While most of us were preparing for the holidays, UNCG Dance Professor and Department Head Janet Lilly was teaching dance in China. Lilly spent two and a half weeks teaching Contemporary Dance and Choreography at Shaoguan University in Guangdong Province. She spent time teaching pedagogy classes to instructors at the university, worked with students to choreograph 2 short pieces for an informal performance, and presented a lecture on contemporary choreographers. Lilly also took advantage of an opportunity to visit the Guangxi Province with UNCG Visiting Dance Scholar Yiling Fu. Liu Jingying, Shaoguan University student, said that Lilly’s instruction was, “a pleasant change of atmosphere. Thank you for your fun lesson.”

UNCG Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, Dr. Revell Carr, was awarded the Alan P. Merriam Prize for outstanding book for 2014-2015 from the Society for Ethnomusicology, and their annual meeting in Austin, TX, Dec. 5. Carr’s book, Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels, is a historical study of the musical interactions between native Hawaiians and American sailors during the nineteenth century. Published in 2014, it was the first book in the University of Illinois Press’ venerable Music in American Life series to discuss the music of Hawai‘i. The Alan P. Merriam Prize, has been awarded every year since 1995 to recognize “the most distinguished, published, English-language monograph, in the field of ethnomusicology,” and is considered the Society for Ethnomusicology’s most prestigious prize. In presenting the award, former Society president Dr. Harris Berger said that the book has “a contemporary resonance and significance that will interest scholars for years to come… The subtle treatment of original sources and penetrating interpretations give this book a kind of resonance that only comes in the best social histories… Hawaiian Music in Motion is a powerful and important contribution to the field of ethnomusicology and one richly deserving the Alan Merriam Prize.”

UNCG Dance Professor and Director of Dance Education, Dr. Mila Parrish, was honored at the NDEO Annual Conference earlier this month. The National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) is a non-profit committed to the promotion and advancement of dance education. NDEO provides a network of resources and support and access to programs that emphasize the importance of dance in the human experience. Dr. Parrish was awarded the NDEO Outstanding Leadership Award at the conference in Phoenix, AZ, in recognition of her continued dedication to service learning and community engagement.

In light of his most recent success in presenting the conference keynote presentation in Finland, we talked to Dr. Allen to get his take on the work he is doing, and his experience in Sibelius’s homeland…

What? – First ever Finnish ecomusicology conference

Where? – University of Turku – Turku, Finland

When? – May 2015

Why? – According to Dr. Allen’s keynote speech, ‘Climate Ecomusicology, and Academic Discourse,’ “music studies can engage with one of the greatest challenges faced by human civilization.  I also presented “Ecomusicology and the Challenges of Sustainability” in their debate series; this presentation was about how materials for musical instruments (from violins to iPods) have global repercussions, both positive and negative.”

How does Finland fit into the burgeoning field of ecomusicology?

“The people were extraordinarily engaged and interested in connecting music and environmental studies.  Finland has a long standing commitment to environmental issues because of the country’s unique natural features and experiences with winter (which can be beautiful and harsh) and their glorious summer. They have a vibrant contemporary musical life that ranges from folk musics to avant garde art to classical composition (composer Jean Sibelius is perhaps the most widely known historical figure to come from Finland).

My hosts in Turku are working on a large research project to examine the connections between those traditions in Finland, and it was exciting to be a part of the process to think deeply with them about the ramifications of our mutually interesting work.  Students in their musicology program were interested in being exposed to new and path-breaking work.  The Finnish national radio came out to conference and aired extended interviews with me and some of the local faculty.”

What was Turku like?

“Turku is a lovely city, and I had some time to explore it.  It used to be the capital of Finland, but Helsinki took over in the 19th century. I also visited Helsinki, which is a vibrant world capital.”

What do you hope to gain from your relationship with The University of Turku?

“The folks in Turku are interested in developing some potential exchange programs for their students to come to UNCG and for our students to go there (most classes are in English).  Two of the faculty from the University of Turku came to UNCG in the spring, a few months before my visit there; they were both to teach classes and give public lectures, but 2 of the 4 scheduled events were interrupted due to — irony of ironies — snow!”

Dr. Allen co-founded and for five years chaired the Ecocriticism Study Group (ESG) of the American Musicological Society (AMS), and he co-founded and chaired the Ecomusicology Special Interest Group (ESIG) of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM).  He currently edits the Ecomusicology Newsletter, a joint project of the ESG and ESIG.

Dr. Allen just completed work as co-editor of “Current Directions in Ecomusicology” http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9781138804586/, the first major volume dedicated to ecomusicology. Dr. Allen is now working on a book project entitled, “The Tree that became a Lute: Musical Instruments, Sustainability and the Politics of Natural Resource Use” (University of Illinois Press, co-authored with Jennifer Post and Kevin Dawe, planned for 2016). His conference presentations on ecomusicology include venues in music scholarship (e.g., the American Musicological Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology), interdisciplinary studies (e.g. 19th Century Studies Association), and environmental studies (American Society for Environmental History, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences); he has also given invited lectures at institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia. Most recently, UNCG alumna Sara Soltau (PB ’13) invited Dr. Allen to present his work at SONICBernheim at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in western Kentucky. He delivered his lecture and slide show outside in the dark to an audience of a few hundred folks waiting to view the “super blood moon” and lunar eclipse.

Aaron is originally from West Virginia, and his interests as an outdoorsman and woodworker result from his time on the family farm, where he recently hand built a solar-powered log cabin for his parents.

Prof. Adam Ricci to present “‘As Astonishing as They Are Inevitable’: Complex Harmonic Sequences Preceding Reprises in the Late Music of Gabriel Fauré” at two conferences this fall:

“Effable and Ineffable: Gabriel Fauré and the Limits of Criticism” and the Society for Music Theory annual meeting.

Adam Ricci earned a B.A. in Music and Psychology from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music, where his studies were supported by a Jacob K. Javits fellowship. His research interests include harmonic sequences, jazz harmony, pop music, and diatonic theory; his publications appear in Music Analysis (forthcoming), Music Theory Spectrum, Music Theory Online, Theory and Practice, the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, the Dutch Journal of Music Theory (Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie), and Indiana Theory Review. He has presented at meetings of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) and numerous regional societies, as well as at conferences in Belgium and the U.K., and has served as program chair and secretary for Music Theory Southeast and on the program committee for SMT. Past teaching appointments include Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, and Nazareth College of Rochester, where he also worked as a choir and opera accompanist. He is Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Music Studies and is active in UNCG’s chapter of UNCG’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa