Sponsored by the World Music Archives & Music Library Part of the Power of Language Week 2026! Film #1: Searching for the Folk Philosopherdir. Mounir SalahArabic with English subtitles Monday, February 23, 2026 1-2pmOlin Library, Room 327B (Music Seminar Room) Join us for a screening of a chapter of the film-in-progress Searching for the Folk … Read more
February 9, 2026 at 10:50-11:50 amSmith Reading Room, first floor Olin Library, 252 Church St., Middletown, CTFree and open to the public. Try playing this unique Japanese instrument at a hands-on performance, explore the history of the koto at Wesleyan University, and learn more about the library’s collections of Japanese scores with a visiting shihan … Read more
Friday, February 20, 2026 An afternoon of events celebrating this ubiquitous, chameleon-like medium. Free and open to the public. 12:00 – 1:30: Talks about Paper, with Pizza & Performance Smith Reading Room, Olin Library Please RSVP so we can get enough pizza! 1:30 – 3:00: Paper Arts Fair Pruzan Art Center Lobby No RSVP needed! Explore a paper and book arts fair led by students, faculty, staff, and Unique … Read more
A research concert by Ameen Mokdad MA ’26 Friday, December 5, 2025, 12noon-1pmSmith Reading Room, Olin Library252 Church Street, Middletown, CTFree and open to the public What happens when a single melody, text, or story is claimed by multiple cultures as their own? Ameen Mokdad MA ’26 digs into the archives for a concert of … Read more
Tuesday, November 11th 12noon-1pm Smith Reading Room, 1st floor Olin Library252 Church St., Middletown, CT Free and open to the publicSponsored by the World Music Archives & Music Library Jazz pianist and Director of the Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble Noah Baerman presents a program of instrumental interpretations of Stevie Wonder’s “message music” in celebration of his new … Read more
Music graduate student Ameen Mokdad MA’26 performs a solo version of his album-length work The Curve. Thursday, October 30, 2025 7:00 pmOlin Library Stairwell Ameen Mokdad MA’26, born 1989 in Baghdad, graduated from the Agriculture and Forestry College at the University of Mosul in 2013. He lived in the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul from … Read more
Friday, October 24, 2025 — 3-4 p.m.Frank Center for Public Affairs, Room 100 Join us for a screening of a chapter of the film-in-progress Searching for the Folk Philosopher, followed by a discussion with Wesleyan graduate student Ameen Mokdad MA’26, the film’s composer and Impact Producer. In the film, the Iraqi director Mounir Salah searches … Read more
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 12 noon-1 pmSmith Reading Room, 1st floor Olin Library Charismatic Zimbabwean master musician Samaita Vitalis Botsa creates gorgeous waves of sound with his mbira, connecting the living with the ancestors. “I’m just the car, it’s the spirits doing the driving, making the music,” he says. Visiting from his village in Zimbabwe … Read more
Thursday, October 9, 2025 12 noon-1 pm Smith Reading Room, 1st floor Olin Library Mohammad Geldi Geldi Nejad MA’23, known as “Oghlan Bakhshi,” a master of the dutar, a two-stringed lute, and an epic bard, will perform some Turkmen songs and instrumental pieces with special guest performers Zyyada Jumayeva and Abdolghaffar Geldinejad. Sponsored by the World Music … Read more
Friday, May 23, 2025 at 1:00pmOlin Library, 252 Church Street, Room 014 (Jakobson Room), Middletown, Connecticut Free and open to the public.This event is part of Wesleyan’s Reunion + Commencement Weekend. What can archival collections tell us about the complex relationship between Russian émigré musicians and their new American audience? This talk delves into the World … Read more
