AMS NEWSLETTER THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY CONSTITUENT MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES VOLUME XLII, NUMBER 2 August 2012 ISSN 0402-012X “Way down Yonder whose gumbo consists of Na- tive Americans, eighteenth- in New Orleans…” century French and Spanish colonists, immigrants from the AMS New Orleans 2012 northern U.S. and the Canary 1–4 November Islands, slaves and free people www.ams-net.org/neworleans of color, and many more. It boasted an opera house before The AMS returns to the Crescent City after New York did, and touring a twenty-five-year absence, and in true New musicians performed there in Orleans fashion, this time we’re inviting our the nineteenth century. More sister societies to the party. We’ll gather on All recently it has become known Saints Day with the Society for Music Theory mostly for jazz, but it is also and the Society for Ethnomusicology at the the birthplace of bounce, and Sheraton and Astor Crowne Plaza hotels on the city abounds with many Canal Street, right across from the French other types of music, from Quarter (Vieux Carré, or simply the Quarter) brass bands to metal. New Or- and a few blocks from the Mississippi. Note leans is also a food-lover’s para- that this means early arrivers will be here for dise, with good restaurants for photo Bureau Visitors & Convention Orleans New Halloween, a major holiday in New Orleans, every taste and budget. Those so book early! Hotel information, along with who wish to go further afield many other useful things, can be found at the conference web site. than the Quarter and nearby New Orleans is, of course, a city of great his- Central Business District may torical importance, founded nearly three cen- want to explore the Uptown turies ago and still an active port at the mouth area, from the Magazine Street of the Mississippi. It is a cultural melting pot shops and restaurants to Riv- erbend (accessible on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line), In This Issue… where some natives’ favorite President’s Message ...............2 restaurants are. St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans Changing the Object Statement .....4 Southern Louisiana has shtml). Awards, Prizes, Honors ............6 largely recovered from the traumas of the Others may come early simply to play tour- News from the AMS Board ........8 levee breaches following Hurricane Katrina ist: visit the Ogden Museum of Southern AMS Public Lectures..............9 and the BP oil spill, though there are areas Art (www.ogdenmuseum.org), the National RILM U.S. Interview ............10 still in need of work. Pre-conference volun- World War II Museum (www.nationalww- New Orleans Program Selection .... 11 teerism has become a part of life in New Or- 2museum.org), the River Road plantations, New Orleans Performances ........ 11 leans since the storm, and anyone interested or simply sit on the levee and watch the river ACLS Annual Meeting 2012 .......12 in a day (or more!) of service can contact me go by. A wide range of activities can be found New Orleans Preliminary Program ..13 ([email protected]) for assistance. Some at the meeting web site. A Friday evening AMS Pittsburgh 2013 ............ 26 may want to come early for the AMS Eco- Riverboat Cruise with dining and live music Committee News ...............28 criticism Study Group pre-conference “Eco- is also slated. We’re also hoping to set up a Study Group News ..............29 musicologies 2012,” to be held 30–31 October special visit to the New Orleans Museum of News Briefs ...................30 (see p. 29), the New Beethoven Research pre- Art (www.noma.org), which owns Maerten Internet Resources News ..........31 conference 31 October–1 November (music. van Heemskerck’s Apollo and the Muses, the Conferences, CFPs ..............31 ua.edu/departments/ musicology/beethoven- subject of a memorable presidential address Grants, Fellowships ..............32 research-conference/), or the SEM pre-con- by H. Colin Slim at the Oakland meeting in Legacy Gifts ...................33 ference “Crisis and Creativity,” 31 October 1990. Obituaries ....................34 (www.indiana.edu/~semhome/2012/special. continued on page President’s Message: Retreat to Move Forward I’m happy to report that the AMS Board 1. Enhanced JAMS. In an age in which area for music scholars could incorporate retreat in New Orleans last March was very digitized print, image, and sound are taken much of the content of our current web site, productive, and that we reached strong con- for granted, our Journal should contain music although we hope to add several important sensus about the way forward for the Society. to listen to as well as words to read and scores features. A particularly exciting idea that we In certain ways, the retreat unfolded in text- and pictures to view. As we develop efficient want to pursue is to develop a wiki-like data- book fashion. We considered where the Soci- ways to incorporate audio and other media