CSN Initiatives

Andrina Cockerham held the position of Social Media Intern with the Cultures of Sound Network, where she worked with staff from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the  Research Centre for Music, Media and Place (MMaP).

Andrina is a master’s student in ethnomusicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Originally from the small town of Gananoque in Ontario, Andrina holds a Bachelor of Music, where she specialized in clarinet performance and later developed a passion for music research. During that time, she did research on Indigenous musicians, focusing especially on the use of music as a form of resistance and ways of understanding music as something other than a material commodity. Her current research examines the role of music, movement, and sound in protests and demonstrations, including music as a means for healing or processing trauma in these settings. Beyond music, her research interests include politics, geoeconomics, and the environment and society.

Her internship was sponsored by Memorial University.

Peter Verdin worked with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a Music Education Intern, helping with the Music Pathways initiative and archiving Discos Smith, a sub-label of Arhoolie Records.

Peter is a contrabassist, multi-instrumentalist, recordist, bibliophile, and was a Ph.D. candidate at Memorial University during his internship. His research interests include recorded sound, recording and listening practices, and the ways that media and material culture interact with the ephemerality of musical experience. His writing has been translated and published internationally, and his recordings have been featured in outlets such as The Guardian and Minnesota Public Radio. When not playing music or conducting research, Peter can be found haunting local record stores or getting lost in some half-forgotten stretch of wilderness. 

During his internship, Peter worked on finishing research and licensing for Fiesta Aquí, Fiesta Allá: Music of Puerto Rico (9th–12th) and Hear Us Out! Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Their Music (9th–12th), as well as initiating the archival inventory of Discos Smith, which was part of the Arhoolie Records collection acquired in 2016 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

His internship was sponsored by Memorial University.

Humberto Edom Piccoli worked with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a Music Education Intern, helping with the Music Pathways initiative.

Humberto was enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University during his internship, having obtained his Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology from the same institution in 2023. Prior to this, he earned a Master of Music in Jazz Guitar Performance from the University of Manitoba in 2014. His academic journey commenced with a Baccalaureate degree in Popular Music from UNESPAR (Paraná’s Arts Faculty) in 2008, followed by a post-graduation program in Cultural Management at SENAC-PR in 2010. Humberto's research is centered on the dynamics of musical performances and stage talk in multicultural environments. As an intern at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, his responsibilities included developing educational resources highlighting American bandurist Julian Kytasty's work and exploring the music of the Mi'kmaq group Sons of Membertou.

His internship was funded by the Centre for Sound Communities and the SSHRC.

Mark Parselelo worked with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a Music Education Intern, helping with the Learning Pathways for Music Education initiative.

Mark Lenini Parselelo is an Ethnomusicology PhD Candidate at the School of Music, Memorial University of Newfoundland. His current research is on the impact of musician refugees and immigrants on Nairobi’s popular music scenes. Parselelo attained his master’s in Dance Knowledge Practice and Heritage from a consortium of four universities; Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of SZEGED, University of Clermont Auvergne and University of Roehampton under the Erasmus Plus Scholarship-Choreomundus program (2018-2020). From 2010 to 2014, Mark studied at the Kenyatta University and attained a bachelor’s degree in Music (BMUS). Mark’s internship at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings focused on creating a Lesson about Malian musician Lassana Diabaté and his trans-Atlantic connections to Cape Breton/Unama’ki, Canada.

His internship was funded by the Centre for Sound Communities and the SSHRC.

Jordan Zalis worked with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a Music Education Intern, helping with the Learning Pathways for Music Education initiative.

He was also a project coordinator with the Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University, working on a SSHRC Connections grant with Canadian Ukrainian musician Julian Kytasty.

Jordan Zalis is a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Previously, Jordan earned his Bachelor of Music (Honours, with High Distinction) in Vocal Performance and a Master of Arts in Music and Culture from Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. Recipient of the Helmut Kallmann Award for Research in Canadian Music, and a doctoral fellow of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Jordan’s research sits at the intersection of sound, music, and sport. His ongoing dissertational work lauds perspectivism, dialogue, and grounded theory, asking hundreds of people the same question: "What does basketball sound like?" The result is a dynamic multimedia project and set of essays, criticisms, and oral histories that will turn into book form "soon." If you're interested in reading what an emerging ethnomusicologist thinks about the sound of sport in Canada, Jordan has published work on the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier, and the sounding politics of TD Place Stadium, where he "listened to football (soccer) in Ottawa" (Insular Livros 2020; Routledge 2021). Together with writing and performing original music, Jordan manages a small Toronto-based record label and music publishing house, named Suplex Music and [xlds], respectively. When not in the field (studying sound, music, and sport), Jordan is out in the park, practicing environmental soundscape recording while embracing rivers, lakes, oceans, and forests. 

His internship was sponsored by Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Jing Xia worked with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a Music Education Intern, helping with the Learning Pathways for Music Education initiative.

Jing Xia is a professional zheng artist and scholar based in Newfoundland, Canada. Born and raised in Hunan, China, Xia started to study the zheng at six years old and has degrees in music performance (B.A.), arts management (M.A.), and ethnomusicology (Ph.D.). Her research focuses on the diasporic experience of professional Chinese instrumentalists and their intercultural and transnational music-making in North America. Xia’s musical journey on the zheng has encompassed Chinese traditional and folk music to intercultural ensembles, improvisational music, and beyond. In 2022, she released her debut zheng CD entitled “The Numinous Journey,” presenting the zheng in various musical genres. Between 2016 and 2021, Xia worked periodically as a research assistant at the Research Center for Music, Media, and Place (MMaP) at Memorial University. She is currently the secretary of the Improvisation Section of the Society for Ethnomusicology.

Her internship was sponsored by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Eric Taylor Gomes-Escudero worked with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a Music Education Intern, helping to launch the Learning Pathways for Music Education Initiative.

Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Eric holds a B.A. in Communication and Multimedia from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, an M.A. in Music and the Environment from the University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. His research interests include the music and traditions of southeastern coastal communities in Brazil, Fandango Caiçara, and issues of identity, resistance, and belief in folk music. He began his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at Memorial in Fall 2021.

About his internship experience, Eric wrote:

My internship at Smithsonian Folkways, through the Cultures of Sound Network, was an extremely rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. As a Ph.D. ethnomusicology student, I assisted with the Music of the Asian Royal Courts Pathway. My main activities included formatting and writing visual and written content, and researching visual and audio material. Additionally, I contacted team members and scheduled weekly meetings in which we discussed our challenges and achievements, and shared experiences, as well as give each other advice. I also had the opportunity to learn more about copyright, join in the weekly meetings with the SFR staff and understand  how the institution worked. The Learning Pathways team, led by Logan Clark, is composed of talented and committed workers, volunteers, and interns that form a supportive community of individuals in which academic and professional growth happens naturally. Finally, my internship at the Smithsonian offered me valuable hands-on experience in applied ethnomusicology widening the range of my future professional possibilities.  

 His internship was sponsored by the Centre for Sound Communities.