Ethnotes Toronto

Coming up this month, Farzaneh Hemmasi (Assistant Professor), Nasim Niknafs (Assistant Professor Music Ed.), and Hamidreza Salehyar (PhD) will be speaking at the conference "Popular Music and Society in Iran: New Directions". See the poster and link below!

Didn’t get to catch the SEM roundtable chaired by Associate Professor Josh Pilzer? No worries! You can watch Josh and Farzaneh Hemmasi (Assistant Professor) in a recording of “Ethnomusicology and Activism in the Age of Trump” at this link.

Ethnomusicology and Activism in the Age of Trump

Chair: Joshua Pilzer, University of Toronto

Joseph Maurer, University of Chicago Elyse Marrero, Florida State University Teresita Lozano, University of Colorado   Matt Sakakeeny, Tulane University Farzaneh Hemmasi, University of Toronto Aaron Fox, Columbia University

2018 Kenneth H. Peacock Lecture Thursday, January 18 at 3:30 PM Edward Johnson Building 130

We are pleased to welcome Professor George E. Lewis (Columbia University) as this year’s Kenneth H. Peacock Lecturer! Read below for more on his talk, “New Music, New Subjects: The Situation of a Creole”.

Assistant Professor Farzaneh Hemmasi has a recently published article in the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies! “‘One Can Veil and Be a Singer!’: Performing Piety on an Iranian Talent Competition” discusses Ermia, a veiled female vocalist competing on Googoosh Music Academy (GMA) and the media controversy that accompanied her participation. Find the article in JMEWS 2017, Volume 13 Issue 3, and read the full abstract below!

The Kensington Market Sound and Music Research Project (KMSMRP) is a research group formed by ethnomusicology students and faculty under the Kensington Market Research Project (KMRP) headed by Dean Joshua Barker and Dr. Emily Hertzman. This research project is part of University of Toronto Anthropology’s Ethnography Lab. Research materials collected will be part of the KMRP’s Kensington Market archive, and the KMSMRP will present their research at the Ethnography Lab on February 22 (more information to follow).

The KMSMRP is headed by Farzaneh Hemmasi (Assist. Professor of Ethnomusicology) and includes current and former graduate students Dennis Lee (MA candidate Ethnomusicology), Greg Wilson (MA candidate Music Technology and Digital Media), Jardena Gertler-Jaffe (MA Ethnomusicology, 2017), Jennie Horton (MA candidate Ethnomusicology), and Ryan Persadie (MA Ethnomusicology, 2017).

Though each researcher is working on individual projects, they explore many common themes and topics—including how Kensington Market, its residents, businesses, and visitors are impacted by larger patterns of development, real estate market shifts, and cultural policy in Toronto; how the neighborhood communities and music scenes situate themselves in relation to conceptions of Kensington Market culture and its history; how businesses in the Market are affected by Toronto’s economic and cultural development policies and how they interact with municipal government; and, investigating Kensington Market as an immigrant neighborhood currently and historically.

The KMSMRP, which began in May 2017, has carried on through the summer and is now manifest as a directed reading course led by Farzaneh Hemmasi. The collaborative nature of the project allows the group to share findings, read and discuss relevant literature, and provide insightful feedback on each other’s work. Through collaborative ethnographic fieldwork, each researcher has developed their own research projects as outlined below.

A quick look into what Yun Emily Wang (PhD year 6) has been up to!

I presented a paper and a roundtable talk at the MusCan/CTSM/IASPM joint meeting in May, presented as part of a special panel on Queer Asian Studies in June at the East Asian Library, and coordinated a call-and-response for the Association for Chinese Music Research's newsletter (which explored the politics of Chineseness of Chinese-Canadians/American musics). I also played "sound guy" for a Taiwanese LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Toronto, newly formed in response to the recent constitution ruling, for the Pride parade.

Here’s a student update from Nadia Younan (PhD year 4)!

I began this summer by jumping into my first fieldwork site abroad. As part of my multi-sited research, which uses Toronto and the GTA as “home base,” I became well acquainted with the Assyrian community in Chicago, Illinois. Some highlights of my trip include crashing a wedding with Assyrian singer Sargon Youkhanna, and making it to the official Instagram page of Assyrian music legend Linda George—both of whom kindly took the time to let me interview them. While in Chicago, I met with the president of the Assyrian American National Federation, who encouraged me to attend the 84th Annual [Assyrian] National Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona. This brought me to my second fieldwork site, albeit for a bit of a shorter trip, at the end of August. While at the convention I was able to network with Assyrians from various places predominantly in the United States, many of whom I am looking forward to seeing in California this fall. By invitation of the event’s educational coordinator, I presented my research as part of the convention’s Educational Program. It was a unique opportunity to be able to have this particular audience and I am most thankful for the enthusiasm of the older gentleman who was sitting in the front row and singing along to my musical examples.

A student update from Dennis Lee (MA year 2) --

I was fortunate to have two opportunities to present at academic conferences this summer. At the IASPM/Canada 150 conference here at the University of Toronto I presented a paper entitled “Pleaides’ Dust: From the Islamic Golden Age to Contemporary Québécois Death Metal,” and at the International Association of Metal Music Studies meeting at the University of Victoria I presented “‘Negeri Seribu Bangsa’: Musical Hybridization in Contemporary Indonesian Death Metal.”

