In his 1999 book Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture, Philip Auslander deconstructed the binary of live vs. mediatised musicking. As we emerge from the Covid-inflicted doldrums, it seems appropriate to re-examine the concept of liveness in the creative arts, in music in all its forms, and of the NZ Musicological Society itself. Has the mediatisation of Zoom and other synchronous platforms changed our relationship to both live and recorded performance? What does liveness mean now in a pedagogical context? Topics related to the conference theme might include:
The various ways in which musical works and practices can be enlivened.
The role of live performance in music-making.
How musicology brings new life to the past: including past performances and past art-works.
The pedagogy of music in the live synchronous space.
A consideration of old theories and writings as dynamic, live texts (as opposed to dusty historical documents).
Studies—such as performance studies, embodiment studies and phenomenology—that explore how things and events are made to feel live.
Live recordings as opposed to studio recordings, live performances as opposed to recorded performances.
Abstracts for papers will be considered on all aspects of music studies (not limited to the conference theme), including music history, music theory and analysis, ethnomusicology, composition, performance, popular music studies, sound studies, music technology and production, and music education. In addition, we welcome abstracts from other academic disciplines where there is a music focus.
Conference presentations may take the following forms:
Formal conference papers (20 minutes, plus 10 minutes for questions and discussion)
Interactive workshops (30 minutes)
Lecture recitals and demonstrations (20 minutes, plus 10 minutes for questions and discussion)
Panel sessions (90 minutes, up to three participants)
Keynote speaker Emeritus Professor John Drummond (Otago) formerly the Blair Professor of Music from 1976 - 2014. Programme committee Peter Adams (University of Otago), Chair Allan Badley (University of Auckland) Nick Braae (Waikato Institute of Technology) Gregory Camp (University of Auckland) Sunhee Koo (University of Auckland) Nancy November (University of Auckland) Hamish Robb (Victoria University of Wellington) Polly Sussex (Independent Scholar, Auckland) Francis Yapp (University of Canterbury)
Proposal submissions Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent in PDF format to peter.adams@otago.ac.nz Proposals for panel sessions should include abstracts for individual papers (where applicable) as well as a proposal for the overall session.
The submitted file should have a filename as follows: LASTNAME_first_few_words_of_title.pdf
You should include a title and up to five keywords beneath your abstract. As abstracts will be screened anonymously by the selection committee, please omit your name from the text of your document. In the body of the email, you should include your full name, status (academic staff, postgraduate student, independent scholar, etc.) and institutional affiliation where appropriate, and your home town and country.
Details for the student paper competition will be announced shortly.
This year’s conference will be live and in-person.