(Figures, excluding those for institutional memberships, taken from 1998 report by Jaki Kane)

John A. Phillips,
National Secretary

TREASURER'S REPORT

For the year ended 30 June 1999

The Musicological Society of Australia has had a successful year financially, resulting in a healthy surplus of $3,968 and thereby increasing the society's net assets to $30,382.
This was achieved despite incurring some expenses such as the increased cost of printing the newsletter and the further development of the web site. These expenses have been more than covered by increased income from membership subscriptions and the profit from the National MSA Conference held in Adelaide in November 1998.
In March 1999, the Executive decided to place $14,000 into a high interest bearing ANZ V2 Plus account. As at 30 June, the interest rate was 3.78% and the account had generated $79.62 extra income after four months.
The income generated over the twelve month period included $11,381 in subscriptions from members and institutions, which was an improvement of $771 on the previous year. The two National Conferences in Adelaide and Perth both generated increased memberships for the year and the Adelaide conference produced a profit of $2,308. The financial result from the Perth conference will not be shown until the coming financial year, but there was a similarly good result with a profit of $2,336.

Lower interest rates, however, resulted in a decrease in the total interest earned for the 1998/99 financial year: $401 as compared to $682. The $14,000 deposited in the V2 Plus account had only 4 months in which to generate a better level of interest.
The most significant expenditure for the year was $2,145 for the develop-ment of the web site, the payment of two years subscriptions for both IMS and ICTM in the one year (ie. for 1998 and 1999) and the extra printing costs for the IMS bid brochure and for the annotated membership list. Cost increases where incurred with the printing and postage for the newsletter as well as $750 more for general postage. Overall costs for the journal appear to be less, however the final cost for postage of Volume 21 has yet to be invoiced and is likely to be similar to the 1997/98 figure. Administrative costs have been kept to $617, which is considerably less that the $921 incurred in the previous year.

Since 30 June 1999, there have been a significant amount of income with subscriptions from individual and institutional members: July and August have proved to be extremely busy months for membership renewals. A major distribution of membership contributions to State Chapters was undertaken in early August. There are a number of expenses, however, that are expected soon. The new brochure has cost $1,412, a further $2,000-$3,000 has been earmarked for the further development of the web site and the audit process for the 1998/99 accounts has cost the society $425.
There were three treasurers for the 1998/99 financial year. Jenny Shaw replaced Peter Campbell at the AGM in Adelaide in November 1998, and I replaced Jenny when she moved to Japan in March 1999. As the third incumbent I would like to thank both Peter and Jenny for their exemplary work in keeping the accounts in such good order and making my job of reconciling the accounts such an easy process. I feel that the society has been well served by these fine, orderly minds and I would like to thank them both for the work that they have done.

I would also like to thank the National MSA Committee for their support throughout the year, and my special thanks go to the Executive, Craig and John, for their hard work on behalf of the society. It has been my pleasure to work with such a dedicated team.
Jula Szuster

MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA
TREASURER'S REPORT
1 JULY 1998 TO 30 JUNE 1999

Comments

1. $14,000 transferred to VC account. Current interest rate 3.8% 2. Subscriptions. Since renewal notices sent, 103 individual membership subscriptions have been received. 3. Journals. Back issues, including Vol 21 (1998) for members whose subscriptions lapsed for 1998. 4. Administration costs. Stationery, printing, photocopying. 5. Subscriptions. 2 years (1998 & 1999) payments to IMS & ICTM 6. Distribution to Chapters. Conference profit distributed: $577.60 to SA Chapter, $97.84 each to other Chapters. Subs distribution in January 1999. Next distribution in early July. 7. Misc expenses. GIO insurance, ACT Registrar General costs, ACT P.O. Box, Printing (Annotated List & IMS Bid) Liabilities 1. New brochure (Design, Printing, Wed Site Images, postage) $1,412 2. Postage for MA Vol 21 ? 3. Audit approx. $600 4. Web Site charges, per annum approx. $500

Click here to see the Independent Audit Report

 

WAGGA WAGGA WEEKEND WEEKEND
Riverine Club, Wagga Wagga
11-12 September 1999
REPORT

Participants
Roland Bannister, Michael Christoforidis, Craig De Wilde, Christopher Draber, Elizabeth Kertesz, Ian McDonald, John Phillips, Jennie Shaw, Jula Szuster, Stephen Wild, Carol Williams (Sunday only: Prue Neidorf, Allan Marett).

