Musicological Society of Australia Newsletter

Musicological Society of Australia Incorporated

— 2003 annual general meeting —

Held at the School of Music, The University of Queensland, Brisbane

Sunday, 5 October 2003, at 8.30 am

DRAFT MINUTES

Tabled: A: Agenda

B: Minutes of the previous AGM, 6 October 2002, Newcastle

C: Journal Editor’s Report

D: MSA/NZMS Musicology Conference 2003

E: Update on SIMS2004

F: National Conference Sydney 2005

G: Trading Name Report

H: Issues related to Chapter Incorporation

Steven Knopoff, MSA President, welcomed Society members to the meeting and wished the absent Paul McIntyre (MSA Secretary) a speedy recovery.

1. Attendance and Apologies

Present: Steven Knopoff (chair), Katelyn Barney, Linda Barwick, Brydie Bartleet, Gavin Carfoot, Denis Collins, Joel Crotty, Laurel Dingle, Birgit Drüppel, David Irving, Liz Mackinlay, Sue Monk, Samantha Owens, John A. Phillips, Emery Schubert.

Apologies: Greg Anderson, Roland Bannister, Gabriel Bieniek, Georgina Binns, Shelley Brunt, Michael Burden, Peter Campbell, Kimi Coaldrake, Samantha Cobcroft, Aaron Corn, Stephen Cronin, Robert Curry, Craig de Wilde, Laurel Dingle, Bronwyn Ellis, Susan Erickson, Anne Marie Forbes, Gavin Franklin, Fiona Garlick, Ann Ghandar, Malcolm Gillies, Eric Gross, Rosalind Halton, Michael Hannan, Graham Hardie, Kelvin Hastie, Jennifer Hill, Robyn Holmes, Martin Jarvis, Margaret Kartomi, Jamie Kassler, Michael Kassler, Roslyn Kay, Linda Kouvaras, Cassandra Lake, Helen Lawrence, Marika Leininger-Ogawa, Alan Maddox, Kathy Marsh, Sally McArthur, Paul McIntyre, Rhoderick McNeill, Aliese Millington, Kerry Murphy, Prue Neidorf, Kathleen Nelson, Michael O’Loghlin, Joanna Parkes, Simon Perry, John Poynter, Megan Prictor, Nicholas Routley, Robin Ryan, Jennie Shaw, Patricia Shaw, Natalie Shea, Gordon Spearritt, Jason Stoessel, Graham Strahle, David Symons, Jula Szuster, Shirley Trembath, Chris Wainwright, Lewis Wickes, Stephen Wild, Alexandra Williams.

2. Confirmation of minutes from the previous meeting, 6 October 2002.

It was moved that: The minutes of the 6 October 2002 meeting be accepted.

Moved: John Phillips Seconded: Linda Barwick Carried

3. Matters arising.

There were no matters arising.

4. Society Reports

4.1 President’s Report.

Tabled; see p. 11.

It was moved that: The President’s Report be accepted.

Moved: John Phillips Seconded: David Irving Carried

4.2 Secretary’s Report.

Due to health-related reasons, the Secretary did not submit a report at the time of the AGM. More recently, Paul McIntyre submitted a belated Secretary’s Report which appears on p. 15 of this Newsletter.

4.3 Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s report was tabled by Liz Mackinlay; see p. 15.

Linda Barwick queried the high cost of website maintenance and suggested looking at hosting the site via a university website, since the domain name wouldn’t change, the MSA site is not particularly large and is reasonably static in its content. Steven Knopoff noted that John Phillips had investigated the possibility of making annual dues payable via the web, but that since the MSA was a relatively small society the annual cost of security would make this an expensive option. Linda Barwick suggested that the possibility of having a joint secure payment page with other humanities societies in a similar situation would be a good point to raise at the upcoming national infrastructure meetings.

John Phillips noted that the discrepancies in the figures relating to the newsletter were due to the fact that the 2003 figure was for three issues of the newsletter. This was duly noted by the Treasurer and would be taken into account when preparing the 2003/2004 audit.

The Treasurer addressed at length the issue of maintaining the MSA accounts and suggested that the National Executive might consider purchasing MYOB or a similar accounting package to facilitate more user-friendly accounting, receipting and managing of funds. The meeting endorsed this action.

