The annual meeting of the American Musicological Society will take place at the Riverside Convention Center and the Rochester Riverside and Hyatt Hotels, 9-12 November 2017. Many events and performances will be held at the Eastman School of Music. The Society is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the study of music as a scholarly discipline, and this gathering will bring nearly two thousand scholars, specializing in all types of music from all over the world, to Rochester. The conference includes hundreds of scholarly presentations on music ranging from the twelfth century to Bach and Beethoven to current trends in hip hop and film music.
Included this year is a plenary talk that is open to the public, free of charge: Elaine Sisman, well-known scholar and professor of music at Columbia University, will present a public lecture, “Working Titles, Sticky Notes, Red Threads.” It takes place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday 9 November, at the Hyatt Hotel, Grand Ballroom.
“Rochester’s musical vibrancy – with Eastman at the center – will be a major draw for conference attendees,” according Associate Professor of Musicology Michael Anderson. “Besides the hundreds of talks on countless aspects of musical cultures past and present, members of the AMS are curious about the Eastman mystique. Special performances, demonstrations, and musical tours are among the many activities that put the school’s international prominence in the spotlight of this extraordinary gathering of musicologists.” “The AMS is very excited to visit Rochester and Eastman,” said AMS Executive Director Robert Judd. “Eastman is a true Mecca for musicologists, with an incredibly rich legacy of music scholarship. The Sibley Library alone is worth a week’s time to study. Coupled with Eastman’s amazing performances, it will be a truly exceptional gathering.”
Below is a summary of the Eastman-related events.
Marquee Concerts, sponsored in part by the AMS
Friday, November 9, 8pm. “Sigismund’s Cathedral: Music by Michael Haydn” Perihipsous, Rochester’s new period orchestra; Michael Ruhling, conductor, with guests Christ Church Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy (director); Brian Shaw, trumpet, and Eastman School of Music organ faculty. (Christ Church Rochester).
Saturday, November 10, 7:30pm. Film Screening: A Fool There Was (1915), U.S. Premiere with new score by Philip Carli (PhD ’93); Eastman Museum, Dryden Theatre.
AMS sponsored performances
Friday, November 10, 12:30pm-1:30pm Recital: “Uncovering Two Lost Virtuoso Fantasias by Joseph Joachim” Katharina Uhde (Valparaiso University), violin and R. Larry Todd (Duke University), piano (Howard Hanson Hall)
Friday, November 10, 2pm: Lecture-Recital: “The Proleptic Cosmonaut: Toward Reconstructing Scriabin’s Music, Mysticism, and Russian Identity” Becky Lu (Cornell University), piano (Hatch Recital Hall)
Saturday, November 11, 12:30pm: Workshop-Demonstration: “Improvised Polyphony by Civic Wind Bands in Court” Forgotten Clefs: A Renaissance Wind Band (Kilbourn Hall)
Saturday, November 11, 2pm: “Singen und Sagen: Praetorius’s Polyhymnia Caduceatrix et Panegyrica”: A Concert for Hope in a Time of War (Christ Church Rochester)
Pre conferences
“Instruments of Music Theory,” November 8-9 (Hatch Recital Hall)
“New Beethoven Research Conference,” November 8-9 (Ciminelli Lounge)
Other Concerts
Thursday, November 9, 8pm. Musica Nova. Music of Xenakis, Ligeti, and Gander. Brad Lubman, Mark Powell, and Edo Frekel, conductors. (Kilbourn Hall)
Friday, November 10, 8pm Eastman Philharmonia. Music of Elgar and Brahms. (Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre)
Special Events
Thursday, November 9, 12:00pm, Open House: Sibley Library and Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections, Daniel Zager and David Peter Coppen.
Saturday, November 11, 9am-12pm. Organ “Whistle Stop” tour, Tour by shuttle bus of must-see organs in Rochester. Organizer: Eastman professor David Higgs.
Saturday, November 11, 4pm Gamelan Demonstration: “Gambol on the Gamelan: An Interactive Demonstration with Eastman’s Balinese Gamelan Sanji Wani.” Led by retired Eastman professor Ellen Koskoff. (Gamelan Room, basement of Eastman Theatre)
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About the American Musicological Society:
Founded in 1934, the American Musicological Society is the world’s largest association of scholars of musicology. Its 3,000 members teach and research at over 1,500 colleges, universities and colleges worldwide. The AMS is hosted at New York University, New York, New York.
In its eighty-third annual gathering, the Rochester meeting of the AMS will draw nearly 2,000 people interested in musicology over a four-day period: 9-12 November 2017.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division– about 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 per cent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Seven Pulitzer Prize winners have taught at Eastman, as have several Grammy Award winners. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 700 concerts to the Rochester community.