DRAFT MINUTES

It was announced at the commencement of the meeting that the ballot for the election of officers to the National Committee would close at 2.30 pm. Stephen Wild, the President, appointed Steven Knopoff and David Symons as returning officers. Stephen proposed to the meeting that in regard to the election, if a person was elected to an Executive position, they would withdraw their nomination for an ordinary committee member. This was agreed to by all present at the meeting.

There were no additional items for the agenda, but it was decided that items 7 and 8 would be reversed.

Present: Margaret Bakker, Roland Bannister, Peter Campbell, Terry Clinton, Kimi Coaldrake, Craig De Wilde, Christopher Draber, Warren Drake, Anne-Marie Forbes, Royston Gustavson, Robyn Holmes, Jaki Kane, Greg Kimber-Phillips, Andrew Koll, Steven Knopoff, Kathleen Nelson, Fiona McAlpine, Antony McCardell, Helen Payne, John Phillips, John Poynter, Sue Robinson, Jennifer Shaw, David Symons, Jula Szuster, Shirley Trembath, Piroska Varga, Christopher Wainwright, Lewis Wickes, Stephen Wild, Udo Will.

1. Apologies

Bronwen Arthur, Linda Barwick, Warren Bourne, Doreen Bridges, Michael Burden, Richard Charteris, Stephen Cronin, Joel Crotty, Reis Flora, David Forrest, David Galliver, Malcolm Gillies, Graham Hardie, Margaret Kartomi, Jamie Kassler, Elizabeth MacKinlay, Sandra McColl, Rebecca Meegan, Frank Murphy, Nigel Nettheim, Jennifer Nevile, Peter Platt, Helen Reeves Lawrence, Peter Roenfeldt, Nicholas Routley, Helen Rusak, Robin Ryan, Mary Sapundzijev, Gordon Spearitt, Derek Stiller, Janice Stockigt, Jason Stoessel, David Tunley, Kerry Vann, Paul Watt, John Weretka, Carol Williams, John Williamson.

2. Confirmation of the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting, 4 October 1997

It was moved that: The minutes of the meeting circulated in the MSA Newsletter No. 49, August 1998, be accepted as a true and accurate record of that meeting.

Moved: Roland Bannister Seconded: Christopher Draber Carried

3. Matters arising from the Minutes of the 1997 Annual General Meeting

3.1 1999 Conference

Discussion of the 1999 conference was deferred to item 5.2.

3.2 IMS 2002 Conference Report

Robyn Holmes reported that the postal vote for the 2002 Conference bid between Leuven and Canberra had gone ahead, and that a new brochure had been prepared and sent out with the voting forms. Canberra had not been successful, which was not surprising considering that Europeans comprise the greatest proportion of IMS membership. Nevertheless, we had received thanks and congratulations from the IMS Executive for a well prepared bid campaign. Robyn said that we could still look at holding some sort of international conference, and suggested an inter-congress symposium, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

3.3 Long Range Planning Committee

3.4 Amendment to the Constitution

The National Secretary, Jaki Kane, reported that there seemed to have been no causal increase in cancellations since non-member subscribers became institutional members. However, it was necessary to monitor this for at least another year, as institutions may not yet be aware of the fact that their membership status has changed.

4.1 President’s Report

The President, Stephen Wild, read his report to the meeting.

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

Moved: Robyn Holmes Seconded: Shirley Trembath Carried

4.2 Secretary’s Report

The National Secretary, Jaki Kane, read and circulated her report to the meeting.

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

Moved: Kimi Coaldrake Seconded: Christopher Wainwright Carried

There followed a discussion of the number of financial members, with a recommendation that mailing the renewal form separately had proven successful in the past. There was also a suggestion that offering a 3-year membership, with a discount, might allow for better forward financial planning. It had the advantage of freeing people from the task of renewing their membership annually. It was noted that there would need to be very careful receipting of payments, and that people would need to be conscientious about notifying a change of address.

It was moved that: The opportunity be available for members to enlist for 3 years at a reduced rate. The percentage of the discount to be decided by the National Committee.

