ecology.

This event was presented in association with EarthWays Foundation, Shiva Rea and Vida Vierra.