The Treasurer also spoke on the matter of membership dues and informed the meeting that the National Executive and National Committee had increased the return to Chapters from $6 to $8 for 2003/2004. The MSA does not appear to have any formal procedure for returning monies to Chapters and this issue would be addressed in the formulation of the Operation Procedures Manual in 2004.

It was moved that: The Treasurer’s Report be accepted.

Moved: Linda Barwick Seconded: Birgit Drüppel Carried

4.4 Membership Secretary’s Report

The Membership Secretary’s report was submitted by Gavin Carfoot; see p. 20.

It was moved that: The Membership Secretary’s Report be accepted.

Moved: Denis Collins Seconded: David Irving Carried

4.5 Journal Editor’s Report

Jennie Shaw’s report on Musicology Australia was tabled. Paul Watt (now UK) continues his involvement with MA as Assistant editor. Volume 26 is now in the final stages of production; articles were still welcome for volume 27. The report thanked all contributors and reminded those with outstanding book reviews to submit their reviews promptly.

4.6 Newsletter Editor’s Report

John Phillips’ report on the Newsletter was tabled. The report raised the question, whether, in view of the general utility of the e-Bulletin and the steady march of web-based information, the MSA should continue to produce a biannual print-version Newsletter; or whether the publication should be replaced entirely or in part by website updates (notified by email) together with some form of regular html or pdf downloaded to members. The decision should bear in mind the possible advantages, for individual but especially for institutional members such as libraries, of having a printed version available, whether the c. $1500 spent each year in publishing and posting our Newsletters would not be better invested in upgrading our web facilities, or whether some sort of print/electronic compromise is more appropriate.

Linda Barwick commented that there was no reason why the newsletter shouldn’t be made available in a mixture of print and electronic formats and that the membership form could allow for members to elect to receive the newsletter in print (making the default the electronic version, whereas currently the opposite is true). The current membership should be informed that this change is to take place. It was also noted that the present system is not entirely functional, with some members receiving hardcopies although they had specified electronic only.

The possibility of sending the newsletter as html mail was also discussed, although the size of the email was an issue. It was suggested that the e-mail contain a text message highlighting major points covered in the newsletter, along with a link to the newsletter itself on the MSA website; Liz Mackinlay, Gavin Carfoot and John Phillips spoke to this proposal. Birgit Drüppel noted that the recent membership survey had included a question on this issue, and John Phillips reported that Chris Wainwright’s initial results had indicated that the majority of members wished to receive the newsletter in electronic form. John Phillips also suggested that membership rates be altered to reflect this (with the incorporation of surcharge for those wishing to receive the hardcopy version), and that the membership form be changed accordingly.

It was moved that: The Newsletter Editor’s Report be accepted.

Moved: Brydie Bartleet Seconded: Kate Barney Carried

4.7 IMS Report

The IMS Report consisted of a Report for MSA on SIMS2004 and was tabled under Agenda Item 5.3 (see below).

4.8 ICTM Report

Linda Barwick read a report submitted by Stephen Wild, outlining the Australian affiliation and involvement of the society (with c. 30 Australian ICTM members, and two Australian board members), its study groups, the 37th World conference, the ICTM executive board and Yearbook publication.

Steven Knopoff commented that the MSA was very pleased with the level of Australian involvement in the ICTM.

It was moved that: The ICTM Report be accepted.

Moved: John Phillips Seconded: Birgit Drüppel Carried

4.9 Reports from MSA Forums

Gender and Sexuality Forum

John Phillips read his report on the Gender and Sexuality Forum held at the national conference in Newcastle in 2003. He noted that the Newcastle conference marked the second meeting of what could be described as ‘interested members,’ with 19 attending what was a valuable and far-reaching discussion. In place of a forum, two panel sessions, on queer theory and music as well as on women and music, were to be held at the current National Workshop, October 2004; these had constituted high points of the workshop program and yielded fruitful opportunities to air issues relating to gender and sexuality in music.

Indigenous Forum

Linda Barwick read a report on the Indigenous Forum held at the national conference in Newcastle in 2003.

