“Welcome, lads!”
A voice boomed at us from the opposite side of the bridge. It isn’t every day that you walk down the street and are met with such a friendly greeting, but that seemed to be the norm in Limerick, Ireland, where I was interviewing Fresno State Professor and jazz musician Dr. Benjamin Boone about his year of immersion and scholarship in the historical city.
The friendly salutation had come from a Limerick native, Michael, whom Boone promptly introduced us to. The affable local was one of many people Boone had befriended during his year-long stint as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Limerick. Though Michael only talked with us for a minute, the friendly and inviting essence of the city stayed with me for my entire visit.
Perhaps the warmth of the people is what makes the University of Limerick home to one of the best multicultural world music programs across the globe, or maybe it’s the vibrant and inviting downtown of Limerick, an ideal ecosystem for flourishing musical exploration, collaboration, and creativity which Boone immersed himself in during his scholarship in Ireland.
Boone spent the 2022-23 school year as a Fulbright scholar exploring pedagogy and learning and collaborating in the diverse musical program at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.
By a stroke of serendipity, my family’s summer trip to visit our Irish cousins overlapped with the tail end of Boone’s time in Limerick, which gave me a unique opportunity to interview Boone for the blog in the very city he had studied and taught in for the past year. Observing the buzzing city firsthand, with all its pedestrians, cafes, and bars, made it obvious why the music in Limerick was so prime for exchange and collaboration.
World musician
Boone’s academic pilgrimage was sponsored by the Fulbright Program, one of the U.S. government’s cultural exchange programs, which aims to expand perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue. Boone spent his year in Limerick meeting and playing with musicians from around the world and engrossed himself in the intellectual culture of the University of Limerick to gain new curricular perspectives while sharing his insights.
In the past, Boone was a Fulbright scholar in Moldova in 2005 and Ghana during the 2017-18 academic year, where he was a professor and created the album “Joy” with Ghanaian musicians.
After our brief yet jovial conversation with Michael, Boone led us into the heart of downtown Limerick and a lively side street. As we sat down at the café Olio and Farina, a local favorite, Boone began to describe his time in Limerick. He primarily taught and gave workshops at the academy, but his role also included collaborating with musicians to create new music and perform.
Boone described his experience as “one of the most personally and professionally productive years that I’ve ever spent in my life,” having created at least three albums worth of music in collaboration with musicians in Limerick.
“One of the reasons I was so interested in being at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick is that, according to Patricia Campbell, one of the leading Music Education scholars in the USA, it has one of the most inclusive music curriculums in the world.”
“Whereas most universities in the US teach from a decidedly Western perspective – i.e., music of dead white European men – they study music using music from all around the world, including popular music, traditional music and un-notated music. I got to play in a world pop band, compose a piece for saxophone and Javanese Gamelan and collaborate with an Indian tabla player!”
The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick stands out as one of the leading globalized music programs in the entire world, expanding beyond solely Western music and branching out into a diverse, multicultural musical program.
He was as much a student as he was a teacher, observing various classes, learning about musical therapy and how music departments can be active in medical research and collaborating with many different musicians. From performing two concerts with the lead dancer of the musical “Riverdance,” to connecting with musicians specializing in tabla and the Indian Sarod, Boone’s immersion in Irish, Classical, and world music allowed for a musical environment perfect for creating and exploring the diversity present at the University and gave him insight into new ideas he could bring to the curriculum at Fresno State.
Speaking on his collaborative work at the academy, Boone said, “So that’s my scholarly project, the project that I was just keenly interested in, especially since the [Fresno State] department of music last summer went through a globalization initiative where we’re trying to expand our curricular offerings.”
“We have absolutely incredible faculty members who are at the top of their game, who are professionally active, who spend tons of time with their students and bring them up to a very high level. I’m very proud to be affiliated with a music department that has such a wonderful opera and jazz program and choir and orchestra.”
He hopes that the new perspectives he gained from his time at the academy will be valuable to making Fresno State’s music program even better.
“It was fascinating to see how their curriculum worked and how they tried to include music that is marginalized by many academics,” Boone said. “They also teach in modules – which basically means that though they operate on a semester schedule, students have choices within the semester to join students in other areas of study to go over a particular topic.”
“For example, a module could be for world music or composition students to write music for a sax duo, or any music student regardless of major to study and play music from North Africa from a visiting performer, or have classical and songwriting students work with Bono’s cellist on how to use classical performance skills in popular music, or work with a professional clown to hone how to read and interact with an audience.”
Boone said his favorite memory is attending a concert put on by the head of the World Music Program at the academy, Matthew Noone. The ensemble performing consisted of a traditional Irish musician playing on an Indian Sarod, an instrument similar to a guitar, however, with many resonator strings, an Indian tabla player, and the leading traditional Irish percussionist, all playing traditional Irish music.
“It was one of the most interesting cross-cultural blendings that I’ve ever heard, and I actually had goosebumps the entire time, the entire time. And I started to hear that the saxophone would actually work with that and that jazz music would actually work with that. Fast forward six months later, seven months later, and I just recorded an album with that group.”
“I highly encourage all the Fresno State community to consider applying for a Fulbright Award,” Boone said. “It’s a program that’s about peace and mutual understanding, and it gives you an opportunity to get an entirely different perspective on your work, on your discipline and on existence. It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences that I’ve had in my entire life.”
“I want to thank Fresno State for giving me the opportunity and for providing the ability for me to take this leave so that I can gain these new perspectives and ideas and bring them back to Fresno State. The College of Arts and Humanities, in particular, has been extraordinarily supportive of Fulbright scholars and of their faculty in general. I thank the deans and everyone in the college for being so supportive.”
Limerick recordings
Boon recorded at least three albums worth of songs that are in the process of being released. First, he will release a Jazz Album with Limerick jazz musicians, including the singer Jane Fraser. It has been accepted for publication by Origin Records, and he hopes for a spring 2024 release.
He also has a cross-over album with an Indian tabla player, traditional Irish percussionist, Australian sarod player, and Irish bassist, which he hopes will be released in the summer or fall of 2025.
Finally, he is also releasing a world music album with the New Global Ensemble, to be released on a European label in the summer of 2025. The New Global Ensemble is made up of a Ghanaian drummer/singer/percussionist, a Ghanaian balaphone and Seprewa player, an Irish guitarist, a Mexican singer and a German violinist.
At Fresno State, Boone is looking to bring back Faylita Hicks, one of the main poets/singers/rappers on his latest album, Caught in the Rhythm, to do a concert and work with students on how to use their creative work to address social justice issues.
Reflecting on how he hopes his experience in Ireland can help our music program here at Fresno State.
“They also have programs in songwriting, music therapy, community music and ritual music,” he said. “I would love for Fresno State to investigate possibilities like this. The Academy felt so alive and vibrant – it was heaven for a person like me!”
While we talked, drinking tea and watching people walking down the road, Boone’s passion for music was, as always, ever-present, though now it was accented with his ardency for what he learned at the University of Limerick. The prospect of that passion and insight being brought back to share with our students and program at Fresno State is, frankly, exciting.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 