Library of Congress – Pastimespace

Emi Ferguson and Ruckus

Flutist Emi Ferguson and ensemble Ruckus performed at the annual Founder's Day concert on October 30, 2024. Ferguson and the ensemble adapted works by Telemann and Ligeti for their special blend of Baroque and modern instruments. Included in this video are their adaptations of Telemann's Fantasias, TWV 40:2-13, selected from their performance at the Library.

For transcript and more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11748Show More

Emi Ferguson and Ruckus

Flutist Emi Ferguson and ensemble Ruckus performed at the annual [...]

Music of Anthony Braxton

Anthony Braxton has played a key role in contemporary and avant-garde [...]

Conversation with Lisa Gabbert

This entry in the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series offers an [...]

El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico

"El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico" immerses viewers in [...]

The Stephen Sondheim Collection

Famed lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim bequeathed thousands of [...]

Jonathan Capehart in Conversation with Michele Norris

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart came to the [...]

Phillis Wheatley

One of America's first great poets to achieve international acclaim, [...]

Society for History in the Federal Government

The Society for History in the Federal Government's annual meeting is [...]

Mary Oliver Memorial Reading

The second annual reading Mary Oliver Memorial Reading at the Library [...]

The second annual reading Mary Oliver Memorial Reading at the Library of Congress highlighted emerging poets writing on the natural world. Bestselling poet and writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil read with emerging poets Ariana Benson and Robin Walter. A moderated discussion and book signing followed the reading. Ariana Benson's debut poetry collection, "Black Pastoral," won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the 2024 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets. A Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, she is also the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Furious Flower Poetry Prize, and the Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets. Benson facilitates creative writing and storytelling workshops for students at historically Black colleges and universities. Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the book of food essays "Bite By Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees" and the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of nature essays, "World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks & Other Astonishments." She also wrote five previous poetry collections, including "Oceanic." Her honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, a US Artists Fellowship, the North American Association of Environmental Education's 2024 Pepe Marcos-Iga Award for Innovation in Environmental Education and a Guggenheim fellowship in poetry. The poetry editor for Sierra magazine, Nezhukumatathil is a professor of English and Creative Writing in the University of Mississippi's MFA program. Robin Walter is the author of "Little Mercy," which was selected by Victoria Chang as the winner of the 2024 Academy of American Poets First Book Award. Her poetry and essays have been featured in American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Seneca Review, West Branch, Wildness and elsewhere. She is an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University and lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

For transcript and more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11739Show More

The Dances of Erick Hawkins and Lucia Dlugoszewski

Participants in the Library's program "The (Effortless) Now: Dances of [...]

Thomas Mallon on the Early Days of the HIV/AIDS Crisis

Novelist Thomas Mallon talked about his recently-published book,"The [...]

Conversation with Susana Behar

Susana Behar sat down with Stephen Winick to discuss her concert at [...]

Bayou, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana's Lao Foodways

"Bayou, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana's Lao Foodways" is a [...]

Susana Behar Ensemble

Susana Behar was born in Havana to a Cuban family with roots in the [...]

Susana Behar was born in Havana to a Cuban family with roots in the Sephardic community of Turkey. From an early age, she was immersed in the traditional music of her homeland as well as the evocative kantikas in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) passed down by her grandparents. In 1965 she emigrated to Venezuela, where she started to explore and perform the music of her adoptive country as well as the Latin American and Jewish folklore. She earned a degree in Biology from the Universidad Central de Venezuela before moving to Miami, where she has lived and performed ever since. She was joined by Michel Gonzalez on guitar, Adolfo Herrera on percussion, and Saul Vera on mandolin and bandola llana.

For almost 20 years, Susana Behar has focused her artistic career on the preservation and performance of the Sephardic musical repertoire. Passionate about the richness of traditional music and its connection to cultural memory and storytelling, she has performed across the U.S., Latin America, Canada, Israel, and Japan. In 2017, she developed and premiered her project "Ladino Meets Latino," incorporating songs from the Sephardic and Latin American musical traditions. Her work has been featured in award-winning films, radio programs, and collaborative productions, including the Kennedy Center's celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month in 2024.

