Winthrop University Digital Commons @ Winthrop University Dacus Library Faculty Publications Ida Jane Dacus Library 8-2018 Spiro J. Shetuni: Life & Work Spiro J. Shetuni Winthrop University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/dacus_facpub Digital Commons Citation Shetuni, Spiro J., "Spiro J. Shetuni: Life & Work" (2018). Dacus Library Faculty Publications. 79. https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/dacus_facpub/79 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Ida Jane Dacus Library at Digital Commons @ Winthrop University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dacus Library Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Winthrop University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SPIRO J. SHETUNI “A consummate scholar, Shetuni is perhaps the West’s foremost authority on the subject of Albanian music. His groundbreaking work on this subject has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. It is perhaps the most serious work being done in such a field in the USA, and, quite possibly, in the world.” – Dr. Mark Y. Herring Citizenship: American Nationality: Arumanian Occupation: scholar, pedagogue, ethomusicologist, musicologist, & academic librarian Parents: George S. Shetuni & Barbara J. Shetuni (Samarai) Spouse: Lulieta J. Shetuni (Kokalari) (m. 1981-) Children: Brandon B. Shetuni & George I. Shetuni SPIRO J. SHETUNI (1949 -) • Shetuni: A General Characterization • Shetuni: Life • Shetuni: Education • Shetuni: Academic Experience • Shetuni: Activity—Fundamental Aspects • Shetuni: Activity—A Short Analysis • Shetuni: National and International Conferences—Academic Papers • Shetuni: National and International Institutions—Academic Papers • Shetuni: Membership in Professional Societies • Shetuni: Honors and Awards • Shetuni: Critique of Works • Shetuni: Quotes about Works • Shetuni: Personal Life • Shetuni: Encyclopedic Sources 1 SHETUNI: A GENERAL CHARACTERIZATION Spiro J. Shetuni (1949-) is a professor and academic librarian at Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA. An Albanian-American scholar, pedagogue, ethnomusicologist, and musicologist of Arumanian nationality. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the field of music. Author of academic books, studies, and articles on Albanian traditional and professional music. Among newspapers, magazines, journals, and scientific collections, in and out of the country, in Albanian and in international languages--English, German, and French--, in which Shetuni has published, let us mention: • newspapers: i) Light; ii) Voice of the People; iii) Voice of the Youth, etc; • magazines: i) Scenes and Screens; ii) Star, etc . • journals: i) Culture Populaire Albanaise; ii) Less Letters Albanaises; iii) Popular Culture; iv) November, etc. • collections: i) Ballads and Boundaries: Narrative Singing in an Intercultural Context; ii) Problems of the Development of Contemporary Folklore; iii) Problems of the Volksmusikforschung: Bericht uber Folk Musik; iv) Questions of Albanian Folklore; v) Upper Shpat: Observations on Popular Culture, etc. Lecturer in scientific national and international meetings, symposia, conferences, and congresses, related to ethnomusicology and musicology. Speaker on the Albanian traditional and professional music through radio and television broadcasts. Visiting scholar in three important scientific-research institutions, such as: • Austrian Audiovisual Research Archive—Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna, Austria, 1988) • Institute of Ethnography and Folklore—Rumanian Acadamy of Sciences (Bucharest, Rumania, 1992) • Department of Ethnomusicology and Systematic Musicology—University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California, 1992-3) Member of a number of national and international organizations in the field of music. Winner of various national and international prizes. Chair of Ethnomusicology Department—Albania's Academy of Sciences, Institute of Popular Culture (Tirana, Albania, 1988-92). 2 Co-founder of the Cultural Association of Arumanians of Albania (Tirana, Albania, 1992). Professor of Ethnomusicology / Musicology at several American Universities. Winner of three academic ranks: • Assistant Professor (2000) • Associate Professor (2007) • Professor (2015) SHETUNI: LIFE Spiro J. Shetuni is the son of George S. Shetuni (1923-1986) and Barbara J. Shetuni (Samarai) (1926-2011). He had a brother: Dhimo (1947-2005), and a sister: Marie (1951-2006). Shetuni was born in the mountainous area of Shpat, in the region called Buffalo’s Neck (Albania). (This place is in the south-east of the city of Elbasan, Albania.) On the morning of May 16, 1949, the Shetuni Arumanian family, along with a number of other Arumanian families of the same community, left with their livestock from the