AMS Newsletter February 2008

A M S EWSLETTERN T H E A MERICAN M USICOLOGICAL S OCIETY CONSTITUENT MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES VOLUME XXXVIII, NUMBER 1 February, ISSN 0402-012X AMS/SMT Nashville NEH / OPUS COUNTDOWN 2008: Musicology in End-of-year figures for the OPUS campaign The Box Score Music City USA suggest that we are within about $, of having met the challenge of the National Date Donors k k www.ams-net.org/nashville Endowment for the Humanities: that is, / / ,, we have raised nearly percent of the tar- // ,, , The American Musicological Society and So- get $,. Loud, frequent, and heartfelt / / ,, , ciety for Music Theory will hold their thanks to all who have stepped forward with national meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, their gifts. Certified eligible for NEH: , “Music City USA.” Home to honky-tonks, to This strong response to appeals made at the Still needed for full certification: the historic Ryman Auditorium, to the Coun- annual meeting and in individual solicitations $330,000 try Music Hall of Fame, and to the newly in November and December suggests fered a spectrum of diversions that included opened Schermerhorn Symphony Center, one central task of the OPUS project may lute songs, Lieder, ragtime, a visit from Leoš Nashville regularly serves as a tourist haven soon be done—allowing the campaign committee to focus on the big windup in . Janáček, and a never-to-be-forgotten commu- for the acoustically interested. Visitors might nity rendition of “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.” want to two-step at the Wildhorse Saloon, That such news coincides with inaugural awards from the M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet and “Not your grandpa’s AMS,” Peter Burkholder to experience music in the round by aspiring was heard to remark. singer-songwriters at the Bluebird Café, to Harold Powers endowments—and imminent subventions from the Claire and Barry Brook, Also in Quebec City, the Board of Directors catch a show and a meal at B. B. King’s Blues approved renaming the Cultural Diversity Club, to listen to Bluegrass at the Station Inn, Margarita Hanson, and Martin Picker endowments—is cause for real satisfaction. So, Travel Fund to honor the memory of Eileen or to attend a concert of the Grammy-nomi- too, is the knowledge that there have already Southern ( – ), author of TheMusic of nated Nashville Symphony. been AMS Fellows, nine Howard Brown Black Americans ( ), and a beloved mem- The joint meeting will take place – No- Fellows, six Janet Levy laureates, and nine ber of the American Musicological Society. vember at the Nashville Renaissance Eugene Wolf laureates. The capital campaign Just short of two years remain in the OPUS Hotel and Nashville Convention Center. is driven in part by the notion of enhancing Campaign. The goal is, between now and Situated in downtown Nashville, the hotel opportunities for music scholars across the then, to double the total number of donors is within walking distance of dozens of res- board: something for everyone. If your strong continued on page taurants and clubs. Travel should be relatively support of the cam- easy to arrange; the Nashville International paign continues for Airport (BNA) is served by all major carriers, a few more months, we’ll complete the continued on page NEH match and at- tain the next plateau: the first-book subven- In This Issue… tions called AMS 75 President’s message . Publication Awards for AMS / Library of Congress Lecture . Younger Scholars. Treasurer’s Report . “Something for Ev- Exectutive Director’s report . eryone” might well News from the AMS Board . have been the theme News Briefs . of the Friday evening Awards, Prizes, Honors . cabaret at the Mu- sée des Beaux Arts in AMS Elections . Quebec City, where Committee News . Victor Coelho and his Study Group News . posse (Joshua Rifkin Papers read at Chapter Meetings . to Angela Mariani Obituaries . and Chris Smith) of- Angela Mariani and Victor Coelho at the OPUS Cabaret –– President’s Message C’était un congrès absolument formidable! It that either bore fruit at this meeting or will they enter the job market and proceed to ten- was a great meeting! Such was the comment I do so later. Many of you know that the Board ure. heard from a number of you both in Quebec established a pilot program this year that al- Finally, an event that was special for every- City and on the way home—and that despite lowed graduate students reading papers at the one was the seventy-third Business Meeting the difficult travel arrangements and poor ex- Annual Meeting to be supported by Travel and Awards Presentation on Saturday after- change rate. It was a reminder that each Annu- Grants from the Committee on Membership noon. It was an opportunity