Last year, the School of Music and Performing Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the College of the Arts appointed Dr. Gwendolen von Einsiedel as the new Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music. “Gwennie” as she is affectionately known to friends and family, strives to connect different disciplines and communities through music performance, education, and research. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Music from the University of Oxford, and her doctoral research focused on contemporary zydeco music and Southwest Louisiana's trail ride scene - earning her an Arts and Humanities Research Council Award. Dr. Von Einsiedel earned her Masters in Contemporary and Classical Text from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a Masters of Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. As an ethnomusicologist her research interests include race, gender, resistance, and non-human entanglements. In addition to being an extremely accomplished member of academia, Gwennie is also a filmmaker (see lagniappe below!), musician, actress, and folklorist.

So throughout the years of her research, Gwennie has become quite a staple of the community here in Lafayette, and this position seems to be a perfect fit, as it’s mission aligns well with her own:

The mission of the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music is to stimulate interdisciplinary research on the foundations and diversity of traditional music worldwide and to advance the preservation, instruction, and performance of traditional music with an emphasis on traditions that have developed in Acadiana.

The UL Traditional Music department now falls under her purview, and continues to be a program that extends it’s reach beyond the walls of the university. The program hosts ensemble groups in Cajun, zydeco, greek, and R&B music that meet each week and are open to all students of the university AS WELL AS to the general public - these ensembles are lead by talented professional musicians in their respective fields such as Chas Justus (the Revelers), Thor Ahlgren, and Blake Miller, and perform public concerts regularly that are beloved by the community. The UL Trad program also plays hosts to a number of symposiums and other concerts throughout the year, such as the recent 3-day event focusing on ‘Afrofuturism in the American South’ which was a collaboration with the English department and hosted a number of panel discussions, musical workshops, and a concert by internationally touring musician Jake Blount at the Acadiana Center for the Arts (all of which were open to the public as well as to university students). The Traditional Music program at UL Lafayette welcomes all musicians, whether pursuing the Traditional Music concentration or simply looking to explore folk and roots music. Designed for musicians who learn by ear, the program offers opportunities to refine skills in styles such as Cajun, Creole and more (and is the ONLY PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY offering instruction in these local styles), while developing a strong academic foundation in music and becoming advocates for traditional arts.

This year the UL Trad Program is lucky to have visiting adjunct professor Thor Ahlgren on staff, leading the greek ensemble and heading up a robust scandanavian music focus for students, as well as taking on unique projects like arranging chorale music for the vocal department. Originally from Malmö, Sweden, Thor has traveled the world and cultivated a love / talent for many traditional styles of music - from Greek bouzouki to Irish bagpipes, he eventually found his way to the Cajun accordion, and has become a beloved member of our little community. Last year, Thor recorded an album at Joel Savoy’s studio in Eunice, featuring some of our area’s best musicians as well as some of his friends from Sweden. The album is an exploration of the crossovers between traditional Louisiana and Scandanavian folk music, and is a perfect representation of all the styles he embodies - the album, Lo å Lä - is deemed ‘Swedish Cajun Music, and will be released to the world later this Fall. Take a listen as a sneak peek to this UNRELEASED music! We can’t wait to do an entire episode focusing on Thor.

Unfolding over one trail ride with the Texas Regulators, Interrupting the Earth is a sensory immersion into this truly ground-shaking spectacle in America’s Deep South. Directed by Dr. Gwendolen von Einsiedel (the UL Trad Department’s director, interviewed above!) and co-produced with Creole filmmaker and lifelong trail rider Drake LeBlanc, the film’s intimate portrayal of trail riding and the women who hold the culture together is the product of Einsiedel’s decade-long research into zydeco music and creative collaboration with its protagonists. Gwennie’s doctoral research focused on contemporary zydeco music and Southwest Louisiana's trail ride scene, which earned her an Arts and Humanities Research Council Award, and helped her secure the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music at the University of Louisiana, where we’re so happy to have her today!