Program:
ALTA, ALTA ES LA LUNA (High, high is the moon) - A poignant dialogue between mother and daughter, woven in a tender melody.
LA SERENA (The mermaid) - A haunting ballad about a young girl confined in a sea-bound tower.
LAS KASAS DE LA BODA (The wedding houses) - A wedding song from the Bulgarian tradition, celebrating the beautifully adorned houses where brides dance, families gather and love is honored with music and ritual.
KATAV STAV (The Winter Wrote) - Hebrew poem by Andalusian poet and philosopher Solomon Ibn Gabirol (c. 1021 - c. 1058); Music by Jose Luis de la Paz, Spain (1967 - 2025) "Katav Stav" is one of Gabirol's secular poems, where winter becomes a divine artist.
VEINTE AÑOS (Twenty years) - Music: Maria Teresa Vera, Cuba (1895 - 1965); Lyrics: Guillermina Aramburú, Cuba (1894 - ?) "Veinte Años" is a timeless Cuban 'habanera', already considered a classic in the Cuban musical tradition. 'If wishes came true, you'd love me as you did twenty years ago.'
AMOR ETERNO (Eternal love) - Salvador Salazar, Venezuela. A Venezuelan waltz, celebrating love that transcends time and distance.
ANDERLETO - A Sephardic romanza or ballad, from Sarajevo, tells the tale of a queen who is in love with her slave, Anderleto, and openly declares her love for him, even proclaiming that she loves him more than the king and all his kingdom.
SI VERIASH A LA RANA (If you could see the frog) - A children's song about a frog, a mouse, and a camel preparing food together and sharing it with their friends. 'Ben seni severim, çok seni severim' (I love you, I love you very much!).
EREV SHEL SHOSHANIM (Evening of roses) - Lyrics by Moshe Dor, Israel (1932 - 2016); Music by Yosef Hadar, Israel (1926-2006); "Erev Shel Shoshanim" is a Hebrew love song, evoking the fragrance and tenderness of a romantic evening in bloom.
GÜLPEMBE (Pink rose) - A Sephardic love song, with lyrics that blend Judeo-Spanish and Turkish, showcasing the rich, multicultural heritage of the Sephardic diaspora. 'Aman aman Gülpembe, ne bu güzellik sende (Oh, Pink Rose, what beauty is this in you).'
LOS KAMINOS DE SIRKECI (The roads of Sirkeci) - A young man walks up and down the sandy roads of Sirkeci in Istanbul, yearning to see his beloved.

Encore:
LOS GIZADOS DE LAS BERENDJENAS (The ways to cook the eggplants) - A song listing seven delicious ways to prepare eggplant.

For transcript and more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11734Show More

Conversation with Somi

Claudia Morales sat down in conversation with Grammy-nominated [...]

Conversation with Loadbang, Christopher Otto and Ning Yu

Members of loadbang join violinist/composer Christopher Otto, pianist [...]

Conversation with the Horszowski Trio

Violinist Jesse Mills of the Horszowski Trio spoke with David Plylar [...]

Ensemble Sangineto: Traditional Music from Italy

The ensemble Sangineto is one of the most popular folk groups on the [...]

Inside the Dictionary and the Scripps National Spelling Bee

On the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, [...]

Conversation with Ensemble Sangineto

Ensemble Sangineto is one of the most popular folk groups on the [...]

The Medical Carnivalesque: Folklore Among Physicians with Lisa Gabbert

This lecture provides an overview of the occupational folklore that [...]