Introduction
The focus of the society's Wagga Wagga Weekend Weekend (WWWW) was a series of three 'minimally structured' Conversations About Research. The intention was to provide time for an informal sharing of ideas, to allow all participants, no matter what their experience and expertise in musicology, to take part in an open discussion about matters of concern to them. At the first conversation participants described their own research experience and identified challenges arising from this work. From these challenges were drawn the topics of the second and third conversations.
Formal resolutions were not planned as outcomes of the meeting, though in the event, several recommendations were framed for referral to the Annual General Meeting or to future conference organisers.
This then, is a report of an ongoing discussion which occupied some seven hours; it must be read as my perception of what was said and what was meant, by the various conversationalists. Although six participants contributed short written statements, or suggested amendments, to this report, it is essentially my version of what happened.
Recreational or social events during the WWWW were: a) the street parade of the Wagga Wagga Jazz Festival, b) a guided tour of the historic Riverine Club, c) a dinner at the Wagga Wagga Commercial Club, and d) a visit to the Red Lion Hotel to hear Pete Cornelius and the DeVilles, "Tasmania's foremost blues band". The Opening Ceremony included a) a brief welcome from Local Organiser, Roland Bannister, b) a welcome on behalf of the local indigenous community by Isabel Reid, an Elder of the Wiradjuri people, c) a display of indigenous dance by The Dindima Dancer (Dane Simpson and Eddie Whyman), and d) a formal opening of WWWW by Major Patrick Pickett, Officer Commanding / Music Director of the Australian Army Band Kapooka, Director of Riverina Conservatorium of Music, and Wagga Wagga Citizen of the Year, 1999.

The Conversations

Topic: Specialisation vs. more general approaches to being a musicologist / research fashions.

It was noted that the trend in musicology is to more general approaches. Musicologists might cultivate a specialisation but this needs to be supported by a good general understanding of music if one is to obtain work as a musicologist in teaching or research. It was the impression of participants that the ARC is currently not funding unfashionable topics such as positivistic musicology. Rather, money seems to be going into studies in music and gender (but we may be seeing a decline in funding here in recent times), cultural interpretation (especially interpretations from new perspectives), aboriginal studies, and com-munity music studies. While participants were generally happy with the present trend, given the work still needed to catalogue Australian music (for example) it would be a shame if ARC funding were directed away from 'positivistic' projects altogether.

Topic: The green paper New Knowledge, New Opportunities.

It was noted that the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs' green paper New Knowledge, New Opportunities proposes a change from peer review to institutional selection of research projects. How could musicologists ensure that their voice is heard in this new process? The fear was expressed that under the new system students will take up scholarships at small universities and then transfer to one of the 'big eight' universities, thus using the small universities as a convenience and causing their research profiles to decline.
Casualisation of the work force, and the intensification of work, were mentioned as two of a number of pressures against research.

Topic: How to attract students to musicology?

Solutions included the linking of music to one of the music related professions. Music librarianship, music teaching and music management programs were cited.
There is a need to structure courses in Australia in such a way as to ensure that the presence of music as a humanity is felt. We need to develop a culture which values scholarship, as well as performance.
There was a general feeling that we need to be careful of arguments that performance is research, particularly given the trend of universities to hire 'performer-researchers'. These arguments are usually made so that research dollars will be allocated to performance. Researchers need to protect research as research. Performers are able to seek funding from bodies explicitly set up to fund performance.

Topic: How might musicology best present itself to the Australian Research Council? While the area of art has several categories, music research is currently subsumed under the generic heading of music.

