In 2000, in my first semester in the US, my exacting editing skills resulted in my first significant professional engagement as editorial assistant for the music section of the Encyclopedia of Appalachia, which was being compiled by the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University, where I had come to participate in the bluegrass program.
Next year, I was promoted to Assistant Editor. In addition to editing all the 178 entries for the music section and hundreds others, significantly rewriting many, I also contributed 13 entries extending across various sections.
Most of my career in American vernacular music has flown from this early opportunity, as amply evidenced across this portfolio. The photo on the left comes from a poster for a talk I presented at the Appalachian Teachers' Network Conference at Radford University, VA, in 2005.
My work in Appalachian music has attempted to bust rube stereotypes of the region--among my entries were those on Opera and Jazz (see below).
Next year, I was promoted to Assistant Editor. In addition to editing all the 178 entries for the music section and hundreds others, significantly rewriting many, I also contributed 13 entries extending across various sections.
Most of my career in American vernacular music has flown from this early opportunity, as amply evidenced across this portfolio. The photo on the left comes from a poster for a talk I presented at the Appalachian Teachers' Network Conference at Radford University, VA, in 2005.
My work in Appalachian music has attempted to bust rube stereotypes of the region--among my entries were those on Opera and Jazz (see below).
Photo: Poster for 2005 Appalachian Teachers' Network Conference at Radford University, VA.
Original self-portrait: Ajay Kalra, Toshiba camera with remote control.
Original self-portrait: Ajay Kalra, Toshiba camera with remote control.