“Music as Culture” with Dr. Michael Vercelli

The Toucan Abroad Podcast

Today, we continue our series chatting with faculty from universities around North America who led faculty-led programs in a variety of disciplines to Belize.

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Michael Vercelli who led his students on a program to Belize that focused on Music as Culture. Dr. Vercelli discusses his work in multiple looking at music and the African Disapora, how he prepared his students for immersion into the Belizean community as they learned about their music and culture as well as advice for faculty interested in leading similar programs.

Dr. Michael B. Vercelli is the director of the World Music Performance Center at West Virginia University. Michael holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance with a minor in Ethnomusicology from the University of Arizona. Michael’s research focuses on the transmission and performance practice of percussive traditions of Africa and African Diaspora. He has conducted long-term fieldwork on the xylophone traditions of Ghana and has studied in Brazil, Guinea, Uganda, Cuba, and Bali.

Dr. Vercelli has received many awards for both his performance and study of indigenous music and has released recordings with master Ghanaian xylophonists Tijan Dorwana and Bernard Woma. Michael has received the Snowshoe Institute Award of Excellence for Scholarship in the Arts and the WVU College of Creative Arts awards for Outstanding Service and Internationalizing the College. At WVU, Dr. Vercelli directs summer study abroad courses to Ghana, Brazil, and Belize, focusing on music, dance and cultural immersion. Dr. Vercelli has published in the Percussive Arts Society’s journal, Percussive Notes, and in the third edition of Gary Cook’s Teaching Percussion. He is a participating member in the Percussive Arts Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the International Council for Traditional Music. Michael has given lectures, performances, and workshops across the United States, Mexico, Brazil, China, and Europe. Dr. Vercelli is a Meinl Percussion Artist and a member of the Vic Firth Educational Team.