Moved: Margaret Bakker Seconded: Royston Gustavson

Result: 29 in favour of the motion, 2 against. Carried

4.3 Treasurer’s Report

The National Treasurer, Peter Campbell, read his report to the meeting.

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

Moved: Shirley Trembath Seconded: Robyn Holmes Carried

Peter was commended for maintaining a good rate for the Society’s investments, and for obtaining free auditing services.

There was discussion of the distribution of chapter levies, with Peter proposing that the quarterly distribution, for such a small amount, was too frequent. He suggested that once every six months would suffice. It was recommended that such details written into the Constitution be reviewed, but until that time the quarterly distribution should continue.

4.4 Journal Editor’s Report

Stephen read the Journal Editor’s Report to the meeting.

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

Moved: Robyn Holmes Seconded: Shirley Trembath Carried

4.5 Newsletter Editor’s Report

Stephen read the Newsletter Editor’s Report to the meeting.

It was moved that: The Newsletter editor's Report be accepted.

Moved: Robyn Holmes Seconded: Anne-Marie Forbes Carried

5.1 1998 Conference Interim Report

Jula Szuster, the conference convenor, presented her interim report to the meeting. It was noted that there was an expected total income of $6130, with $700 coming from sponsorship, and the rest from registrations. A profit of between $1600 and $2100 was expected. There had been no need for a seeding grant from the university or from the MSA. The meeting commended Jula, her conference committee and helpers on a very successful conference.

5.2 1999 Conference

David Symons spoke about the 1999 Conference, to be held in Perth from 30 June to 3 July. A highlight of the conference would be a day session held at the Benedictine Monastery in New Norcia. Guest speakers would be Peter Walls, John Rink, and subject to confirmation, Stanley Sadie. There would be twenty travel grants available for interstate student paper givers. The deadline for the acceptance of papers had been extended to the end of February.

5.3 Study Weekend and Annual General Meeting

Stephen explained to the meeting the difficulty of having an AGM in Perth, with the problem being that the books could not be audited by the beginning of July. There could be a Special General Meeting at this conference, where reports and discussion could take place, but elections and approval of the finances would have to be done at an AGM, later in the year. Stephen suggested that the AGM be held in Wagga in September, at a Study Weekend organised by Roland Bannister. There was some uncertainty about this proposal, so it was decided to leave the decision of when to hold the AGM to the next National Executive.

Roland Bannister outlined to the meeting the Study Weekend, emphasising the convenient location of Wagga (a central point between Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide), and its diverse range of community music activities. The Weekend would be from the 10–12 September, coinciding with the jazz festival. It would be held at the Riverina Club, and the cost of $100 per person would include registration and accommodation for two nights. The theme of the Study Weekend would be ‘Music in the Community’.

5.4 2000 Conference Proposal

6. Draft Strategic Plan

Stephen read through the Draft Strategic Plan, as published in the August 1998 Newsletter. He suggested to the meeting that they endorse it in principle, and then pass it to the National Committee to give effect to it. There was a suggestion from the meeting that the Long Range Planning Committee might take on the task of putting the issues into effect. It was felt that it should be left to the committee to decide on the order of priorities. There was a suggestion that an amendment be made to the statement regarding promoting a better understanding of music research within the academy. Robyn Holmes said that the referral to the preparation of a position paper for submission to the Australian Research Council was now out of date. Margaret Bakker suggested that the need to increase finances be given more emphasis.

It was moved that: The Draft Strategic Plan be accepted in principle, and that the National Committee be asked to effect the detail, in the light of the points raised at this AGM.

Moved: Kathleen Nelson Seconded: Jula Szuster Carried

It was moved that: The proposal to change the name of the Musicological Society of Australia to ‘The Australian Society for Music Research’ be voted on at the next Annual General meeting, after discussion at a Special General Meeting in Perth. Members to be notified of the proposal by mail, in June.

Moved: Roland Bannister Seconded: Kimi Coaldrake Carried

7. Motions of Appreciation

Shirley Trembath proposed a motion of thanks to Stephen Wild, for his visionary Presidency, to Jaki Kane, for her hard work as National Secretary, and to Peter Campbell for his good money management.