Alarm was expressed at the news that the University of Queensland may have plans to preclude the appointment of any Australian to its soon-to-be-advertised professorial position. This alarm had several foci: i) there should not be any covert agenda, and ii) the position should be open to an Australian, especially as the University has a long and laudable record in Australian music scholarship. The possibility of the MSA making a representation to the University to support an open, transparent appointment system, and the value of continuing the tradition of research in Australian music was discussed.
It was recommended that the MSA should write to the University of Queensland noting the University's fine record in Australian music research, with a request that this record should be continued. Mention should be made of the two previous occupants of the chair and their fine records in Australian and International Music Research.
It was suggested that the MSA might be able to promulgate this (and other) jobs on its web site. This led to the thought that profiles of prominent musicologists ought to be published in the Newsletter.

Topic: Technology, teaching, and research.

With the increased emphasis on technology there is pressure on academics to spend time on learning to use new technology. This comes at a time when there is little time to spend on such a task. Should money be spent on employing outsiders to do the technological side of the musicologist's work, or should provision be made to provide time for academics to learn to use technology? Or should the status quo persist in which academics just have to fit the mastering of technology into already full schedules? Discussion on just how far the technology push may go led to the question: Will we proceed as far as complete off-campus on-line teaching?
Problems of copyright in the on-line environment were discussed. Speakers identified problems in obtaining copyright to recorded material for on-line reproduction. Increased ease of access to sound has created a nightmare of copyright problems.
Another problem is for scholars to study only that which is 'available' on-line, rather than go to concrete or 'real' sites to study material in situ. There is value in on-line manuscripts, for instance, as they allow us to seek out original material and to develop questions about it before we go to real sites, which of course may be in places geographically remote from the researcher.

Topic: What role should the MSA play in the electronic distribution of material?

Should the MSA apply for funding for a data base of on-line material? Or is NFRAM addressing this question? Should the MSA list theses and/or abstracts on its site? With a possibility to download?
Manuscripts, contents lists, back issues of publications, conference / seminar programs, abstracts, and papers were all possible material for distribution on the site. Book reviews, additional to those appearing in Musicology Australia (MA) could be published on the web. There was agreement that we need to convey to a broad audience just what it is that our graduate students are doing. There was agreement that conference title and abstracts should appear on the web site, prior to the conference.
There was a potential problem that on-line material on the MSA site could be seen to have MSA endorsement. Or would our disclaimer, already on the site, distance the MSA from contributors' views? Or, would our audience understand that listing does not necessarily mean endorsement?
The question of commercial possibilities was discussed. Should the MSA offer research materials for sale? In hard copy? What then would be the commercial relationship between the MSA and the author? There was agreement that the site should be a 'front window'. People would see a title or an abstract, and then decide to buy the item. the MSA could then act as a broker, either on a profit or non-profit basis.
MSA would be able to provide funding to train a web-site coordinator, rather than to employ an outsider: it is important that this be a subsidy for training, not a direct payment.

Topic: Insufficient papers of publishable quality are being submitted to Context and to MA, and there is a need to improve the quality of papers at MSA conferences.