In June I started doing research with the Ethnography Lab as part of their ongoing Kensington Market Project. The lab is run by the U of T Department of Anthropology under the direction of Dr. Joshua Barker and Dr. Emily Hertzman and has recently expanded to include research from the Ethnomusicology department under the guidance of Dr. Farzaneh Hemmasi. My contribution focuses on punk and metal scenes in Kensington Market and Toronto more broadly.

Applying for an MA or PhD in Ethnomusicology at University of Toronto? 

The online application for the 2018-2019 academic year is now available! The deadline for submitting the online app is December 1, 2017. Supporting documents must be received by December 11, 2017.

Information about the application process and requirements can be found here - https://music.utoronto.ca/applying-auditions.php

Other helpful links include - 

Ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto website, which has more information on our graduate programs, as well as information about our faculty and graduate students - http://individual.utoronto.ca/kippen/Ethnomusicology/index.html

The Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) annual conference is a month away, taking place October 26-29 in Denver, Colorado. Deciding which panels to attend can be difficult, as there is no shortage of compelling research being presented at SEM. Whichever paper sessions and roundtables you end up choosing, don’t forget to check out presentations by University of Toronto Ethnomusicology!

Expand this post to see all faculty and students presenting at SEM 2017.

Canadian University Music Society Annual Conference 2016

Canada 150: Music and Belonging

Faculty of Music, University of Toronto

May 25–27, 2017

Call for Papers, Sessions, and Round Tables Deadline: November 28, 2017

The CANADIAN UNIVERSITY MUSIC SOCIETY (MUSCAN) will hold its annual conference May 25-27, 2017 at the FACULTY OF MUSIC in the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. The conference will be held in coordination with the annual conferences of the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres (CAML), the Canadian Society for Traditional Music (CSTM), and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Canada (IASPM-Canada). Proposals from all areas of academic inquiry, including musicology, music theory, ethnomusicology, composition, music education, and performance are welcome in English or French, from members and non-members. The deadline for all proposals and submissions is November 28, 2017.

MusCan, in collaboration with CAML, CSTM, and IASPM-Canada, has chosen as its 2017 theme Canada 150: Music and Belonging, a theme that recognizes the significance of the Sesquicentennial while considering the place of music within various dimensions of the Canadian scope of communities and culture(s). Proposals oriented to aspects of this larger theme are encouraged but not required. Special topic areas may include reflections on the position of music within the context of either/both the 1967 Centennial and/or today; musical communities past and present; musical intersections with issues of culture, (Canadian) multiculturalism, and identity; and more. With its Calls for Lecture-Recitals, Mini-Concerts, Scores, Papers, Sessions, and Round Tables, the CANADIAN UNIVERSITY MUSIC SOCIETY aims to bring together scholars from a wide range of perspectives for a vibrant discussion.

Papers: Papers should not exceed 20 minutes, including illustrations, and will be followed by a 10- minute period for questions and discussion. Those wishing to propose a paper must submit by the deadline: an abstract of 250 words maximum for consideration by the Program Committee, an abridged abstract (150 words), a list of A/V requests, and a biography (100 words). Abstracts must describe the subject of the paper proposal, its relationship to previous scholarship, the methodology and the conclusions. Graduate students whose papers are chosen for presentation in any session of the MUSCAN conference may be eligible to compete for the SOCAN FOUNDATION/GEORGE  PROCTOR PRIZE; eligible students who wish to compete will be required to submit copies of their complete papers by March 27, 2017 (SOCAN Foundation/George Proctor Prize for student presenters: see separate call).  Where possible, poster presentations will also be considered.

Sessions: Those wishing to propose a session comprising three or four papers should submit a description and rationale for the session as a whole (maximum 250 words), as well as a 150-word abridged abstract, a list of A/V requests, the names and a 100-word biography for each proposed participant, a proposed chairperson and, for each paper, an abstract that conforms to the session abstract described above.

Round Tables: Round tables are organized by an individual or group of individuals around a specific topic, with the participation of invited speakers/discussants. Round table sessions may be  scheduled for a maximum of 90 minutes. Those wishing to organize a round table should submit an abstract    of 500 words maximum, describing the topic and the method of presentation, the participants and the precise nature of each of their contributions. Proposals for Round Tables must also include an abridged abstract of no more than 150 words, a list of A/V requests, and short biographies of no more than 100-words for each invited speaker/discussant. Please note that Round Tables are the only proposals that will not be read blind, as the program committee must assess the contributions of those involved in order to consider the session within the overall program.

Conference registration and membership in MUSCAN: All presenters and speakers must register for the MUSCAN conference, and must be members of MUSCAN before their submissions can be accepted for inclusion for the program. Annual dues for 2017 are $85 for regular members, and $45 for part- time faculty, students, independent scholars, and retired persons. Membership may be purchased, for the current and next calendar year, online at < www.muscan.org > or by contacting MUSCAN, c/o Becker Associates, 10 Morrow Avenue, Suite 202, Toronto, ON, M6R 2J1; (416) 585-1650 (phone) or 489-1713 (fax).

Submission: Complete the online submission form at http://scpa.ucalgary.ca/muscan2017 by November 28, 2016. With the exception of Round Table proposals, the author’s name, affiliation, title of the abstract, email address, and phone number, should appear in the online form but not on the abstract, as proposals will be read blind

Submission of a proposal denotes willingness and ability to attend the 2017 Conference. 

Results: The results of the program committee’s deliberations will be announced by February 27, 2017.