Albanian Iso-Polyphony music as Intangible Cultural Heritage

This is not specifically related to Korea, but following up on the earlier discussion of intangible cultural properties that Korea has spearheaded the project to save, it turns out that Albania has a new project safeguarding theirs, all funded by Uncle Sam. I just received this announcement:

US Ambassador Ries and Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Sports Bujar Leskaj signed a grant that awards $24,000 to the Albanian Music Council to produce an Encyclopedia of the Albanian Iso-Polyphony music, prepared by Prof. Dr. Vasil S. TOLE. Iso-Polyphony is an exceptionally beautiful and uniquely Albanian musical form that is a UNESCO-approved Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The encyclopedia, which will be published in English and Albanian, will be the first comprehensive reference source of Iso-Polyphonic music. The Encyclopedia will be a valuable resource for foreign musicians, ethnomusicologists, and other scholars interested in Albania's musical heritage. The project is made possible through the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation Program, created by the U.S. Congress in 2001. Albania is one of the eligible countries and this year it joins 76 other recipient countries and 87 projects that total over $3 million worldwide
The webpage for the music is here. It is in Albanian, but if you click around you can hear some of the music. Good stuff.

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