Central to this topic was the question of quality vs. inclusiveness. The value of a separate program committee vs. the local committee having programming responsibility was discussed. Arguments were put that a separate program committee (like that practised by ICTM) could ensure higher quality papers. In this model, the national committee would determine the theme(s) and appoint the program committee which would be drawn from the whole membership. Paper proposals would be sent to the chair of the program committee and selected and shaped into the conference program by the committee. The convenor of the conference would be a member of the program committee as well as being chair of the local organising committee, and the link between the two. One view was that only local committees can have an overall conception of their conference and its programming, and thus programming should be a local committee responsibility. There was agreement that a better quality of paper is desirable, and the programming procedure will vary from situation to situation, but local committees will not feel comfortable if they do not have a big say in what gets heard.
The view was expressed that conferences were the most important activity of the MSA, and that there were several problems which needed attention to improve their value. There was an opinion that papers which were not up to a presentation standard would be better presented as poster sessions or in round tables. This led a to a long discussion about the need for a greater degree of interaction between scholars at conferences. The opportunity to spend a longer time in discussion, like that at the American Musicological Society meetings, and like that being experienced here at the WWWW was most desirable. The prospect of discussion, unfettered by time constraints, would encourage presenters to think about the wider implications of what they had to say, and especially to think about how their content or argument related to the conference theme. The need for at least ten minutes of discussion time was emphasised. Round tables, study groups, and conversations were all put forward as ways in which to foster interaction, and to provide an opportunity for people with work in progress to workshop their ideas, rather than try to present their work in a formal way. The standard twenty minute paper plus ten minutes conversation too often ended up with a longer paper and little conversation. Some papers, by the nature of their content, provoke, or invite, questions. Others do not.
The group universally condemned the practice of speakers running over time, and some thought that this practice was especially odious where the speaker was a 'big name' and others felt that it was the 'big names' who were most tempted to run over time.
There should be scope for members to propose three-or-four-paper study sessions. An abstract should be provided for each of the papers as well as an abstract for the session as a whole. These sessions should reflect areas of study in Australia, and need not reflect the overall conference theme.
The role of the chairperson in conference sessions needs clarification, and the following suggestions emerged from the discussions. The chairperson
· should be appointed well in advance of the conference, and preferably have some expertise in the subject of the session;
· should be encouraged to contact the speakers before the conference, and perhaps ask for copies of their papers in advance, say a month before. This might enable the monitoring of quality/appropriateness/length of papers and would give the chairperson the opportunity to formulate questions, even to shape the session;
· should enforce the maximum length of papers, as it is vital to leave time for discussion;
· should open up the session for questions, if necessary by posing pertinent questions him or herself;
· should then also moderate the discussion and seek to keep it going. This is to avoid the discouraging effect of a paper being greeted by silence, or only one or two desultory responses.

Keynote speakers could be better used if they were to participate in interactive sessions, rather than simply present their formal address.
It was further suggested that at the Sydney conference there should be an allocation of time for the ideas discussed at WWWW to be developed. There were several reiterations of the value of this open, and prolonged, type of discussion.

Topic: Role of the MSA, especially in the musical/political/scholarship context.

This topic had been touched on from time to time in the context of other topics. While we need to participate in this political process in order to represent the views of members, our articles of incorporation precluded us from being a lobby group. Yet it was felt that advocacy, or representation, or putting ideas forward, were all perhaps different from overt 'lobbying' and may not flout the conditions of our articles.
It was suggested that the MSA have a representative on the Australian Music Council, which is constituted as a lobby group. This should be done in a formal way. There was a question about the possibility of the MSA forming links with other research organisations like literary societies, historical societies, and so on. The Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH) could be an umbrella group under which we lobby. We particularly need to ensure that music research has a place on the ARC research categories. Perhaps the MSA could seek recognition as a nominating body for ARC. Music research should be seen as a humanity, if we are to avoid having our submissions read by music performers, or perhaps even by dancers, rather than by humanities scholars.
It was agreed that a direct representation to the ARC should be our first step, but that later we may have to go through the AAH.

Topic: A 'student perspective' on MSA conferences.

A student offered an opinion of how MSA conferences might be improved, particularly if they are to appeal to beginning researchers. The suggestions are relevant, I believe, to all of us. In summary, the student's opinion was:
Experienced presenters should be high quality role models for students in all aspects of conference presentation: research should be rigorous, writing should be clear, and presentations should be well prepared. Beginning researchers would welcome constructive criticism and encouragement from senior academics. MSA conferences can be daunting and 'cliquey' for students. It has taken four national conferences for this particular student to feel welcome as a member of the society.
As an experienced conference goer, I can say that there is a need for all of us to ensure that newcomers of any age, but particularly students, are made personally welcome. Simple things like actually talking to newcomers, and having lunch, or a glass of absinth with them, help to break down the social barriers which I expect that most of us have experienced at some point in our lives.

