THE AMERICANIZING OF MUSICOLOGY, OR MUSICA UNGETUTSCH
Dominique-René de Lerma
Named for Dr. Eileen Southern (1920-2002), the Committee on Cultural
Diversity of the American Musicological Society began issuing student
travel grants in 1996. This is one aspect evidencing an aggiornamento
of AMS -- founded in 1934 -- which has taken place during the more
recent decades. The organization, which has published "JAMS" (Journal of the American Musicological Society) since 1948, for a long time defined its subjects along the tradition of European Musikwissenschaft of the times.
This was when the scholarly discipline was new in the United States.
Up to that time, Americans had been nourished by "music appreciation"
anecdotes and apocrypha such as retold by Sigmund Spaeth and Co., and
then by the more accurate accounts by European exiles -- Paul Henry
Láng, Manfred Bukofzer, Alfred Einstein, Willi Apel, and others -- who
brought with them the subjects of their investigations. For a long
period, musicology in America meant European music history (the work of
American-born Gustav Reece, as a monumental exemplar), perhaps
occasionally venturing out of the past to the seventeenth century (and
no, Monteverdi and Verdi were not the same!).
My
mentor, Paul Nettl, had escaped from the Nazis in his own
Czechoslovakia. His dedication to such modernists as Mozart, Beethoven,
and Bach did not inhibit him from consideration of the minorities and
his son, Bruno Nettl, became a major spokesman for ethnomusicology,
along with the new areas of inquiry the discipline obligated.
Imperialism was vanishing from cultural studies as it was on the
political scene.
In
compensation for the musical myopia, other groups examined not only
social matters and more recent music, but even gave thought to American
music. That subject had been out of bounds academically. Perhaps
Charles Ives might have been mentioned in the classroom, mainly because
of his quirks, but not Gershwin, and certainly not William Grant Still
or Harry Burleigh! Jazz had been prohibited in the practice rooms and
had been far from the curriculum -- never mind that the professors
worked their way through college on tenor sax. One school refused to
permit a student recitalist from playing Joplin as an encore, but a
counterpart of his character pieces by a European was allowed.
I
had been a consultant in the 1970s to a consortium of Black schools
that had completed a year's federally-funded renovation of their course
offerings. When I commented that jazz had not entered the discussion, I
was asked by a senor Black professor, "Do you really think a
Black school should be teaching jazz?" How things changed! When I was
at Peabody, Dean Eileen Cline designated my graduate course in Black
music among the requirements, justifying this even for those with
student visas because she believed that an American school should teach
American music also.
Along came the Bicentennial and with it, government funds.
Philosophies took a back seat to financial matters. The Rockefeller
Foundation began its series of New World Records, which served as a
remedial effort to provide colleges with audio materials for the newly
designed courses in American music, and the faculty had to invent a
syllabus on virgin territory. Eight years before the bandwagons started
up, we began to address Black issues in music, and information long
ignored began to be available to those interested. Footnotes could now
become chapters. Before too much longer, AMS began to broaden its
borders -- women and LGBT matters began to subvert the Gospel According
to St. Grout.
Articles in JAMS began to reflect this movement (to a large part
instigated by the University of Michigan's "Black Mafia") and now for
two decades, AMS has provided funds so a diversity of embryonic scholars
can travel to research sites, archives, and gatherings of established
professionals.
A perusal of this list of recipients should reveal those whose names
are now beginning to appear as recitalists and dissertation authors,
beneficiaries of this award; selection honored the intent of the
mission. A new list will be announced at the 2014 Milwaukee meeting of
AMS in November. Perhaps our parochial orientation might be excused as
we hope for more applicants from our HBCU schools, whose students should
be alerted to this opportunity.