Steven Knopoff noted that the MSA aimed to seek financial support for indigenous presenters and that this was very important. He also queried the nature of the semi-formal status of the Gender & Sexuality Forum and the Indigenous Forum, commenting that there was no written record of this. John Phillips stated that the fora had been recognized as regular components of national conferences and that provision was therefore made for space be set aside for them.

Gavin Carfoot noted that a forum on Music and Technology had taken place at the Newcastle conference and that this needed to be formalized as a regular part of national conferences. Linda Barwick supported Gavin’s statements on the wide relevance of music technology. She noted that the present technological changes in digitization and networking of resources and the increasing prevalence of electronic publication will affect the primary data and research practice of most if not all members of the MSA, especially those with an interest in the recorded heritage of the past century, as well as those involved with research in music technology in the strictest sense.

It was moved that: A regular forum be set aside at each Annual Conference for Music and Technology, similar to those already established on Gender and Sexuality and Indigenous Issues

Moved: John Phillips Seconded: Linda Barwick Carried (with no objections or abstentions)

5. Conference Reports

5.1 Report on MSA 2002 Conference Proceedings

John Phillips read a publication progress report on the proceedings of the 2002 conference. The completed and copy edited manuscript of the book “Music Research: new directions for a new century,” as the proceedings of the Newcastle conference has become, was sent to Cambridge Scholars Press, UK, on 24 September 2003. Out of 54 revised submissions from conference paper-givers a total of 33 had been chosen, covering all themes of the conference. These were anonymously refereed by an extensive panel of over 60 reviewers headed by Musicology Australia editor Jennie Shaw, to whom the editors would like to express their heartfelt thanks for her magnificent work fielding the literally hundreds of reviews required by this project. All three keynote speakers also contributed print versions of their papers, giving a total of 36 chapters divided into the 4 sections, which corresponded to the conference’s themes. An introduction by the editors, index, and dozens of musical examples, figures and tables round off what will be a very substantial volume indeed.

The editors warmly thanked all who made submissions, the MSA and participating universities for their support, Jennie and the reviewer panel for their work in refereeing this book, as well Cambridge Scholars Press for their courageous and valuable offer of publishing what we firmly believe will be a signal event for Australian musicology and a clear indication of the broad range of interests, approaches, knowledges and expertise which have come to characterise musicological discourse in this country.

5.2 Update on the Combined Conference of the New Zealand and Australia Musicological Societies, Wellington, November 2003

Allan Thomas and Richard Hardie each submitted reports (tabled) on the upcoming Combined Conference. The conference has attracted over 120 papers so participants can be assured of a lively and wide-ranging event. The Goethe Society sponsoring Dr Ulrich Konrad of the University of Würzburg to present his work at the conference. Several concerts have now been confirmed as taking place during the conference. Of special interest will be music featuring Richard Nunns and David Rothenberg, as well as a performance by the NZSO of the music from Lord of the Rings, conducted by the composer, Howard Shore. Richard Hardie expressed appreciation for the input of MSA’s Executive and National Committees during the conference planning.

5.3 Update on SIMS2004

Margaret Kartomi submitted a report (tabled) providing an update on arrangements for SIMS2004. Arrangements for all aspects of the Symposium are proceeding apace, primarily through the help of Australian and overseas volunteers.

New members on the SIMS include David Pear; Peter Campbell (replacing Royston Gustavson as Treasurer, following Royston’s move to ANU), Sue Robinson as book stalls organiser (replacing Paul Watt who has relocated to the U.K.). Local Arrangements will be handled by Joel Crotty with help from other members of the Victorian Chapter of MSA.

The Official Opening, Indigenous Opening Ceremony, opening day Reception and Rare Book Exhibition will be held at Monash University. The Symposium sessions on 12-16 July will be held at the Victorian College of the Arts. The Grainger Museum will present two exhibits (“Percy Grainger”and “19th-Century French Music”) and additional receptions will presented by the Faculty of Music at Melbourne University.

Many interesting sessions and papers have been proposed, some of which

have already been approved by the Program Committee. There will be extensive participation by members of the four co-sponsoring organisations (IMS, ICTM IASPM and MSA) as well as presentations by a number of distinguished overseas scholars.

Georgina Binns and Robyn Holmes are attracting a number of leading music library scholars for their state-of-the-art, library-linked session. and the French musicology event immediately after SIMS has also attracted several distinguished French-oriented scholars who will be at SIMS.

5.4 Adelaide Study Weekend 2004

Graham Strahle submitted a report (tabled) on the MSA Study Weekend on Music Criticism to be held in Adelaide on 20–21 November 2004. It is hoped that the Study Weekend will benefit from the participation of a number of international critics who will be Adelaide for the State Opera of South Australia’s production of Wagner’s The Ring. Themes over the two days will include music criticism in the public arena and intersections between musicology and criticism. Graham Strahle will convene the Study Weekend with assistance from Chris Wainwright.

5.5 National Conference Sydney 2005

Jennie Shaw submitted a report (tabled) on final-stage negotiations to stage the 28th National Conference in 2005 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the University of Sydney. Peter McCallum and Jennie Shaw are the anticipated conveners. Due to its central location, the MSA expects to attract a large number of presenters and other delegates from interstate and overseas reflecting many areas of music research and performance. If the Australasian Computer Music Association schedules its national conference at the same time at the Conservatorium there could be welcome opportunities for collaboration or other synergistic interaction between our two groups.

5.6 2006 Conference—Thoughts

Steven Knopoff noted that nothing formal had been done yet regarding this conference, but that two locations which had been raised as possibilities were Northern New South Wales and Adelaide. He requested that members contact Executive with any thoughts they may have on the 2006 conference.

6. Current Issues

6.1 Report on Society Trading Name

A report on investigations into the issue of the society obtaining a trading name was tabled. It had been found that the adoption of a trading name would require the chapters in each state to be incorporated; this was currently not the case.

Liz Mackinlay reported that the National Executive had sought legal advice regarding the incorporation of chapters and that this would be potentially costly, since it is necessary to renew this status annually. Steven Knopoff noted that the proposal for a trading name was in part an interim measure, which would be reviewed after SIMS. It was agreed that the issues would be revisited at a later date.

6.2 Issues related to Chapter Incorporation

Steven Knopoff stressed that it was important for chapters to be incorporated for liability protection and also because funding sources are sometimes only available for incorporated societies. He reported that he had sent a letter to MSA chapters encouraging them to do so.

6.3 General Management Issues for the MSA

The executive reported that they had felt the need to develop an operational procedures manual to ensure the successful operation of the society, which would illuminate the constitution in reader-friendly language. This would include conference guidelines, the roles and responsibilities of the executive, guidelines on Welcome to Country, funding administration (student travel grants etc.), along with hints on obtaining funding. Working groups would be established for each area. It was stressed that the document would function as a guide, not as a constitution. It is hoped that a draft will be completed by the time of SIMS next year for ratifying by the MSA membership. Feedback from members before that time would also be welcomed.

6.4 Money Issues

Liz Mackinlay reported that the formula for returning subscription fees to chapters were not included in the constitution and that a policy was needed. Linda Barwick recalled that during her time as secretary (in 1988) she had been instructed that a certain proportion (i.e. a percentage) was to be taken for this purpose. John Phillips suggested that the details of this could be established by consulting the old documentation now held at the National Library (but would therefore involve a search fee). Liz Mackinlay noted that an accountant’s advice would be necessary on this matter and reported that the next distribution of money to chapters was due to occur soon.

6.5 & 6.6 Student Travel Grants and Chapter Grants

Liz Mackinlay reported that working groups would be established on each of these issues. Steven Knopoff reported that $1500 was available for student travel to the Wellington conference, applications being due on 1 November.

6.7 SIMS—Indigenous Welcome Funding

Steven Knopoff reported that he had received a request from Margaret Kartomi to provide funding for an Indigenous Welcome at SIMS. This represented an unusual request for more money than had been spent for this purpose at previous conferences. The national committee has discussed a number of options, and while supportive of the idea, stress the need for caution (particularly with respect to setting precedents). Linda Barwick noted that it is appropriate to contribute but this shouldn’t be an open amount. Steven Knopoff outlined a number of options, including fund sharing and mentioned that the Welcome involved performance and the full cost is $450. Linda Barwick suggested that the issue be discussed by the national membership.

