Associate Professor and Director of Creative Arts in Learning, Lesley University
Can You Stop the Birds from Singing? The Cultural Impact of Music Censorship in Afghanistan
Dr. Louise Pascale, Associate Professor in the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University has worked for over 25 years in the field of arts and education. Louise has a great interest in exploring the impact singing in educational settings and changing perspectives about singers and non-singers. Motivated by her interest in preserving traditional music, Louise has spent the last six years working on publishing a songbook and CD, Qu Qu Qu Barg-e-Chinaar: Children’s Songs from Afghanistan. Due to over twenty years of war and oppression in Afghanistan, these children’s songs all but disappeared from the culture. Because of this project, the songbook is now distributed across Afghanistan and is being used as a literacy and musical text. By the spring of 2013, 40,000 songbooks will be distributed in schools and orphanages across Afghanistan.