December 11, 2008

International folk music group established

WORCESTER, MA—This semester, Clark University student David A. Rée of Copake, New York, is bringing international folk music to campus through a new a cappella group, the Clark International Achords (CIA). CIA, which is comprised of 11 students (two international students and nine domestic students), performs folk music from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Republic of Georgia, South Africa, and the U.S. Rée has brought the majority of repertoire to the group, however, he credits his co-director and friend, Vessi Morova, for sharing her native Bulgarian music.

Rée was inspired to create CIA after his summer visits to Georgia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Italy, studying folk traditions at music-themed camps. His trips have been through an organization called Village Harmony.

“All of the camps involved very close relationships with local musicians, as well as lots of traveling all over the respective countries studying different kinds of music, culture, and doing performances,” he said.

Rée traveled to Ukraine and Italy this past summer with support from a Bickman Arts and Music Fellowship.

According to professor Benjamin M. Korstvedt, director of the music program at Clark, ever since Rée arrived at Clark, he has lived his curiosity and interest in all types of music.

“[David] has been involved in a range of musical performances, studied music in the classroom, and composed. This passion for musical engagement was the reason he sought out the Bickman scholarship. We are thrilled to see what he has achieved with the support of this scholarship,” said professor Korstvedt. “It's wonderful to see him sharing the knowledge and inspiration he gained there with the Clark community. The new group he's created crosses all sorts of boundaries and though their performances, Clark students are able to 'experience different cultures' through music.”

Rée wrote, “One of the things that traveling to all of these different countries has shown me is that there is so much more music out there in the world than manages to get into America, especially our popular culture. I would love to continue studying different ethnic music, as well as classical music which I am currently studying at school.”

Rée is a double major in music and Global Environmental Studies (GES).

“While music comes first, there are many other things which I am very interested in… philosophy, English, foreign languages, arts,” he said. “I do not have a particular plan for utilizing my GES major after I graduate…I do not see my education here as purely vocational; it is shaping me as an individual, and giving me the skills that are required in any job in any discipline.”

Rée is a member of the Clark Concert Choir, the Clark Chamber Chorus, and the Clark Candelas. He is president and founder of the Clark U Pool Club, treasurer of Clark University Students for Palestinian Rights and a member of Student Council. He plays intramural soccer, basketball, softball, and volleyball and is in the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir. Rée is a Presidential Scholar, the recipient of a 2008 Bickman Music and Arts Fellowship award, and a member of the Alpha Sigma Chapter of Gamma Theta Epsilon, the International Geography Honors Society.

Rée is a 2005 graduate of Tara Performing Arts High School in Boulder, Colorado. He is a member of the Class of 2009 at Clark. He is the son of Anna and Brian Rée of Copake, New York.

In 1991, James Bickman, Class of 1939, and his sons Martin and David Bickman established the Bickman Arts and Music Fellowship in memory of his wife and their mother, Sara Bickman. This fund supports summer internships for undergraduate students majoring in the visual and performing arts. Awards are made to students in their junior year for projects to be conducted between their junior and senior years.

Use the audio links at right to listen to the International Achords.