About the Grant

 

Leo Sarkisian training radio programmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Music Time in Africa project (2016-18) will provide audiences in the United States, Africa, and the wider world with online access to 900 radio programs and the associated scripts broadcast by the Voice of America from 1965 to 1989, along with a wide selection of beautiful and influential African music recorded for the radio programs by musicologist Leo Sarkisian.  An innovative, open-source online interface will permit exploration of the digital collection and the juxtaposition of audio streaming and script texts. In conjunction with the Voice of America’s listener outreach programs, the project will identify and engage performer communities about the release of field recordings and tracks included in the radio broadcasts. The primary outcomes of the project are a model for culturally sensitive online / web-based distribution of digitized musical recordings and a demonstration of the power of community engagement for access to scholarly resources on musical heritage.