base, “Sources in Music,” containing primary ety currently stands, we “looked inward” to files into JAMS, we hope that contributors and secondary sources, with links for access examine our core activities, and we “looked will routinely include these features. We also online wherever possible, to be augmented outward” to gauge the place of the AMS in envisage that the publication format of the and maintained by AMS members, each con- the world today. This latter activity inspired Journal will eventually shift, as we move from tributing according to his/her expertise. The the working title of the event, “AMS: ‘Going a whole-issue-oriented, three-times-a-year new area for non-specialists might include Public’ in the Twenty-First Century.” publication schedule toward a single-item such resources as: 1) user-friendly digests of Still, this was definitely not your grand- culture. Once an article, review, or collo- key articles in JAMS and other musicologi- parents’ retreat. In a first for the Society, the quy has been edited, we believe that read- cal journals touching on matters of general Board invited guests to join us, some of whom ers should be able to access it immediately, interest (e.g., Patrick War field’s 2011 JAMS participated in person, others electronically. without having to wait for the publication of article on Sousa’s marches); 2) commentaries The former included past presidents Jane A. the entire issue of JAMS. Although the print by AMS members on current topics relating Bernstein and J. Peter Burkholder and past issue will still be sent to every member of the to music (e.g., the score of the Oscar-winning JAMS editors Joseph Auner and Don M. Society three times a year for the foreseeable filmThe Artist); 3) strategically planned short Randel. Our ten “virtual” colleagues, hailing future, it seems inevitable that alternative de- videos of members discussing their research from locales spanning eight time zones, took livery modes will come into play as well. (several of which are already published); 4) A part in our discussions via Skype. 2. The AMS Council. Currently, the Coun- “speakers bureau” system that permits orga- While “looking inward,” we asked our- cil effectively elects itself, that is, a commit- nizations to identify and hire lecturers (AMS selves several questions. How can the AMS tee of three members of this body proposes members) based on location and/or topic; strengthen its mission and activities? How a slate of candidates, who are then vetted by 5) prominent links to members’ writings on can we collaborate better with other orga- the Board and voted on by the Council. We music intended for general audiences; 6) lec- nizations? Here, colleagues from our sis- sense that the time has come to re-imagine tures by members on great composers/themes ter societies served as interlocutors: Joseph in music history. Straus (representing the Society for Music 2. Committee on Internet Technology. In Theory), Judy Tsou (Society for American Not your grandparents’ retreat order to help the AMS realize these proposals Music), Steve Waksman (International As- and stay abreast of technology that can assist sociation for the Study of Popular Music-US both how the Council might be constituted the Society, we are developing a charge for a Program Committee), and Deborah Wong (possibly with the final slate voted on by the standing committee on internet technology (Society for Ethnomusicology). In “looking entire membership), and by whom its meet- as a means for outreach. outward,” we consulted first with publishers ings should be chaired. We have asked the 3. Tagline and Logo. A scholarly society Vicki Cooper (Cambridge University Press) Council to ponder these questions and make hoping to resonate in the public sphere needs and Maribeth Payne (W. W. Norton), who recommendations to the Board. ways to express its unique identity, brand, pointed to trends in scholarly publishing Our plans for outreach and for raising and quality clearly and succinctly. A tagline and strategies for cultivating new audiences. the public profile of the AMScenter on and logo can assist in this effort, and the Steven C. Wheatley, Vice President of the how the Society can position itself to serve Board is working to create these tools for the American Council of Learned Societies, then as a prominent voice in American cultural Society. underscored the many challenges confront- life. In our discussions, we noted that music These and other ideas emanating from the ing scholarly societies. Finally, our own Mi- is something that almost every human being retreat will, we believe, enrich our activities chael Cuthbert and Craig Wright, along with enjoys. How does our work as musicologists and position the AMS strategically to com- Michael Keller (Stanford University Librar- relate to the public at large? Who might like municate effectively with all our constituen- ian and Director of Academic Information to hear from us, and what might they wish cies, present and future.