Robyn Holmes, on behalf of the meeting, thanked Jula Szuster, Jennie Shaw, John Phillips, Lewis Wickes, Helen Payne, Kimi Coaldrake and the University of Adelaide for their good academic and financial management of a very successful conference.

Both motions were carried unanimously by the meeting.

8. Election of Officers and National Committee Members

Before the results of the ballot were announced, Stephen explained to the meeting that a nomination which had been sent by fax had not been received, and that consequently the voting form had been sent out with a name missing. The person in question, David Symons, had withdrawn his nomination, in the light of the work which would have been required to send out an amended form. Stephen proposed to the meeting that David be offered a place on the National Committee, particularly as he would be involved in the organisation of the Perth conference. This was agreed to by the meeting. It was suggested by Royston that in future all nominations be confirmed by phone or e-mail immediately upon receipt, thereby guarding against a similar situation occurring.

The Musicological Society of Australia’s 1998/99 National Committee and Executive were then announced as follows:

President: Craig De Wilde
Secretary: John A. Phillips
Treasurer: Jennifer Shaw
Committee: Kimi Coaldrake, Anne-Marie Forbes, Royston Gustavson, Robyn Holmes, Elizabeth MacKinlay, Jula Szuster, Shirley Trembath

There was a vote of thanks for the two returning officers.

The meeting was declared closed at 4.15 pm.

Long Range Planning Committee

This committee, appointed by the National Committee, met twice since the last AGM — once in November at Canberra School of Music and once in February, at University of New South Wales Music Department. Members appointed to the committee were Malcolm Gillies, David Tunley, Jamie Kassler, Bronwen Arthur, Margaret Kartomi, David Goldsworthy, Robyn Holmes and Jill Stubington, as well as members of the National Executive (Jaki Kane, Peter Campbell, Stephen Wild). Not everyone could attend both meetings, though most people attended one meeting at least. At the first meeting, members of the committee suggested and discussed ideas, including ideas raised at the last AGM, in a fairly free and open manner. A record of the discussion was made and distributed to the members by Jaki Kane. At the second meeting, members who were able to attend decided to try to structure the ideas discussed at the first meeting as a draft strategic plan. The resulting plan, with a mission statement goals and strategies, was published in the August 1998 Newsletter so that it can be considered at this Annual General Meeting.

Publications

Musicology Australia vol. XX (1997) was distributed with the first issue of the Newsletter in 1998. Sandra McColl continued as editor for both volumes XX and XXI (1998) and she will also edit vol. XXII (1999) upon which her term of appointment will expire. Paul Watt has assisted Sandra on vols. XX and XXI. I think you will agree that our journal continues to maintain a high standard thanks to the hard work of its editor and the contributors. I urge you all to continue to support the journal with your contributions.

Conferences

The 1997 National Conference at the University of New England was very successful despite short notice of only 12 months. There was a lively mix of papers, performances, discussions and eating and drinking sessions. Many thanks to the convener, Rex Eakins, and to the other members of the organising committee. The conference was held when the UNE Music Department was under threat of dismemberment, and we were able to repay a little of their warm hospitality by making representations to the Vice Chancellor on the future of the program. Perhaps we did some good, since it still survives.

The 1998 National Conference at the University of Adelaide, with the theme of ‘Crossing Boundaries’ is, at the time of writing, shaping up to be equally successful. The program slots for papers were filled up quite early (I believe papers had to be turned away) and the number of registrations passed the break-even point for the budget well before the conference. The decision to follow the Wagner Symposium and to allow ‘Package’ registrations for both events seems to have been the right one and MSA might use this as a model for future conferences (see below for the Perth conference).

Planning for the 1999 National Conference at the University of Western Australia, 30 June – 3 July, with the title ‘Research and Musical Performance’ is well under way. The initial announcement and call for papers appeared in the August 1998 Newsletter. It is anticipated that ‘packages’ will also be possible with the National Piano Pedagogy Conference that will begin on the last day of the MSA conference. A trip to the Benedictine Monastery at New Norcia is planned. [Please note that the deadline for paper proposals has been extended to 22 March 1999; for updated details on entire conference see Conferences. — Ed.]

