National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

The Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) announced three days of events in honor of British producer David Lewiston. A pioneering composer, Lewiston is responsible for some of the most must influential field recordings of the second half of the 20th century, including the groundbreaking Nonesuch Explorer series. Lewiston, now 76 and living in Hawaii, will make a rare public appearance at the RMA events, scheduled for May 10th-13th

On Wednesday, May 10th, the RMA will host a panel discussion of Lewiston's four decade-long career. The panel will include Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo, Washington Post music critic Timothy Page, producer Joe Boyd and Lewiston himself. On Friday, May 12th, there will be a special live concert of Tibetan Music, followed by a music workshop on Sunday, May 12th. Both of these events will focus on Lewiston's work with Tibetan Buddhist ritual music.

David Lewiston first made his mark in the 1960s, when his adventurous ear and indefatigable globe-trotting provided the raw material for the legendary Nonesuch Explorer series: the first commercial series to offer field recordings, in context, to a non-academic audience. In collaboration with Teresa Sterne and Peter Seigel, Lewiston's work on the Explorer series helped introduce authentic traditional music from around the world to general audiences that had previously only experienced these sounds as exotica and kitsch. His recordings from Bali and other parts of Indonesia were especially popular with nascent FM and freeform radio in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Today, Lewiston is primarily engaged in organizing and protecting his legacy of music from Indonesia, Asia, North Africa, and Central and South America. In 2005, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded him a grant to begin conservation of the recordings in the Lewiston Archive. Lewiston is also readying several recordings under the auspices of the Honolulu-based National Organization for Traditional Arts Exchange. In recent decades Lewiston's work has also focused increasingly on Tibetan and Himalayan music.

The Rubin Museum of Art is the premier collection of Himalayan art in the Western world. The museum was established in New York in 2004 as a showcase for the private collection of Donald and Shelly Rubin, and as a cultural and educational institution dedicated to the art of the Himalayas. The Museum is located at 150 West 17th Street – the former address of another influential New York institution: Barney's New York.

For more information on David Lewiston programs and other events at the Rubin Museum, please consult the RMA website.