TEACHING MUSIC HISTORY DAY 2009:
CRITICAL QUESTIONS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Saturday, September 12, 2009, 8:00 A.M.- 5:00 P.M.
Alexander Music Center, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

www.edinboro.edu/departments/music/ams-tmh-day-2009.dot

The Pedagogy Study Group of the American Musicological Society, the Midwest Chapter of the AMS, and Edinboro University announce the sixth Teaching Music History Day, to be held Saturday, September 12, 2009. Teaching Music History Day is a forum for exchanging ideas on effective teaching, and is open to all who have an interest in teaching music history. We extend a special invitation to those whose primary discipline lies outside of musicology who teach music history, music appreciation, or related courses.

First formal PSG session to be held in Philadelphia

The PSG, Committee on Career-Related Issues, and Philadelphia Orchestra will jointly sponsor a session on the role of musicology in community engagement. Featured panelists include Richard Freedman (Haverford College), Susan Key (San Francisco Symphony), Ayden Adler (Philadelphia Orchestra), James Steichen (Princeton University), Marisa Biaggi (Metropolitan Opera Company), and Michael Mauskapf (University of Michigan).

Abstract:

"Only Connect": The Role of Musicology in Community Engagement

In this panel and discussion session, the AMS Pedagogy Study Group, The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the Committee on Career-Related Issues will juxtapose the engagement of adult audiences with the stated aim of the AMS—to advance "research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship." How can we, as musicologists and teachers, most effectively interact with interested non-professionals, both within the university and without? How can we redefine the role of musicology in relation to these audiences by turning the notion of community "outreach" to a "drawing in"? Considering perspectives in musicology, education, performance, and arts management, panelists will explore ways of engaging general audiences through musicological research, while initiating a dialogue about musicology's potential to encourage audiences to think differently about the repertoire they hear.

Richard Freedman (Haverford College), longtime presenter of pre-concert programs for The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Susan Key, educational director for the San Francisco Symphony's Keeping Score project, will discuss Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, to be performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra on the weekend of the Annual Meeting. While the Fourth Symphony typically attracts audiences with its impassioned emotional drama, scholars usually contest its meaning and significance by addressing the work's programmatic associations, purported autobiographical content, and stylistic references to Beethoven. This perceptual gap between audiences and scholars may be bridged by exploring the music-making process through interaction with musicians, primary sources relating to the composer's biography and culture, and the listener's personal connections to the music via active reflection. Ayden Adler, Director of Education and Community Partnerships at The Philadelphia Orchestra, will similarly discuss inventive forms of engagement derived from her experiences as a performer, musicologist, and educational manager.

James Steichen (Princeton University) and Marisa Biaggi, Creative Content Manager for the Metropolitan Opera Company, will co-present innovative approaches to scholarship and performance on and off campus. Steichen reverses the traditional question of how to bring musicology to the public by asking instead how to bring the public to musicology. His case studies include the University of Chicago's Artspeaks series, which invites artists for a short-term residence of public events and classroom activities, and a recent opera production at Princeton University that occurred in tandem with a scholarly conference. Biaggi, a musicologist working in arts management, will discuss efforts by the New York Metropolitan Opera to reach general audiences, challenging fellow musicologists to look beyond traditional scholarly media and make their work more accessible to the broader public.

Michael Mauskapf (University of Michigan) describes the collaborative efforts of the University Musical Society and Arts Enterprise (both associated with the University of Michigan) in two ventures: the series Who is..., which seeks to demystify the artists who create musical works, and Masterpieces Revealed, which invites a "host" musicologist and graduate student performers to share their passion and knowledge regarding some of history's musical masterworks. Both of these programs combine the live performance experience with innovative interdisciplinary and intergenerational approaches that engage the university community.