Thanks

I thank sincerely on my own as well as your behalf Jaki Kane for her work as National Secretary and Peter Campbell for his work as National Treasurer over the last almost two and a half years. The outgoing National Executive had a longer period in office than is usually the case, only because it was preceded by a National Conference in early July and concluded by one in late November. Two and a half years is a long time to sustain the commitment of time necessary to carry on the day-to-day running of the Society. I know they will be glad to be rid of their responsibilities, but secretly they will probably miss it.

Thanks also to Sandra McColl for her able editing of our flagship publication, and to Deborah Crisp for her efficient editing of the Newsletter, Deborah will not know what to do with all the spare time she will have on her hands, but Sandra will soldier on for another year at least.

Respectfully submitted,

There has been a decline in membership of the Musicological Society of Australia over the period from June 1997 to June 1998. On 30 June of this year 60 members were deleted from the register, having been unfinancial for a period of 16 months. This decline was not matched by an increase in new applications, despite there having been 26 applications for new membership since the last Annual General Meeting, held in October 1997.

The following tables [see below] outline the membership of the Society at 30 June 1998. Table 1 gives the total number in each category of member in the chapters, and Table 2 gives a comparison of total membership numbers of each chapter for the period 1993 to 1998. It can be seen from the second table that the total figure for 1998 is 283 members, which is about 20 members down on the previous two years.

In my 1997 Secretary’s Report, I noted that a large proportion of members deleted from the register were students. This year, however, is notable for the fact that 35 of the deleted members were ordinary members, and only 25 were students. Whilst the reasons for the decline in student membership can be fairly readily explained, being both financial and loss of interest upon graduation, the decline in ordinary membership is perhaps a more worrying trend. Without a comprehensive survey I cannot make any conclusive statements, but I could speculate that the cutbacks within the academic sector have been a contributing factor. Whilst loss of employment may not be a direct cause, the diminishing opportunities for music researchers has perhaps made the pursuit of this discipline a somewhat less attractive option, and thereby the interest in a specialist society such as MSA is waning. In the light of this it would seem imperative that MSA respond to the changing conditions, and I would hope that the initiatives put forward by the Long Range Planning Committee are carefully considered.

After the acceptance of the change to the Constitution at the last AGM, the subscribers to the journal, who were previously classified as non-members, have been re-classified as Institutional members. The category of Institution listed in Table 1 refers to those institutions who were already members, prior to the last AGM. Since 30 June 1998 all institutions have been classified together, and there are currently 161 Institutional members. This number has remained fairly stable over the last year, and clearly is a significant source of income for the Society. Since the beginning of 1998, there have been 5 cancellations and 3 new subscribers. The rationalisation of the membership categories should streamline the process of maintaining the registers, and it is certainly easier in terms of invoicing and sending out the journals, when this is carried out at the same time for all members. This job has been undertaken by myself for the past year, and given the difficulty of finding someone to take on the position of Publications Business Manager, I would expect that the Secretary would need to continue in this role.

Yet again, the number of financial members at 30 June 1998 was only a small number of the total membership. There were 140 financial individual members, out of a total of 255 individual members (institutional members have been excluded from this calculation). This represents 55% of the total membership, which is up slightly from 51% at the same time last year. I would suggest that the later scheduling of the conference is the reason for this number being so low, but it may also reflect the trend of a declining membership base. However, since 30 June there have been 53 more membership renewals, which means that the proportion of financial members to the total membership currently stands at 76%. This figure is the same as in June 1996, when the annual conference was held in July.

I would like to thank Nigel Nettheim for preparing another edition of the very useful and informative Annotated Membership List, and request that members assist with the publication of future updates by notifying the secretary promptly of any changes to personal details and academic interests.

My most sincere thanks go to Peter Campbell and Stephen Wild, who, through their efficiency, diligence and good humour, have made my job as National Secretary somewhat easier. I extend my best wishes to the incoming Executive.

