Music and Culture in Sardinia

We had such a good time with Kristina Jacobsen, Diego Pani and the UNM Cuncurdo Monte Sandria at Bookworks that we wanted to continue exploring the music and culture of Sardinia in more depth.  

Please joins us for a cool afternoon program at The Guild featuring songs from UNM's Sardinian vocal ensemble Cuncordu Monte Sindria, screenings of two short documentaries and a Q&A with the directors.

Tickets are FREE!

Tentative Schedule:

Song from Cuncordu Monte Sindria

Welcome from GEO director, anthropologist and Fulbright Scholar, Nicole Tami

Screening 1: "From Sardinia to New Mexico: Multipart Singing as Cultural Exchange" (15 minutes)

A Documentary by Kristina Jacobsen

"From Sardinia to New Mexico" explores an experience in cultural exchange between New Mexico (United States) and Sardinia. The 15-minute documentary follows the interaction between students at the University of New Mexico and singers from various Sardinian towns, reflecting on how learning traditional singing can act as a bridge for intercultural understanding. Through a personal and analytical approach, the film narrates a story of sharing and growth through the experience of oral tradition music and transmission.

Screening 2: "Mantènnere—Holding the Sacred Sound" (55 minutes)

A Documentary by Diego Pani

The documentary "Mantènnere" explores the cultural and social significance of traditional multipart singing in Santu Lussurgiu, Sardinia, focusing on the transmission of this practice between two generations of singers. The 55-minute documentary follows the Cuncordu ’e su Rosariu, a singing group which has accompanied Holy Week rituals since the 1970s, and Sos Zovanos de Su Rosariu, a younger group gradually assuming this role. Set against the backdrop of the mediatization of traditional music, the film highlights the impact of numerous research campaigns conducted in the village from the 1980s to the present, which have shaped the evolving identity of these musical traditions. Told from the perspective of a Sardinian ethnomusicologist from this village, the film captures the intimate emotional connection to these sacred singing practices. "Mantènnere" ultimately examines how ritual, music-making, and community are interwoven, questioning how tradition is preserved and transformed in the face of external scholarly and media influences.

Final song, Cuncordu Monte Sindria

Q and A: Diego, Kristina, UNM Students (15 minutes)