Roland Bannister, Convenor
With contributions from Michael Christoforidis, Christopher Draber,
Elizabeth Kertesz, Jennie Shaw, and Stephen Wild

ACT

Following changes to the ACT membership in recent months, a new executive was elected in Canberra last year. Jaki Kane is now president, Elizabeth Matheson secretary and Helen Saunders Treasurer. The first meeting for 2000 will be held on 9 March at 8.00 pm, at the Canberra School of Music, where Hazel Hall will talk about her visit to the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India. Contact for the executive is via Jaki Kane, email Jaki.Kane@anu.edu.au, or post to her at the Canberra School of Music, GPO Box 804, Canberra ACT 2601.
Jaki Kane,
President, ACT Chapter, & Ed.

QUEENSLAND

The second half of 1999 witnessed an eventful time for the Queensland Chapter of the MSA. On 29 July, the Chapter joined with the School of Music University of Queensland to host an evening seminar by visiting German scholar Professor Hartmut Moeller (Freiburg and Rostock). Professor Moeller presented a stimulating discussion on "Music in the two German States after World War II", which included many musical examples of contemporary compositions from these regions.
Entitled The Big Musicology Gig, the 1999 symposium was held on Sunday 5 September at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.

Ten promising young researchers from a variety of music disciplines presented papers on a broad range of topics including Thomas Tallis (Bronywn Ellis), Medieval Chant Manuscripts (Rebecca Palmer), Physiographic notation (Luke Jaaniste), Australian Aboriginal ceremony (Andrea Layt), Eco-acoustology (Kai-Wei Choong), Musicology and the media (Gavin Carfoot), the Contemp-orary performing arts in urban South Africa (Brydie Leigh-Bartlett), Contemporary church singing (Penelope Bewsher), Schubert and sonata form (Sun-ju Soong), Handel and Andrew Lloyd Webber (Andrew Bull) and Music-speech relationships in Gypsy (Tim Passmore). Our congratulations go to the winner for the best student presentation, Luke Jaaniste, whose presentation on physiographic notation was lively and extremely stimulating. Our many thanks also to the two judges, Dr John Bradley (Department of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Queensland) and Peter Tregear (School of Music, The Uni-versity of Queensland), and all those who participated to make our last seminar for the millennium memorable.

The traditional Christmas party was kindly hosted by QLD members Colin Brumby and Jenny Dawson where the chapter bid a sad farewell to our current Chairman Anne-Marie Forbes. Anne-Marie and have her family have moved south to Tasmania where she has taken up a lectureship in musicology at the University of Tasmania. Her enthusiasm, commitment, professionalism and innovation will be missed in Queensland and we wish her and her family the very best for their future.
Our next function will be the AGM on 19 March to be held at the University of Queensland and we eagerly anticipate the year ahead.
Elizabeth Mackinlay,
Secretary, Queensland Chapter

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The SA chapter continued to hold regular monthly meetings in the 2nd half of 1999, in association with the Elder Conservatorium School of Performing Arts.
On 24 August, visiting Professor Hartmut Moeller from the Musikhochschulen in Freiburg and Rostock spoke on "Abendland (The Western World) Universal Claims in German concepts of World Music". The 12 October meeting was devoted to a paper by Steven Knopoff on the Yolngu people of northeast Arnham Land, entitled "What the Song of the Tawny Frogmouth Tells Us" and Helen Rusak on "Gender Confusion in Elena Kats-Chernin's Iphis".

The final meeting of the year was dedicated to a lecture/recital by Stephen Whittington, Co-ordinator of the Performing Arts Technology Unit (PATU) at the University of Adelaide, entitled "On a Persian Carpet: The late music of Morton Feldman".
The SA Chapter has initiated a postgraduate musicology prize, in memory of Naomi Cummings who was a research assistant to Professor Andrew McCredie at the University of Adelaide in the late 1980s. (Prize details p. 48 - Ed.).
Jula Szuster,
President, SA Chapter

SYDNEY

The Graduate Music Symposium 99 was a joint venture of the NSW Chapter with the Canberra Chapter and the Graduate Music Program of the Canberra School of Music. The Graduate Music Symposium was held at the Canberra School of Music on 30-31 July 1999 and was convened by Elizabeth Brookes, David Cashman and Robyn Holmes. Papers were given by students of the Canberra School of Music, the University of New South Wales, the Sydney Conservatorium and the Music Department of the University of Sydney, the University of Western Sydney Nepean, and the University of Melbourne. Steven Wild of AIATSIS gave the Keynote Address, and Carol Williams of Monash University the Plenary Session.