6.8 Method of Replacing Casual Vacancies in Executive or National Committee

It was agreed by the national committee, and on advice from members, that it was acceptable for the executive be able to fill positions as required at their own discretion.

7. Election of National Executive and Committee

The following members were nominated for the 2002–2003 year: no election by ballot was required as no opposing nominations were received for these positions.

National Executive: Steven Knopoff (President)

Paul McIntyre (Secretary)

Liz Mackinlay (Treasurer)

Jason Stoessel (Membership Secretary)

Ex-officio positions: Nicholas Routley (Past President)

Stephen Wild (ICTM representative)

Margaret Kartomi (IMS liaison)

National Committee: Joel Crotty, Robert Curry, Craig de Wilde, Victoria Rogers, Jennie Shaw, Graham Strahle, Jula Szuster

8. Motions of Appreciation

Steven Knopoff referred to motions of appreciation in his President’s Report. John Phillips thanked the current executive for their excellent work in furthering the society’s outreach this year and in the coming year.

Linda Barwick thanked the Queensland chapter for their excellent workshop programme and coordination of the event.

Liz Mackinlay thanked the editorial team of Michael Ewans, Rosalind Halton and John Phillips for their work on the 2002 conference proceedings, which will surely raise the profile of the society.

9. Any other business.

Emery Schubert asked about the proceedings of the Queensland workshop and Liz Mackinlay reported on details, noting that it would be refereed publication.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10.05am.

Samantha Owens, Liz Mackinlay, Steven Knopoff, John Phillips

President’s Report

The current MSA Executive were all newly installed at the Newcastle Conference exactly a year ago. After twelve months in service as the Society’s President, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. I’ll tell you the bad news first, which really isn’t all that awful, but more a case of needing to reconcile some of the visions and present realities of the Society.

The short story is that we’re going to need more members to volunteer certain services in order to keep the Society running, both in the manner to which we’ve grown accustomed, and in the manner to which we’d like to grow accustomed. In the immediate term, we’re in dire need of two people: someone to serve as our website manager (which minimally involves updating information to our current website from time to time); and someone to take over the reins of the Electronic or E-Bulletin when Chris Wainwright steps down as editor next month.

Anyone capable of converting text files into nicely formatted HTML would find the website manager job to be a snap. We’ve got the codes to access the site and want to give them to you. We need you.

Anyone with a little bit of organisation, capable of putting about an hour to an hour and a half a week doing things like receiving and soliciting information from a variety of (mostly electronic) sources and selecting some of this information for redistribution to our email list, would make a good E-Bulletin editor. We need you, and Chris Wainwright would be very happy to hand over all the information and systems that he’s developed to do the task. Let me know of your possible interest and we can talk about it.

The worst thing I have to say is that if we don’t get volunteers to do these things, and quickly, we may well not have a website or E-Bulletin. We’d like to avoid that as we know that our members like these services.

As a way of moving this report in the direction of good news, I’d like to put the bad news in some perspective. Back in 1997-1998 the Long-Range Planning Committee provided the Society with a far-sighted Draft Strategic Plan (DSP). The overall goal of the Plan’s many recommendations is that the Society function in a more modern, professional and out-reaching manner by doing things like broadening employment opportunities for music researchers and increasing the profile of music research among other groups of scholars and within our academic institutions—to cite just two of a number of broad areas to be addressed. Over past few years we’ve made some good inroads in taking up some of the DSP’s suggestions.

The reason I mention this here is to point out that the current need for a website manager and E-Bulletin editor doesn’t reflect some growing lack of interest in Society volunteerism, but rather a realisation that these are two of several new (or, these two particular cases, virtually new) functions that emerged through the process of enacting the DSP.

One of the main tasks that Executive and National Council will undertake during the coming year is the creation of a draft Operational Procedures Manual (OPM), such as that used by ASME and other professional organisations. The OPM will serve to illuminate in practical ways the various articles of our Constitution and points in our Draft Strategic Plan. One of the ways it will do this is by spelling out a variety of new regular tasks that will be undertaken by National Committee members or other members of the society. The OPM won’t actually do the work for us, but will give us a clear guide for managing what needs to be done.