for the Society to al Meeting has a special character and attrac- and Professional Development. This created a take stock of where it stands and to recognize tion of its own: last year the glitz and glamour substantial amount of extra work for Richard the wonderful work being done by its mem- of Los Angeles, this year the old-world charm Freedman and the members of the Commit- bers. One of its early high points was Treasurer and wonderful restaurants of Quebec City. tee, but they handled it beautifully. Thanks to Jim Ladewig’s exhilarating report that our en- Indeed, this meeting could well be charac- their work and the success of the pilot pro- dowment accounts performed better this past terized as having been one of haute cuisine, gram itself, I am pleased to report that this year than ever before. In these difficult times, both culinary and scholarly. And being able program will be continued. it was good to be reassured that the Society is to hear a group of our colleagues performing Another initiative taken by the Board, this on a firm financial footing. A reminder that it works ranging from “In der Nacht” to “All My time through its Committee on Communi- is also on a firm scholarly footing was the con- Ex’s Live in Texas” at the Friday-night caba- cations, was to establish a lecture series on ferring of Honorary Membership upon Re- ret was confirmation, if ever one were needed, American music at the Library of Congress becca Baltzer and James Webster, and Corre- that music-making of every stripe is alive and that will be jointly sponsored by the Society sponding Membership upon Bathia Churgin flourishing in the AMS! and the Library. Judith Tick will inaugurate and Friedhelm Krummacher—four scholars The Program Committee, chaired by Tom the series on March with a lecture entitled whose distinguished work can serve as a mod- Riis, had put together a group of sessions with “Ruth Crawford Seeger, Modernist Composer el promoting “the advancement of research an even broader span than that which we ex- in the Folk Revival: Biography as Music His- in the various fields of music as a branch of perienced at the cabaret, with chronological tory” (see p. for further details). Current learning and scholarship.” Congratulations and geographical boundaries extending from plans call for two lectures per year in this new and best wishes to all of them! medieval Europe to the musical world of to- series—an exciting development indeed. Theend of the Business Meeting and Awards day; the Performance Committee, chaired by In addition to the wonderful cabaret, Presentation each year marks the ends of the Bill Mahrt, gave us two wonderful evening “Songs, Dances, and Jams,” held to benefit the terms of officers and members of committees. concerts in addition to the excellent ones we OPUS campaign, I should like to single out Much as I would like to acknowledge and heard at mid-day. Their selection of the con- thank all those members whose terms ended at cert by Pomerium for Saturday evening proved p.m. on November, I must limit myself here to have been prophetic: that concert had as its C’était un congrès to only a few: to Past President Elaine Sisman, focus the article that received the H. Co- absolument formidable! to our hard-working and multi-talented Secre- lin Slim Award at the Business Meeting and tary for the past six years, Rufus Hallmark, to Awards Presentation earlier the same day. two other special events held during the Que- Council Secretary Andrew Dell’Antonio, who With all its rooms on one level, the Que- bec City meeting for mention here. First was a has also done yeoman service as an ex officio bec City Convention Center proved to be a session on “The Future of Scholarly Publishing member of the Board for four years, and to particularly apt site for scholarly sessions and in Music and the Humanities,” jointly spon- outgoing Board members Evan Bonds, Carol concerts, as were the Musée des Beaux Arts sored by the Committee on Career-Related Oja, and Pamela Starr (although Pamela will and the church of Saint-Jean Baptiste for the issues and the Publications Committee, with continue on the Board as the new Secretary of evening performances. For arranging events in Lynne Withey (Director, University of Cali- the Society). All of them deserve our profound venues such as these, and for much else, we fornia Press) as featured speaker. Ms. Withey’s thanks. owe thanks to the Local Arrangements Com- remarks were both sobering and encouraging, Let me close by recalling that I had to con- mittee, which consisted of only three people: and included a call for action by scholarly so- clude my President’s Message a year ago with a Victor Coelho, chair, Bob Judd, and Marie- cieties themselves.

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