UO to host symposium on oral traditions in music

The University of Oregon School of Music and Dance will welcome scholars of music history and ethnomusicology in September and October for an academic symposium celebrating the transmission of music without the use of notation – ranging from ancient chant to modern hip-hop, folk music and jazz.

The “Oral Traditions: Old and New” symposium will be broken into two parts, each featuring presentations by leading academics in the fields of music history and ethnomusicology. The public is invited free of charge for any and all sessions, presentations and concerts.

Part I is scheduled for Sept. 29, and will cover medieval traditions, oral tradition and performance practice in music and dance, and oral traditions in American music. Part II, scheduled for Oct. 19-20, will include theoretical approaches, ethnic communities and even hip-hop and rap.

As part of the symposium, UO faculty and students will present two concerts, also free of charge:

• On Saturday, Sept. 29, baritone Aaron Cain will present a varied program relating to some of the symposium topics (accompanied by era-appropriate keyboard and string instruments) at 6 p.m. in Collier House (corner of University St. and E. 13th Ave).
• On Friday, Oct. 19, Renaissance ensemble Vox Resonat will perform at 7:30 p.m. at Central Lutheran Church (1857 Potter St).

Guest scholars taking part in “Oral Traditions: Old and New” include four faculty members from other institutions. Two of them will be hosted as 2012 Trotter Visiting Professors, a mark of distinction reserved for honored guest artists and scholars of the School of Music and Dance. Each of the Trotter Visiting Professors will present research on Sept. 29 at Collier House. Andeas Haug of the University of Würzburg will present his paper “Rememorationis subsidium? Functions of Music Writing at the Time of its Beginnings” at 9:30 a.m., and Regula Rapp of the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst will present “Historically Informed Improvisation? New Tendencies in Early Music Teaching” at 2:15 p.m.

The symposium will serve as a farewell celebration for UO faculty member Anne Dhu McLucas, who will retire in December at the conclusion of the UO’s fall term. McLucas, a musicologist and ethnomusicologist, holds degrees from the University of Colorado and Harvard University, as well as a performance certificate from the Mozarteum Akademie in Salzburg. McLucas has taught at the higher education level since 1974. She served as dean of the UO School of Music and Dance from 1992 to 2002. McLucas has authored numerous musicological books, including her 2010 release "The Musical Ear: Oral Tradition in the USA."

A complete schedule of events for the “Oral Traditions: Old and New” symposium, including guest names and topic titles, is available at music.uoregon.edu/events.

The “Oral Traditions: Old and New” symposium is co-sponsored by the UO School of Music and Dance; the Oregon Humanities Center; the UO Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies program; and the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society.