The Musicological Society of Australia has had a successful year financially, slightly reducing its costs without significantly limiting the services that it has provided to its members. The Society was able to increase its income by approximately two thousand dollars over the 1997 figures, while at the same time reducing expenses by over two thousand five hundred dollars, leaving the Society with a surplus for the year of just over five thousand dollars, an increase of four thousand five hundred dollars over the previous year.

The increased income derived partly from an additional one thousand dollars paid in members’ subscriptions, although this represents more effective chasing of overdue membership dues rather than any actual increase in the number of members. A smaller amount was received from other sources during the year than in the previous period. During the 1996/97 year, this figure was made up mainly from the receipt of conference profits from the successful Melbourne conference. The final financial statement from the 1997 annual conference in Armidale was not received before the end of the financial year, but has now arrived, showing a profit of just under five dollars. I thank Rex Eakins and the members of the Northern NSW Chapter for a financially well-balanced conference. There was also an increase of almost two thousand dollars in the amount received from the sale of back issues of the journal which I imagine is not likely to be repeated in future years.

The absence of payments of subscriptions to ICTM and IMS is an anomaly that will be corrected in the coming year. Affiliation fees to IMS were paid by credit card during the year, but not reimbursed until after the close of the financial year. The Society is currently awaiting a replacement invoice from ICTM to cover one that never reached the Society. The smaller amount assigned to chapter distributions is not indicative of falling memberships, but arises because of the timing of payments during the previous financial year when one distribution was paid late in the year and thus fell into the next year’s figures, and one paid early in the next year.

As a result of the general fall in interest rates paid on bank deposits, the return on the Life Members’ Account would have been reduced to only one per cent as the balance at the time of reinvestment was less than five thousand dollars. The Executive agreed to transfer an amount of one thousand dollars from the general account to the Term Deposit account in order to raise this rate to over four per cent.

The Society is in a healthy financial state. With continued vigilant action on keeping administrative overheads to a minimum, the Society is in a strong position to increase expenditure on promoting itself and its activities through well-designed brochures and other publications, development of its embryonic website, and perhaps assisting especially the more geographically dispersed chapters with conference expenses.

Finally, may I thank Jaki Kane especially for the enormous contribution she has made to making my job as Treasurer so smooth. She had kept track of members’ subscriptions and journal payments, leaving me only to process the cheques and do the reconciliations. I hope that the incoming committee will be able to operate as efficiently and successfully as she has enabled us to do.

REPORT ON THE 1998 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Entitled ‘Crossing Boundaries: New Directions and Interdisciplinary Approaches in Music Research’, the 21st National Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia was held at the University of Adelaide from 27 to 29 November 1998 in the Hartley Concert Room. A total of 34 papers and 2 lecture recitals were presented to 74 delegates, featuring sessions on Indigenous music, feminism and music, music education, performance practice, analysis, archival research, opera and cultural studies. The conference followed the International Wagner Symposium, ‘Wagner at the Millennium’, run jointly by the Richard Wagner Society of South Australia and the Musicological Society of Australia (SA Chapter). Members of the Kaurna Plains community officially welcomed conference delegates to Kaurna Lands.

The two keynote speakers were Stephen Wild, Research Fellow at the Australian institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra, and Eva Rieger of the University of Bremen. Stephen Wild challenged the conference to consider further broadening the current boundaries in his opening address entitled ‘What’s in a name? or, As soon as you cross one boundary another one appears’. Eva Rieger explored the recent developments in European and American musicology, including feminist and gender studies, in her keynote address entitled ‘Crossing Boundaries? The relationship between the Anglo-American and Austro-German worlds of musicology’.

David Lockett, Associate Professor at the Elder Conservatorium, performed some of the unpublished piano works of Margaret Sutherland in a lecture recital. Mark Smith’s discussion on the ‘Violoncello Piccolo’ of Bach was illustrated by a performance by Richard Hornung on a reconstructed instrument.

Conference delegates enjoyed a sample of Maggie Beer’s famous cuisine at the conference dinner, held at Charlick’s Feed Store Restaurant, in the East End of Rundle Street.