Ahmad-Post, Aisha (Indiana University) -- 2006 and 2008
Ahmed, Ryaan (Harvard University and Eastman School of Music) -- 2013
André, Clóvis de -- 1998
Anosike, Philemon -- 1996
Aragón, Henry -- 2003
Arenas, Erick --2004
Armstrong, Kedrick (Wheaton College) -- 2013
Avila, Jacqueline (University of California-Riverside) -- 2005
Bahr, David (University Colorado-Boulder) -- 2012
Baldwin, Sara Jane -- 2003
Banagale, Ryan Raul -- 2001
Banks ,Tikeya (North Carolina Central University) -- 2008
Barnes, Katie -- 2003
Becerra-Licha, Sofia -- 2003
Bertholf, Garry (Colby College) -- 2005
Bhogal, Gurminder -- 1999
Bonczyk, Patrick (Michigan State University) -- 2012
Bowen, Christopher (Catholic University of America) -- 2010
Burt, Candace Burroughs Sheyna Nicole -- 1996
Calvo, Francisco (Chapman University) -- 2009
Carroll, Gary L., II -- 2001
Carson, Charles -- 2000
Carter, Marquese (Westminster Choir College) -- 2013
Castillo, May Lynn -- 2003
Chan, Angeline -- 1996
Chang, Hyun Kyong -- 2003
Chang, Kuei-Chaun Dennis -- 1998
Chavarria, Vicente (University of Miami) -- 2010
Chavez, Luis (University of California-Davis) -- 2013
Cheng, Will (Stanford University) -- 2006
Cheung, Darla (University of North Carolina-Greensboro) -- 2009
Chucherdwatanasak, Nathinee (University of Missouri-Kansas City) -- 2013
Coifman, David -- 1999
Cole, Kiesha -- 1998
Collins, Willa -- 1996 and 1997
Crandall, LeNaya --2004
Cummings, Linwood -- 1996
DePano, Faith Avilene (Shepherd School of Music, Rice University) -- 2010
Dickerson, Valerie Ann -- 2001
Doan, Joy (University of Michigan) -- 2007
Dooms, Paula Grissom -- 1996
Dunlap, Constance -- 2002
Edwards-White, Rashanne --2004
Escobar, Angelica Minero (Temple University) -- 2005
Eskandani, Shirin --2004
Figueroa, Michael (Northwestern University) -- 2006
Flores, Charles M., Jr. -- 2002
Gallardo, Gonzalo --2004
Gan, Chenny Quan -- 2003
Gibson, Maya -- 1996
Gonzalez-Appling, Julio (Bowling Green State University) -- 2005 and 2006
Grande, Victoria (Case Western Reserve University) -- 2011
Grant, Shauntay -- 2002
Gross, Kelly -- 1998
Guzman, Antonio de -- 1996
Hall, Mark -- 1996
Haramaki, Gordon -- 1997
Harrison, Phylnette -- 2003
Hernandez, Carlos A. (University of Colorado-Boulder) -- 2004 and 2005
Hidajat, Alicia (Calvin College) -- 2005
Hill, Tiffany -- 1996
Ho, Howard -- 2002
Hofer, Sonya -- 2002
Hogges, Genithia (Boston University) -- 2012
Hospedales, Cindy (North Carolina Central University) -- 2005
Hsu, Pattie -- 2000
Hu, Zhuqing (Amherst College) -- 2012
Huang, Julie --2004
Im, Bo kyung (Blenda) (University of California-Los Angeles) -- 2007
Jackson, Erica -- 1996
Jacob, Marion (University of Delaware) -- 2010
Johnson, Darius (Morehouse College) -- 2005
Jones, Alisha -- 2003
Jones, Angela M. -- 1998
Judd, Michelle --2004
Kaneda, Miki (State University of New York-Stony Brook) -- 2005
Kearney, Jamie Reuben -- 1997
Killworth, Aeja NaRee --2004
Kim, David -- 2001
Kim, Jung Eun (Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University) -- 2011
La Nier, Terence (Indiana University) -- 2007
