Music from China

China’s musical traditions span thousands of years and immense regional diversity, from refined solo repertories and opera to folk ensembles, court music, revolutionary song, and contemporary popular forms.

Chinese Music has been made since the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC – 256 BC). Today, the music continues a rich traditional heritage in one aspect, while emerging into a more contemporary form at the same time.  

Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of China” article.

Zhang Bin’s dizi performance demonstrates the bright, buzzing tone and agile ornamentation of China’s widely played transverse bamboo flute.

“On the Prairie” features the zhonghu, a lower-pitched bowed instrument related to the erhu, in an expansive lyrical style.

This zither performance reflects China’s long tradition of intimate solo string music associated with contemplation, scholarship, and expressive nuance.

Music from Chile

Chile’s music joins Indigenous and regional traditions with cueca, nueva canción, Andean ensembles, rock, and a celebrated singer-songwriter heritage shaped by both poetry and political history.

The music of Chile ranges from folkloric music, popular music and also to classical music.
Chile has a very rich folk music tradition that is generally divided into three different continental geographical zones: northern, central, and southern, each with its own characteristics and sounds. The Mapuche people and the inhabitants of Easter Island have their own musical traditions.^[1] Central folk music is the best known.  

Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of Chile” article.

Víctor Jara’s “El derecho de vivir en paz” embodies Chile’s nueva canción movement, uniting folk-rooted songwriting with a lasting call for peace and justice.

“La Consentida,” composed by Jaime Atria, represents cueca, Chile’s national dance and one of the country’s most recognizable folk forms.

Music from Chad

Chad’s music reflects the country’s position between the Sahel, Sahara, and Central Africa, bringing together diverse vocal, rhythmic, instrumental, and dance traditions.

Chad is an ethnically diverse Central African country. Each of its regions has its own unique varieties of music and dance. The Fulani people, for example, use single-reeded flutes, while the ancient griot tradition uses five-string kinde and various kinds of horns, and the Tibesti region uses lutes and fiddles. Musical ensembles playing horns and trumpets such as the long royal trumpets known as "waza" or "kakaki" are used in coronations and other upper-class ceremonies throughout both Chad and Sudan.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of Chad” article.

This performance offers a window into Chad’s musical culture, shaped by the country’s many communities and its connections across the Sahel.

Music from the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic holds a remarkable range of musical traditions, including initiation songs, drum and dance ensembles, and the intricate polyphonic singing of Aka communities.

The music of the Central African Republic includes many different forms. Western rock and pop music, as well as Afrobeat, soukous and other genres have become popular nation-wide. The sanzais a popular instrument.

The Pygmies have a complex folk music tradition. Polyphony and counterpoint are common components, as is a varied rhythmic structure. The trumpet-based music of the Bandas has also gained some popularity outside of the area due to its jazzy structure. The Ngbaka use an unusual instrument called a mbela, which is made with an arched branch and a string strung between the two ends and held in front of the musician's mouth. When the string is struck, the mouth is used to amplify and modulate the tone. Instruments similar to the mbela are sometimes considered the oldest ancestors of all string instruments. 

Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of the Central African Republic” article.

The Ongo ensemble’s “Ndraje balendro” demonstrates music’s role in initiation and communal ceremony in the Central African Republic.

Aka polyphonic singing layers interlocking voices into a sophisticated communal form recognized as one of Central Africa’s great musical traditions.

Music from Cape Verde

Cape Verde is known internationally for morna, a form of folk music usually sung in the Cape Verdean Creole, accompanied by clarinet, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. The islands also boast funaná, coladeira, batuqueand zouk music. 

From Wikipedia.

Music from Canada

Canada’s music reflects Indigenous traditions, French and British histories, immigration, regional identity, and a remarkably influential modern popular scene spanning folk, rock, country, jazz, classical, and more.

The music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country.^[1] Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada.^[2] The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries.^[3] Since French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1605 and established the first permanent Canadian settlements at Port Royal and Quebec City in 1608, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. 

Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of Canada” article.

Karin and Kathy Kettler demonstrate Inuit throat singing, a collaborative vocal tradition rooted in Indigenous communities of Canada’s Arctic.

The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead by a Century” carries the band’s unmistakably Canadian storytelling through one of its most beloved songs.

Nukariik offers another living example of Inuit throat singing in a public festival setting.

Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” represents Canada’s internationally influential singer-songwriter tradition with wit, melody, and environmental urgency.

Music from Cameroon

Cameroon’s extraordinary musical diversity reflects hundreds of communities and languages, while makossa and bikutsi have become especially influential across Africa and the wider world.

The best-known Music of the Cameroon is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.
The pirogue sailors of Douala are known for a kind of singing called ngoso, which has evolved into a kind of modern music accompanied by zanza, balafon and various percussion instruments. 

Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of Cameroon” article.

Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” carried a Cameroonian groove into global popular culture and became one of African music’s most influential recordings.

Anne-Marie Nzié, a foundational voice in Cameroonian popular music, connects modern song with the country’s linguistic and cultural heritage.