This year marks the 65th year of the Spring Festival of World Music (May 4 through June 7, 2025). Since its founding under ethnomusicologist Mantle Hood, who began teaching at UCLA in 1954, the festival has grown to include a wide array of ensembles. It remains a defining example of the program’s commitment to innovative pedagogy.
To reflect on the festival’s rich history and continuing impact, we spoke with three key voices: Roger Savage, chair of ethnomusicology; Supeena Adler, curator of the world instrument collection, adjunct professor and director of the Thai Music Ensemble; and Kathleen Hood, UCLA ethnomusicology Ph.D., longtime departmental contributor and supporter of the festival.
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Talk a bit about the origins of the festival.
Roger Savage: As you know, Mantle Hood established the Institute of Ethnomusicology at UCLA [in 1960]. His concept of bi-musicality, controversial in its day, continues to play a central role, since acquiring a practical competence in the musical tradition one is studying is critical to conducting successful fieldwork.
What is bi-musicality?
Supeena Adler: Mantle Hood coined the term bi-musicality to refer to the fluency in two distinct musical systems. As a musical concept, bi-musicality emphasizes the importance of scholars learning and performing the music of the cultures they study, rather than relying solely on Western musical frameworks to interpret non-Western traditions. In this way, fieldworkers (scholars and students) immerse themselves deeper in the music as performers to better grasp conceptual and technical challenges, just as one would by learning a foreign language.
The World Instrument Collection at UCLA is one of the most extensive in the world. Mantle Hood began building it in 1958. What are some of the highlights of the collection?
Roger Savage: I have been struck by the vast range of types of instruments in the World Music Instruments Collection and am fascinated with the diverse ways that instruments have been ingeniously constructed from wood, metals, skins, and other available materials. The Gamelan, “Venerable Dark Cloud” is particularly impressive.
Supeena Adler: “Venerable Dark Cloud” is used by our Music of Java Ensemble, which was the first of its kind in an academic setting in the United States. Mantle Hood brought the Gamelan in 1958 and founded the ensemble. The instruments in our collection were the ones used to broadcast on the radio in Indonesia.
What instruments in the collection have you worked with specifically?
Supeena Adler: Most of the instruments from central Thailand that came to be with us were at the house of a well-known master musician in Thailand. After the 2015 restoration of the instruments, I was able to expand the ensemble and add many more musical instruments from all over Thailand into the collections. The connection between people who contributed to getting those instruments to us in the past continues in the present, stringing us [together] with musical fabric across the continent and across time.
Kathleen Hood: We have great instruments covering the traditions of the Near East. Our Persian collection has setars and tars and kamanchehs. Our Arab collection has nays (reed flutes) and my favorite, the qanun, which is a plucked zither.
When did you first become involved with the Spring Festival of World Music?
Roger Savage: In 1996, when I was the coordinator.
Supeena Adler: I came to UCLA in 2015.
Kathleen Hood: In 1992. I went to a jazz ensemble concert in Santa Monica and spoke with the trumpet player afterwards, Charles Moore, who did his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at UCLA. I told him I was studying Persian music, and he suggested that I come play with the Near East Ensemble. It inspired me to pursue a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology.
What is it like to prepare for and perform in the festival every year?
Supeena Adler: I teach the Music of Thailand Ensemble. Most students in my class have no prior experience with Thai music. In my class, I use many musical instruments from all over Thailand. I also teach students singing and dancing. I often invite local artists to share their expertise with my students during classes. We work through repertoires from simple to more difficult and complex.
Kathleen Hood: I played cello with the Near East Ensemble on and off through 2019. There are students of every level in the ensemble.
Is it difficult to teach students music that is so foreign to what they have experienced?
Supeena Adler: I am fully aware that students have different skill levels. However, it is key to play together. The slower ones try to play faster while the skilled ones try to play slower. There, everyone has their moment and place. It is not a competition, it is a “place” where everyone can enjoy. I always tell them to bring a friend and join my class. This sense of unity and enjoyment is what makes our ensemble truly special and engaging for all participants.
Talk a little about what the festival means for you, and for Mantle Hood’s legacy.
Roger Savage: The number of world music ensembles supported by the department is a testament to Mantle Hood’s continuing legacy in the school, as are the global reach of our academic courses and the extensive world music instrument collection that enables students from the department, the school, and across the campus to receive instruction in diverse performance traditions.
Supeena Adler: In March 2025, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of Mantle Hood’s arrival at UCLA at the SEMSCHC conference hosted by the Department of Ethnomusicology. We also had a workshop and performances for community members and conference attendees participating in the dance and music workshops. A highlight of the conference was the screening of Mantle Hood’s acclaimed documentary Atumpan: The Talking Drums of Ghana (1964), which offers a profound exploration of the talking master drums of the Ashanti people. Narrated by Hood, this captivating film has inspired many students across the U.S. to explore African studies more deeply, fostering connections with the rich experiences of the African diaspora.
Kathleen Hood: The festival is always a big event, and there are some really great moments. I remember, when I was in the Near East Ensemble, that one day, this famous Syrian singer, Sabah Fakhri, was in town. He came to our ensemble class, and we took pictures with him. It turned out to be fortuitous. When I went to Syria to do my dissertation research, the authorities held me back after they let everyone else in. They wanted to know what I was doing there. And I showed them a picture of Sabah Fakhri with me, and they were all excited, and then everything was fine.
The 2025 Spring Festival of World Music runs from May 4-June 7. For the complete schedule, visit our website.
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