Now on to some of the good news: First, the past year has been a very active one for the Society in terms of its conference related activity.

It’s been a pleasure to be involved with the many engaging papers and panels at this weekend’s National Workshop. Outside of our National Conferences, this has been one of the more ambitious events that the Society has staged in a while. I’d like to thank Liz Mackinlay, Sam Owens, and other MSA/Queensland members for their efforts in bringing out this successful event.

The joint conference in Wellington this November is shaping up to be a very large and special event. We are all grateful to Allan Thomas, Richard Hardie and the other conference organisers for their efforts. It is worth reminding ourselves, too, that this will be the second time in four years that we’ve held a conference jointly with NZMS. We welcome the opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen the ties between our two organisations.

Planning for the 2004 SIMS in Melbourne is at an advanced state of development, with many papers and panels already accepted and a final round of submissions closing in the past few days. I am very pleased that many MSA members will be involved in major international event. Both the Victorian Chapter and the National Body are actively assisting with certain aspects of the Symposium. I would like to thank Margaret Kartomi, Craig de Wilde, and the other Symposium organisers for their efforts.

The November 2004 Adelaide Study Weekend is shaping up nicely around the theme of music criticism, and will also feature a tie-in with the SA State Opera’s production of the Wagner’s Ring Cycle. During the 1998 Adelaide National conference, the pairing of MSA and Wagnerian events proved to be a successful way of achieving both scholarly and operatic catharsis, and the 2004 study weekend may well achieve a similar effect. We are grateful for all of the advance work that Graham Strahle and other organisers have put into this project.

Looking ahead to 2005, I am pleased to report that after many months of hard work, Jennie Shaw and Peter McCallum have successfully negotiated an agreement to stage the Society’s 28th Annual conference at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. This will be a high-profile event that is likely to attract participation from overseas as well as from across Australia. Jennie and Peter will serve as very able co-conveners of the conference and I want to thank them for all their work to date.

The Society has also been quite busy this year in the area of publication.

Plans for publishing of the proceedings of the 25th National Conference have evolved into publication of a full-fledged book: Music Research: New Directions For a New Century will be published shortly by Cambridge Scholars Press. The Society is grateful for all of the editorial work put into the project by Michael Ewans, Rosalind Halton, John Phillips, as well as the earlier editorial contribution of Linda Barwick.

One of the projected outcomes of this weekend’s National Workshop is a set of published proceedings. We are hopeful that a funding application with the Queensland Government will be successful. The Workshop publication will be a significant outcome for the Society as a whole and a real boon for the profile of music research in Queensland.

At the start of this year Editorial supervision of Musicology Australia passed to the able hands of Jennie Shaw. She has worked tirelessly on the development of Volume 26 which has shaped up very nicely and is now in the latter stages of production. Work on Volume 27 is well underway.

We have continued to benefit from John Phillips’ fine work on the Society’s Newsletter. We thank him for the production of this year’s two issues.

On the electronic side of publication, I would like to thank Chris Wainwright, the founding and now-outgoing editor of the E-Bulletin for all his inspiring work with that very useful and important project. We are sorry to see him go, but glad that he has left such a strong model for his successor to work with.

In the absence of a regular website manager, we are grateful for the updating work provided by Paul McIntyre during part of the year, and more recently, by Carol Zarbock.

Now I would like to take the opportunity to thank a number of people who have played key roles in assisting the ongoing operation of the Society. First, I would like to thank all our National Committee Members for their oversight and sage advise that they have provided Executive with during the year, sometimes on quite short notice. These include outgoing National Committee members Margaret Sharpe, David Symons, and Chris Wainwright, and continuing members Joel Crotty, Jenny Shaw, Jula Szuster, and Craig de Wilde.

Next, I’d like to thank the other members of Executive for their efforts over the past year. Gavin Carfoot, our outgoing Membership Secretary, has fielded a big job in a year marked by a sudden and drastic increase in employment-related commitments. Paul McIntyre, our Secretary, was instrumental in proposing and organising some key initiatives, including this year’s range of membership subscription plans. I should let our Treasurer and Secretary tell you about these things, but I want to mention that we’ve had a significant increase of membership-related income and I suspect that Paul’s work has been instrumental in this regard. I would like to give special thanks to our Treasurer Liz Mackinlay, not only for her work writing the cheques and balancing the books, but for spearheading the move towards developing an Operations and Procedures manual, and especially for being a constant consultant and a dedicated, active player in Executive decision-making.

