Czech Republic
My primary research focuses on traditional music in the Slavic areas of central and eastern Europe, particularly in the Czech Lands. From August 2005 to December 2006, I undertook fieldwork on traditional music in urban and rural Moravia, a region in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. While there, I took lessons at the Brno Conservatory in playing the cimbalom, and I also interviewed local cimbalom musicians. This research was the basis for my doctoral dissertation (2008), a study of the history and significance of the cimbalom in Moravia.
Philippines & Indonesia
I have also researched in island Southeast Asia. Most recently, in 2008 and 2009, I visited the town of Culion, formerly a “leper colony,” at the northern end of the Palawan archipelago in the Philippines. (The term “leper” is no longer in standard usage and carries much negative stigma; nonetheless, this is the term still used by many residents of Culion.) During these visits I interviewed members of the town’s brass band about the relationship between musical performance and the stigma of “leprosy.” In 2005, I studied central Javanese gendèr playing in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, with Heri Purwanto. My research there focused on contemporary ideas about gamelan performance and transmission among young musicians.
Upper Midwest, United States
My first major fieldwork project was in the summer of 2003, when I traveled to Czech-American festivals throughout the Upper Midwest (mostly Wisconsin). This research was the basis for my doctoral qualifying paper, “Melodies of Ethnicity: Polka Music at Midwestern Czech-American Festivals.”