Lai, Jin Xing (Gene) (Ohio University) -- 2013
Lawrence, Dana -- 1996
Lee, Kevin (Columbia University) -- 2012
Lindsay, Jones (University of Toronto) -- 2010
Ling, Helen --2004
Lister, Toiya (Prairie View A&M University) -- 2013
Lopes, Luiz -- 1999
Lorenzo, Elizabeth -- 1996
Ludden, Yawen (Campbellsville University) -- 2005
Luengo-Garrido, Javier (University Massachusetts-Amherst) -- 2012
Lumumba-Omoja, Tarisai -- 1996
Lunn, Tameika -- 1996
Mak, Siu-Yin (University of Southern California) -- 2006
Mallory, Earl -- 1997
Mason, Jakilah (New College of Florida) -- 2012
McClam, Darren -- 2002
Modolell, Jorge (University of Miami) -- 2013
Mok, Luci (University of Toronto) -- 2007
Morales, Melissa -- 2000
Morrison, Matthew (Catholic University of America) -- 2007
Mosley, Imani (Peabody Conservatory) -- 2008
Narbona-Jerez, Pamela (San Diego State University) -- 2012
Neal, Brandi A. -- 2002
Newland, Marti -- 2002
Noh, Ohran (University of Saskatchewan) -- 2006
Oliva, Diane (University of South Carolina) -- 2012
Padilla, Alysse (University of California-Los Angeles) -- 2010
Peeler-Dean, Shamor (University of North Carolina-Greensboro) -- 2010
Peters, Camille -- 1999
Qaasim, Andaiye -- 2001
Qin, Xuan (University of Miami) -- 2013
Quevedo, Marysol --2004
Rangan, Pooja -- 2003
Ratliff, Jada (North Carolina Central University) -- 2013
Reed, Roxanne -- 1996
Reugester, Donnell -- 1996
Reynolds, Klansee --2004
Robinson, Sena -- 1996
Rodgers, Angeleisha (North Carolina Central University) -- 2012
Roland, Christina -- 1999
Rothermel, Nicholas -- 2002
Sewell, Regina --2004
Shintani, Joyce (Université Marne-La-Vallée) -- 2005
Shorts, Kendra -- 1997
Simms, Bobbie -- 1999
Slaughter, Harvey Alan --2004
Smith, Kobie (University of Alabama) -- 2005
Smith, Stephanie (Indiana State University) -- 2008
Su, Andres -- 2002
Sumida, Julianna (University of Hawaiʻi- Mānoa) -- 2013
Tachovsky, Tara --2004
Taffe, Susan (Colgate College) -- 2004 and 2005
Takata, Scott -- 1999
Tan, Qin Ying (Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University) -- 2011
Tang, Andy (University of Texas-Austin) -- 2010
Taylor, Nicolas --2004
Taylor, Nik (Eastman School of Music) -- 2005
Taylor, Ty-Juana (University of Louisville) -- 2005
Terauchi, Kei --2004
Thomas, Leonard -- 1996
Torres, John Patrick --2004
Torres, Jorge (Texas State University-Harlingen) -- 2012
Trevino, Jeffrey --2004
Uyehara, Chad -- 1999
Velasco, Maria Josefa (Université Rennes II, University of California-San Diego) -- 2009
Vidales, Daniel (University of Puget Sound) -- 2013
Wang, Dan (University of Western Ontario) -- 2008
Wang, Eric J. -- 2002
West, Taryn -- 1997
Whou, Romeo -- 2001
Wittmer, Micah (City College of New York) -- 2007
Wong, Melissa (Columbia University) -- 2006 and (McGill University) -- 2008
Yang, Mina -- 1999
Yoo, Kara --2004
Zapata, Melissa (Lehman College, Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music) -- 2009
Zapata-Martin, Theresa (Grand Valley State University) -- 2009
Zhang, Shelley (University of Toronto) -- 2012
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Dominique-René de Lerma