I want to publicly thank John Phillips, Jennie Shaw, and Chris Wainwright —three non-Executive members, who generously provided me with a wealth information and advice on demand over the past year. At a few of key junctures, Stephen Wild, Linda Barwick, and Allan Marett were also generous with information and advice.

Finally, I’d like to thank Chris Wainwright again for his work in putting together the member survey that was distributed recently, and to thank the many members who completed surveys and returned them to Chris. Chris is roughly half-finished compiling the results of the survey. I don’t want to comment on partial results (which I’ve seen) except to indicate that they reflect some interesting and encouraging findings. We’ll look forward to seeing a summary of the results sometime in the near future.

I understand that no one else wanted to be President this year and so I will look forward to another year working with Executive and National Committee. I thank all of you here this morning for your kind attention.

Steven Knopoff

National President

Secretary’s Report

(Illness prevented Paul from submitting the following report in time for the AGM;

see the item on p. 22)

This year has seen some new initiatives and procedures being implemented by the National Executive. Several telephone conference call meetings took place over the year that proved to be an effective method communication and a way of overcoming the problem of committee members being located in different states. Executive and National Committee developed and implemented a membership strategy that proved to be even more effective than anticipated which should see the Society on solid financial ground for the future. In addition to planning for future conferences, the National Executive is looking to develop policies and advocacy to assist in the future of musicological research. Alternative methods of funding were also investigated. I attended several seminars of the Australia Arts Business Foundations on behalf of the society. Future methods of funding may include corporate sponsorship and the Society gaining tax deductibility status. This will require some dedication on the part of the new National Executive in order to ensure that these initiatives come to fruition.

Paul McIntyre

National Secretary

Treasurer’s Report

For the year ending 30 June 2003

1. The Musicological Society of Australia finished the 2002–2003 financial year with net assets of $28,475.72, representing a surplus of $1,365.94. Our income through subscriptions is substantially higher than the previous financial year and while our expenditure has also increased, for the first time in three years the Society has closed its accounts in surplus.

2. Income generated over the 12-month period includes $18,449.97 in subscriptions. Compared with the previous year, income from subscriptions has increased by $6,095.50 (approx 50% of the total amount received last year).

3. The Society’s two investment accounts have produced $829.60 in interest between them in the 2002–2003 financial year. This is an increase from the previous financial year, with interest rates rising from 3.5% in the V2 account and from 2.9% in the investment account to around 5.4%.

4. The costs of printing and typesetting Musicology Australia and producing the Newsletter are steadily increasing. As suggested by Natalie Shea in the 2001-2002 treasurer’s report, with the approval of the National Committee the Executive has implemented an increase in membership fees. We anticipate the increased income from the rise in fees will cover increasing printing, typesetting and photocopying costs for both publications.

5. With the approval of the National Committee, the increased income of the Society will be used by the Executive in the next financial year to fund special Chapter grants, student travel grants to the MSA/NZMS Joint Conference in Wellington in November this year, and the Indigenous Welcome at SIMS2004 as required by our constitution.

6. With the approval of the Executive I arranged for the 2002–2003 accounts to be audited by Mitchell & Associates located in Brisbane. They have recommended that the Society attempt to reconcile the bank account quarterly to save time when annual accounts are being prepared. Given that a lot of our financial activity occurs at the end and beginning of each financial year, I suggest that a half-yearly reconciliation might be more practical and useful.

7. In 2003–2004 I suggest a change in the Society’s receipting procedures from paper to electronic form. Members who receive other Society information via email would receive their receipts electronically and all other members would continue to receive their receipts via paper in the mail. This would considerably lessen the amount of time spent by the National Treasurer collating receipts and envelopes, and would reduce our postage costs. I would welcome feedback and comments on this matter.