Larry Sitsky addressed the conference on the subject of his new Violin Concerto. Sessions were chaired by Deborah Crisp, Greg Schiemer, Kathleen Nelson, Graham Hair and Stephen Wild. Papers were given by Liz Matheson, Alan Maddox, Sandra Baker, Kirsty Gillespie, Brad Cummings, Katia Tiutiunik, Judith Crispin-Cresswell, Ruth Lee-Martin, Katherine Barnett, David Cashman, Helen Saunders, Elizabeth Brookes, Meredith Connie, Adrian Renzo, Corrina Bonshek, Barry Kenny, Hassan Shanal, Katrina Hunt and Rachel Hainsworth. A report on the conference was published in Articulation vol. 2 no. 3 (1999). (Reprinted below, p. 32 - Ed.)

On 28 November, the Annual General Meeting was held and David Cashman stepped down as Convenor of the Sydney Chapter. A vote of thanks was given to the outgoing committee and David. The 2000 committee consists of Anne Power (Convenor), Adrian Renzo (Secretary), Terry Clinton (Treasurer and Chapter delegate to the National Conference Organising Committee), and committee Members include Barry Kenny, Sally Macarthur and Peter McCallum.
Anne Power,
Convenor, Sydney Chapter

VICTORIA

The most important events of the second half of 1999 were, once again, the Chapter conference and awarding of the Musicology Prize, and the AGM, both held on 29 October at Melbourne University.
The conference once again covered a wide variety of topics, including papers by Chris Draber on Brahms's chamber music; Tim Stevens on the Red Onions Jazz Band; Nina Tsitsishvili reporting on her recent fieldwork in the republic of Georgia; Sally Watt on the motets of Simonis Boyleau; Angeline Brasier on Pauline Viardot and Nancy Calo on Dom Rosendo Salvado at New Norcia. Gillian Graham won the 1999 Musicology Award for her stimulating paper on the relationship between certain aspects of Margaret Sutherland's life, partic-ularly her marriage and divorce, and perceptions of her creative output by later biographers.

The Chapter AGM was held after the luncheon break. Carol Williams presented her final report as President after long years of service to the Chapter in this role. Sue Robinson was elected as the new Chapter President, Michael Christoforidis replaced John Weretka as treasurer and Joel Crotty has taken over Sue Robinson's previous position as conference coordinator. Sue Cole and Trish Shaw both continue their current positions as secretary and newsletter editor.
The year concluded with a drinks night on 3 December. Although the numbers were small, it was a successful social conclusion to the year and it is hoped this event will become a regular part of the Chapter's social calendar.

The Chapter is looking forward to a productive year. A substantial contingent from Victoria is planning to attend the forthcoming National Conference in Sydney and proposed visits from overseas scholars, including Stephen Banfield, Roy Howat, Tim Carter and Annagret Fauser, are expected to provide a strong stimulus to musicology in Victoria.
Sue Cole,
Secretary, Victorian Chapter

MUSICOLOGY AUSTRALIA, VOL. 23 (2000)
A Report by the Editor

Some changes
Volume 23 will appear bearing some significant and exciting changes. First, the trim size of the journal is to change from A4 to B5. At the time of writing, a new cover is being designed, and a new text design/page layout will be com-missioned shortly.
As regards content, the various registers currently positioned at the end of the journal are to be moved to the Society's website. On the website this information will be linked to a search facility to make looking for particular topics and subjects quick and easy.
Volume 23 will also contain a series of specially commissioned review articles. These review articles are not conventional reviews in that a single score, book or monograph is dissected and critiqued. Rather, a group of books on a common subject will be discussed to see what contribution they make to the bigger picture of their area of focus. They will be similar in style to the review of books published monthly in The Australian. They are not designed to be commentaries nor are they a forum for complaint. The review article in Volume 23 examines two books (by non-musicologists) that explore Australian musical tastes, and the idea of 'expatriation' in Australian musical history.