highlands of the Shpat area. Being on a journey, during the coming few days and weeks, the parents could not find a civil registry office to register him. They managed to register him only three months later at the Civil Registry Office of the village of Rabije (Librazhd, Albania). Thus, officially, his date of birth remained August 16, 1949, while his birthplace— Rabije (Librazhd, Albania). The basic feature of Shetuni's childhood, as a typical childhood of an Arumanian shepherd, was precisely the constant migration: to the fields and mountains, during each season of the year. Because the Arumanian families were always on the move, up to the year 1958, his lifestyle, as well as of other Arumanian children, was dramatically SHETUNI FAMILY difficult from every standpoint. Within nine years of Shetuni's childhood (1949-58), the Shetuni Arumanian The village of Kakoz (Gjirokastra, family moved with all of their livestock to places that were Albania), 1956 neither villages nor inhabited centers, but were mostly pastures- -summer or winter--as the case may be. The migratory life ended in 1958, when the Shetuni Arumanian family along with a number of other Arumanian families, finally settled in the place where the future village, “Andon Poçi” (Gjirokastra, Albania) would be built. 3 Shetuni attended the primary school in the village of “Andon Poçi” (Gjirokastra, Albania) (1956- 60). Subsequently, he continued his education at the junior high school “Nane Panajot Meksi,” in the village of Little Labova (Gjirokastra, Albania) (1960-3). He did his secondary education at the High School of Culture (Tirana, Albania) (1963-7). Later, he took undergraduate studies at the former Higher Institute of Arts of Albania (today the University of Arts), in the branch of music theory (1970-4). He earned the Bachelor of Arts degree with an ethnomusicological study titled Arumanians of the Village of “Andon Poçi:” Musical culture. After graduating from the High School of Culture, Shetuni worked as a music teacher at the “29 November” Junior High School (Gjirokastra, Albania) (1967-8). After completing his studies at the former Higher Institute of Arts of Albania (today the University of Arts), he was appointed as a Pedagogue of the subject matter Albanian Traditional Music: An Introduction, at the same institution (1974-5). For purely political reasons, unfortunately, this appointment was abolished after one year! Politically persecuted, Shetuni was sent to work away from his specialty, as a Cultural Organizer in the Sinanaj village of the remote ethnographic zone of Lopës (Tepelenë, Albania) (1975-8). A zealous ethnomusicologist, inspired by SHETUNI SPEAKING AT THE 1ST NATIONAL his role model in life, the great Hungarian composer, CONFERENCE OF THE CULTURAL ethnomusicologist, and pianist, Béla Bartók (1881- ASSOCIATION OF ARUMANIANS OF ALBANIA. 1945), here he did extensive systematic research on Former Higher Institute of Arts of Albania (today the history, the University of Arts) (Tirana, Albania), April 5, life, and 1992 culture of the inhabitants of the province of Labëria in general as well as on their traditional music in particular. He began working as a Conductor of Labor Centers at the Cultural House “Mustafa Matohiti” in the city of Tepelena (Albania) (1978-81). On the recommendation of Prof. Dr. Alfred M. Uçi (1931-2016), he was appointed as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Popular Culture of the Academy of Sciences of Albania (1981-92). He received the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in the field of music with the academic book titled Lab Polyphony (1988). In 1992, as a Fulbright scholar, Shetuni left Albania to live in the United States. He, initially, did research on the urban traditional music of Albania at the University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California, USA) (1992-3). Later, for many years, he taught two SHETUNI WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE music courses at the Ohio State University (Columbus, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: RONALD REAGAN (1911-2004). Ohio, USA), as follows: i) The Art of Music: An Introduction; ii) Worlds of Music: An Introduction to University of California Los Angeles (Los the Music of the World’s Peoples (1993-2000). In the Angeles, California, USA), March 5, 1993 4 years following, he worked at three major American universities: Prairie View A&M University of Texas (Prairie View, Texas, USA) (2000-1); University of Miami (Coral Gables, Florida, USA) (2001-6); Winthrop University (Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA) (2007-). Having as the main object of his scientific-research activity the traditional and professional Albanian music, as well as the history, life, and culture of the Arumanian people, Shetuni has stated that he survived