April 5, 2006

 LIVINGSTON, Ala.—Do traditional American blues and Kazakh folk music have anything in common? The University of West Alabama welcomes a visiting Fulbright Scholar from Kazakhstan to answer that very question.

Musicology expert Dr. Ainur Baisaklov will present his lecture, “Crossing Cultural Boundaries Through Traditional Folk Music” Monday, April 17 at 6 p.m. in the Bell Conference Center. He comes as part of the institution’s 2006 Fulbright Lecture Series and the third annual Sucarnochee Folklife Festival.

Baisaklov, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, will also demonstrate his piano prowess during a brown bag lunch Wednesday, April 19 at noon at the Bell Conference Center.  During “A Blending of Traditions: African American Ragtime and Kazakh Traditional Music,” he will play a variety of tunes comparing both genres.

Baisaklov, currently hosted by Indiana University’s School of Music, serves as a Senior Lecturer at Ablai Khan Kazakh University of International Relations and World Languages in his native country, teaching courses in Business English. A piano teacher for nearly two decades, Baisaklov also teaches a graduate course about the phenomenon of African American folklore passed down through blues music. He also specializes in translating scientific texts in both Russian and English.

The final speaker in the 2006 Fulbright Lecture Series, Chinese scholar Dr. Rude Lui, presents a lecture entitled "Schooling and Curriculum Reform in China" Monday, April 24 at 6 p.m. in Brock Y-Hall. Admission to all Fulbright Lecture Series presentations is free.