Department of Music Blog

Asian Studies Center’s presentation of Jero is sold out, but ethnomusicology grad student Yuko Eguchi will be at the concert and will report back on this blog. Yuko relates her own encounter with the Jero phenomenon phenomenon below.

“In the summer of 2008, Jero appeared on the TV commercial for the canned coffee “Fire – Café Zero” produced by the Kirin company. It had been a year since I was home in Tokyo, so I did not recognize his face at all. Wherever I went, I saw a huge poster with Jero holding a canned-coffee (“kan-cohee” in Japanese) as if he were holding a diamond treasure. On the TV commercial, Jero sings “Hisame (freezing rain),” makes a turn, drinks one sip of coffee, and proudly states his name “Jero.” Right before he states his name, the announcer says, “even with its sweetness, it has an emphasized coffee beans flavor – café Zero!” “Zero” (calorie) and “Jero”are rhymed, which made me laugh immediately. The theme of this coffee is “New Umai (New taste).” Kirin’s product team uses Jero as a model for the product; he represents “New” and “Old” –he is the first African-American to sing Enka, which is a song style that is popular among older generation. The concept was to keep the good taste of coffee but adding a new flavor so that consumers would not get bored with the tastes. Thus, Jero was a perfect fit to advertise this product – being an African-Americn (new) Enka (old song) singer. You can see his TV commercial here.”

The Department of Music offers opportunities for students to participate in a variety of ensembles. Singers can audition for the Heinz Chapel Choir, Men’s Glee Club, or Women’s Choral Ensemble. Instrumentalists can audition for the Symphony Orchestra and Jazz ensemble. For those interested in world music we offer the African Music and Dance Ensemble as well as the Gamelan Ensemble. Our world music ensembles do not require an audition and beginners are welcome.

Students can sign up to audition for the Heinz Chapel Choir, Men’s Glee Club, or Women’s Choral Ensemble at the Freshman Activities Fair on Sunday afternoon, August 24th, at Posvar Hall. You can find out about auditions and for all our ensembles at the Music Building (4337 Fifth Avenue, corner of Fifth and Bellefield) beginning August 25th.

You can listen to audio excerpts from recent performances by many of our ensembles by visiting the multimedia section of our blog.

Andrew Weintraub with Rhoma Irama, The King of Dangdut, who will perform at Pitt on October 11.

Andrew Weintraub (Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology) has been awarded a 2008 Global Academic Partnership grant by the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) to organize an interdisciplinary international conference on Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia. The conference will be held at the University of Pittsburgh, October 10-12. Fifteen scholars from six countries will address the dynamic, contested, and performative nature of Islam in contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition to scholarly presentations, the conference will feature the award-winning film Gubra directed by Yasmin Ahmad, and a concert by legendary dangdut superstar Rhoma Irama and his band Soneta. Additional support for the conference comes from the School of Arts and Sciences, Office of the Provost, Asian Studies Center, Indo-Pacific Council, Department of Music, Consortium for Education Resources on Islamic Studies (CERIS), Ohio University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies , and Falcon Interactive (Indonesia).

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