The Durham Oriental Music Festival and its Legacy

hosted a series of three unprecedented festivals. Their aim was to introduce Western audiences to the traditional music of Asia by means of concerts, lectures, workshops, films and exhibitions. Countries represented by top-class artists and scholars were China, Korea, Japan, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos. Overcoming many difficulties, the Durham Oriental Music Festival acquired a worldwide reputation and successfully helped to promote Asian music and ethnomusicology in the West. In 2009 Durham University revived its aims by introducing a Festival of East Asian Music. More modest in scale, this annually promotes performance and study of musical themes from countries of East Asia, again putting emphasis on authenticity and high quality.