Cultural Circuits in Southeast Europe: Kori “Lira” of Korça, Albania (Research Brief)

This research ended up going in several different directions. I conducted archival research on the early transnational connections of the musical group Kori Lira, using this group as a case study to investigate more general issues of musical change and exchange in Albania during its Rilindja Kombëtare (National Renaissance) period [1880-1912] and post-independence period [1912-1939]. I also interviewed members of the present group, and this research touched on post-1992 issues of musical change, the privatization in part of Albania’s socialist cultural institutions, changing social and cultural attitudes and the role of nostalgia in contemporary Albania.

This research also provided an opportunity to begin critically reviewing and researching Albania’s cultural policies between 1945 and 1991. As a corollary to Kori Lira’s repertoire, I began researching the genre of song serenata, a repertoire closely related historically and musically to the group’s repertoire of këngë karakteristike korçare.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

Nicholas Tochka, of the State University of New York-Stony Brook, was a 2007-08 Individual Advanced Research Opportunities (IARO) fellow