8. It may also be time to rethink the way that the financial records of the Society are maintained. At present an Excel spreadsheet is used to record incoming and outgoing money and appears to be most useful for generating receipts. Other systems, perhaps more user friendly, would perform a similar function. Mitchell & Associates have recommended that a program such as MYOB may serve the financial accounting needs of the Society more adequately. I would welcome feedback and advice on this matter from the membership.

9. I would like to thank the members of the National MSA Committee for their support, and in particular my colleagues on the Executive over the past year, Paul McIntyre, Gavin Carfoot and most especially Steven Knopoff, who as President has made enormous efforts to embrace and become familiar with all executive roles and thereby provide advice and assistance as required. It has been a huge learning curve for me and I look forward to contributing to a financially sound Society in 2003-2004.

Liz Mackinlay

National Treasurer

Profit and loss statement, balance sheet and auditor’s report for 2002/3 are reproduced on the following pages.

Membership Secretary’s Report

New memberships have shown good growth over the past year, with most state chapters experiencing steady or increasing overall membership numbers. The overall number of members “on the books” stands at 354, a significant increase from last year. It is a particularly encouraging sign in the lead-up to SIMS2004, and represents growth in both student and full memberships. This rise could be attributed to initiatives put in place by the current Executive, including the offer of discounted memberships, as well as the many events and initiatives organised by various state chapters.

However, renewal rates remain comparable to the low rates experienced in 2002, with the issue of non-financial members still very relevant. The current membership break down by chapter, and MSA membership trends since 1995, are included in Tables 1 and 2. As reported by Chris Wainwright at the last AGM, 73% of the MSA’s members were financial in 2001, a figure that slipped to 59% before the Newcastle conference in 2002. At present, the percentage of financial members has slipped again slightly, and as at 2nd October, stands at 54%. I have reason to believe that this percentage will rise to remain relatively consistent with 2002’s figures, possibly improving slightly. This should especially be the case following three events: the National Workshop in Brisbane (October); the upcoming National Conference in Wellington (November); and ongoing “chasing up” of members with outstanding fees. Nonetheless, even with a projected improvement on this percentage, the problem of non-financial memberships is still significant, and will likely recur next year after SIMS. Echoing membership secretaries who have come before me, I would continue to urge all members to renew.

Institutional memberships have been complicated by a number of factors this year, not least of all the bankruptcy of one of the largest subscription agencies, RoweCom. At present most institutions will be up-to-date with their subscriptions or memberships, and a number of new institutional members have also joined within the last year (notably the Centre for Research in Music Performance and Communication [CRMPC] at the Queensland Conservatorium). Careful planning with regard to the maintenance of institutional memberships is required in the future, and this is an aspect of the Membership Secretary’s role that should be refined in coming years. Ongoing work on this issue will no doubt ensure that Musicology Australia continues to be sought after by an increasing number of universities and libraries.

I would like to thank those members of the Executive who are continuing for a second term in office, Steven Knopoff, Paul McIntyre, and Liz Mackinlay, as well as previous Membership Secretary Chris Wainwright. All have been especially patient following my acceptance of a new position in a new city (at the Queensland Conservatorium’s Gold Coast Campus), and the resultant havoc that this played with my schedule in first semester. For this reason, and with impending travel plans in mind, I am happy to pass the ball to the next Membership Secretary. I wish my successor well in his/her role over the coming years with the MSA.

Finally, I would like to encourage all members, especially those in more senior academic positions, to engage with the new initiatives being put forward by the Executive, both at this year’s AGM, and over the coming year. Difficult and critical issues, such as the name of the society, will no doubt be revisited, although there are also other important areas that need to be addressed. Two of these deserve particular mention: firstly, the proposed adoption of an MSA Procedures/Operations Manual; and secondly, the streamlining of administrative functions through use of technology. Approaching these issues well will guarantee that the MSA can operate efficiently, and continue to offer its members many dynamic forums for music research.

Gavin Carfoot

Membership Secretary (outgoing)

Table 1

Individual Membership as at October 2003

Chapter /

National Committee 2003–2004

Membership Secretary

Committee Members

Website Coordinator

CONTENTS

monday, 23 August 2004

Held at the School of Music, The University of Queensland, Brisbane

Sunday, 5 October 2003, at 8.30 am

For the year ending 30 June 2003