A musical lineup of all stars honored Professor Emerita Barbara Barnard Smith, who celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year. “A Centennial Celebration,” presented by the , premiered November 24, and .
The concert featured music by Professor Donald Womack, Associate Professor Takuma Itoh, Professor Emeritus Takeo Kudo, Professor Emeritus and lecturer Byron Yasui, UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ PhD graduate Yoko Sato and current PhD student Christopher Molina; performances by Professors Jonathan Korth and I-Bei Lin, and lecturers Darin Miyashiro, Aaron Sal¨¡, Anna Womack, Todd Yukumoto and Christopher Blasdel; and music and performances by Kenny Endo, Raiatea Helm and many more.
In memoriam: Barbara Smith, ethnomusicology program founder
—July 3, 2021
“As a champion for the study of music and dance from Â鶹´«Ã½, Asia and the Pacific, and as the founder of UH¡¯²õ , Barbara Smith has created a remarkable legacy,” said Professor and UH Contemporary Music Ensemble Director Thomas Osborne. “Not only has she had a substantial impact on the field of ethnomusicology, but she has also opened new avenues of collaboration between composers and performers from different cultures. Here at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹, our composition program is unique because of its focus on intercultural music and our faculty and students regularly compose for non-western instruments, especially those of East Asia.”
Osborne added, “Because of Barbara¡¯²õ vision, UH has become a hub for this emerging trend in contemporary music. This concert is a tribute to that vision, and these performances of contemporary works show that traditions are never static; they are very much alive, and always changing.”
Barbara B. Smith¡¯²õ legacy
A native of California, Smith came to UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ in 1949 to teach piano and music theory, after earning her master¡¯²õ degree in music literature from the Eastman School of Music. She then became interested in her students¡¯ diverse ethnic backgrounds, but realized that what they were learning was limited to Euro-American culture.
Smith learned to perform the music of various ethnicities and introduced classes in hula and Hawaiian chant, Korean dance, Chinese butterfly harp and Japanese gagaku (court music). A partnership with the East-West Center after the 1960s brought visiting scholars and performances of world music, dance and theater to Â鶹´«Ã½, which resulted in the formation of master¡¯²õ and doctorate programs in ethnomusicology at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹.
After retiring from full-time teaching in 1982, Smith remained engaged with the university through fieldwork, research advocacy and mentoring international graduate students. She even continued mentoring dissertation students virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith¡¯²õ accolades include being named a “living treasure” by the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ ; being recognized as a “pioneer” by the Honolulu City Council; the 2018 Â鶹´«Ã½ Arts Alliance Alfred Preis Honor; and the Governor¡¯²õ Award for the preservation of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture.
- Related UH News story: The legacy of a long life in music, June 8, 2020
—By Marc Arakaki
