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Press Release

Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2012
Media Contact: Laurie Townsend | 604-822-9161

see pdf here

Second International Conference On
Analytical Approaches to World Music 2012
May 11 - 13, 2012 at the University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC ~ The University of British Columbia School of Music is hosting a gathering of many of the world’s foremost scholars of ethnomusicology and music theory this May, in Vancouver. The goal of this conference is to better understand the diverse music of the world by combining ethnomusicologists’ insight into culture and society with theorists’ close scrutiny of musical materials. Two eminent keynote lecturers will offer their perspectives on this research: Robert Morris, from the Eastman School of Music, and Stephen Blum, from the CUNY Graduate Centre. Morris, a composer and theorist at the Eastman School of Music, will bring to bear his lifelong engagement with Indian music in a lecture titled “Into the Raga”. Blum’s research includes the musical practices of Iran, Kurdistan, Central Asia, Europe, and North America. He will speak on “Uses (and abuses) of metaphor in music-making and music analysis”.

The conference has invited other speakers from Canada, USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and Abu Dhabi. Professors from the UBC School of Music Michael Tenzer and John Roeder are in charge of local arrangements.

Overview – Music can be studied many ways, to understand its role in human society and history, and to understand what it’s made of and how it works. Scholars have often worked on these approaches separately, but there is an emerging trend to combine and reconcile insights from across musical disciplines. This is the second of a series of biannual conferences devoted to an integration of analytical approaches to world music, which aims both to enrich our understanding of particular pieces of music, and to help make comparisons between musics of different cultures.

Among the topics of discussion will be:
    The Nature of Sound and Musical Experience
    Rhythm and Meter: From the Balkans to the United States
    Tuning and Microtonality: Past and Present
    Aboriginal Australian Song
    Theory, Practice, and Ritual
    Rhythm and Meter: Africa

Special Discussion Panel on Comparative Analysis
    Steven Brown (McMaster University)
    Nathalie Fernando (University of Montreal)
    Victor Grauer (Pittsburgh, PA)
    Respondent: Gage Averill (Dean of Arts, UBC)

Performances (open to the public)
    Gamelan Gita Asmara
    South Indian Classical Music: Vidyasagar Vankayala, Prabha Sivaratnam and Curtis Andrews
    The Dance and Music of Guinea: NtNato Camara, Alseny “Michel” Diallo, Mohamed Duranteau
    Performance of Rapport by Robert Morris for computer music system and prerecorded world music

Dates:        May 11 – 13, 2012
Venues:     Roy Barnett Recital Hall, Music Building, 6361 Memorial Road, UBC
                  Old Auditorium, 6344 Memorial Road, UBC

For conference registration and information please visit the Conference Wesbsite: www.AAWMConference.com

The conference is presented by the UBC School of Music with support from the UBC Faculty of Arts and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Press Release

Second International Conference On Analytical Approaches to World Music 2012 May 11 - 13, 2012 at the University of British Columbia

UBC Music Press

Second International Conference On
Analytical Approaches to World Music 2012
May 11 - 13, 2012 at the University of British Columbia