April 1, 2008
Contact: Emanuel Costache '09
Media Relations Intern
413/542-2321
Caroline Jenkins Hanna
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417

AMHERST, Mass.—On April 12, the annual meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology will take place at Amherst College from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the school’s Fayerweather Hall. Amherst Professor of Music Jeffers Engelhardt and the Five College Ethnomusicologists will host the meeting, which will feature the presentations of the academic papers of various scholars in the field, including University of Massachusetts graduate student Maho Ishiguro and Smith College undergraduate Laila Plamondon. Also scheduled are participatory workshops with the Five College African Drum Ensemble, and shape note singing by Hampshire College professor and Amherst alumnus Tim Eriksen ’88. Those interested in attending the gathering are encouraged to preregister for the day’s events before April 7 online at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/music/necsem/2008_registration.html.

The conference is open to professors and independent scholars for $20, $10 for students and $5 for Five College students with ID. Sessions will kick off in the morning after a brief registration period at 9 a.m. A few of the talks on the agenda and their speakers include:

  • “Development and Survival of Bachata and Merengue,” Ishiguro
  • “Niyaz: Bridging Iran and the Diaspora through Music,” Plamondon
  • “‘It is difficult but we will play it’: An Excerpt from Adjogbo, a Music from Benin,” Faith Conant, director, Five College West African Music Ensembles
  • “Fernando Lopes-Graça, a Portuguese Bartók?” Andreia Pinto-Correia, New England Conservatory

Amherst and the Five Colleges will provide lunch and host a reception for attendees at the end of the day.

The Society for Ethnomusicology promotes the research, study and performance of music in all historical periods and cultural contexts. The activities of the Northeast Chapter are designed to provide a forum for the discussion of current scholarly research and to promote and develop the multitude of traditional art forms found in the communities of the northeast and around the world.

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