This lecture provides an overview of the occupational folklore that exists among physicians in the United States today. Much of this folklore is humorous; it can also be earthy and even quite dark. Gabbert focuses on folklore that emerges in physician-to-physician communication, arguing that the content and themes that emerge are strikingly parallel to the ones identified by Mikhail Bakhtin in his concept of the carnivalesque. Bakhtin's understanding of the carnivalesque was drawn from his analysis of medieval and early modern European culture, particularly pre-Lenten Carnival and the marketplace. These themes, which target relations between life and death, sickness, the body, and authoritative truth, unequivocally resonate in medical contexts. She further suggests that, as an occupation, medicine is permeated by the suffering of both patients and physicians. This occupational context of suffering is the basis for the medical carnivalesque. Examples and materials are drawn from interviews conducted with physicians for the Archie Green Occupational Folklife Project, as well as published, archival, and online sources, and personal observations. Lisa Gabbert is professor of folklore studies in the department of English and director of the folklore program at Utah State University. Her research interests are in the areas of folklore and landscape, festivity and play, and occupational folklore in medical contexts. She is the author of "Winter Carnival in a Western Town: Identity, Change and the Good of the Community" with Keiko Wells, "An Introduction to Vernacular Culture in America: Society, Region and Tradition" and "The Medical Carnivalesque: Folklore Among Physicians." The Botkin Lecture series is part of American Folklife Center's ongoing public programming, highlighting the fields of folklife, ethnomusicology, oral history and related disciplines; foregrounding its archival holdings; and fulfilling its congressionally mandated mission.

For transcript and more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11717Show More

The 4 B's: Beethoven, Brahms and Bach-Busoni

David Plylar speaks about various ways to approach listening to the [...]

Early American Almanacs

In the American Colonies, pocket sized almanacs outsold all other [...]

The Goddard Declaration of Independence

In January of 1777, after evacuating Philadelphia for Baltimore, the [...]

James Monroe as Diplomat and Scholar

Decades prior to becoming our nation's fifth President, James Monroe [...]

Two 19th Century Board Games

What does it mean to win the game of life? Children's board games [...]

The Aztecs in Their Own Words

What did the Aztecs say about themselves when they were speaking their [...]

Conversation with Tania León

Claudia Morales sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban American [...]

Conversation with Brigitta Muntendorf and Ning Yu

Composer Brigitta Muntendorf and pianist Ning Yu speak with David [...]

Poet Laureate Closing Event with Ada Limón

To conclude her historic two-term, three-year appointment as U.S. Poet [...]

Law Day 2025: Constitutions, Unity and the Rule of Law

This panel discussion explores how law, specifically [...]

Unveiling the Secret War in Laos with US Allied Lao and CIA Veterans

Veterans from the "secret war" in Laos recalled their experiences [...]

Exploring Map Surrounds: Drawing Identity

Philip Lee Phillips Society fellow Chet Van Duzer discussed [...]

Exploring Map Surrounds: Sights on Spice

Art historian Juliet Wiersema and preservation specialist Meghan Hill [...]

Del Sol Pop Up at Lincoln Memorial

As part of its 2025 engagement at the Library of Congress, the Del Sol [...]

Discover Gilded Age Treasures in the Richard Hunt Collection

Author Sam Watters offers an introduction of the Hunt Collection at [...]

Conversation with Boots Lupenui

Led by Boots Lupenui, The Kohala Mountain Boys are committed to [...]

Moroccan-Jewish Musical Memory at Library of Congress (and Beyond):The Abraham Pinto Collection

On October 5, 1968, Abraham Pinto, a businessman from New York City [...]

Thank you, from the 14th Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden

In a video recorded earlier this week, 14th Librarian of Congress [...]

Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 1)

The first of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the [...]

Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 3)

The third of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the [...]

Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 4)

The fourth of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the [...]

Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 2)

The second of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the [...]

Conversation with the String Queens

Claudia Morales sits down with the String Queens for a conversation [...]

Porgy and Bess 90th Anniversary Discussion

The Library of Congress and Washington National Opera celebrate the [...]

Federal Public Service Recognition Week: Paul Frank

For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, [...]

Federal Public Service Recognition Week: Trey Robertson

For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, Trey [...]

Federal Public Service Recognition Week: Zhi Huang

For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, Zhi [...]

Del Sol String Quartet and Tania León: Preconcert Conversation

Claudia Morales, with the Music Division, sits down with Cuban [...]

Conversation with Anthony Braxton

Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and "professional student of music" [...]

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