Call for articles
More than ever, the journal needs the fruits of your labours. Musicology Australia is, increasingly, finding itself read and shelved all over the world. In the last twelve months alone, two music editors from major European publishing houses have asked to see back copies of the journal. Who knows what good might come of being 'seen' in MA! I have high hopes of (gradually) publishing more articles each year. I am actively pursuing papers, but if you would like to pursue me to consider a piece from you - I'd be glad to hear from you (my contact details appear below). Readers should be reminded that articles cannot be accepted for publication until a due process of peer review is completed.
Calling all book reviewers
Reviews are always welcome, too. For those of you that are sitting on reviews-please send them in-pronto!
For those readers who would like to review a book, the following publications have been received for review but need someone to review them. Let me know if you'd like to review any of the following and I'll dispatch them to you as soon as possible.
Abramovich-Gomon, Alla. The Nenet's song: A microcosm of a vanishing culture. (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999)
Adorno, Theodore W. Sound Figures (trans. Rodney Livingstone). (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999)
Averill, Gage. A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey: Popular music and power in Haiti. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997)
Crabtree, Phillip D. and Foster, Donald H. Sourcebook for Research in Music (first paperback edition). (Bloomington: Indian University Press, 1999)
Friedson, Steven M. Dancing prophets: Musical experience in Tumbuku healing. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
Ingham, Richard (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)
Monson, Ingrid. Saying something: jazz improvisation and interaction. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
Priest, Deborah. Louis Laloy (1874-1944) on Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky. (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999)
Tunley, David. The Bel Canto Violin. The Life and Times of Alfredo Campoli. (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999)
Watson, Thomas. Italian madrigal Englished (1599). Ed. and trans: Albert Chatterley. (London: Stainer and Bell, 1999)
Wykes, David. The Classical Concerto: Form and Principle. (Essex: Talkcrest, 1997)

Contact details
Paul Watt pwatt@cup.edu.au, 57 Forster Street, Heidelberg, VIC, 3081. Phone (ah): (03) 9459 1459.
Paul Watt,
Editor (incoming), Musicology Australia

UPDATE ON THE MSA WEBSITE

After considerable bureaucratic delays in getting our site name registered, the MSA's website was moved to its permanent address in January of this year. Please log on at: http://www.msa.org.au (please note that if you have visited the old site before, it may be necessary to refresh your browser by clicking 'Refresh', or pressing [Shift] F5).

Late last year, the executive was delighted to appoint, as Website Coordinator, Victorian member Brett Chapman. Brett comes to this role with tremendous enthusiasm coupled with many years of experience in IT, and hence required none of the expensive training we expected to have to provide! We wish him well in this task, and also extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to our retiring webmaster, Annie Leverington of Quality Essentials, who assisted us so ably in the early stages and was so persistent in the laborious process of getting our site registered.

Brett will now step-by-step undertake the upgrade of the site agreed to the Special General Meeting in Perth last year, but at far less cost to us, and we are delighted that we will now be able to benefit from his agreement to update the site far more regularly, making it possible for us to post information as it comes to hand. Numerous updates have already been done: check the 'new' link on the home page to see what has been changed since you last logged on. Brett has already finished preparing the indexes and listing of abstracts for Musicology Australia; these can now be found on the site under 'Publications'.  The registers of members' publications, and theses in music will also find their way onto the web over the course of the next few months. As Paul Watt observed in his report (above), these listings will no longer be published in MA from volume 23 onwards, thus freeing up valuable space for articles.

Until recently, the crucial task of listing our site with the major search engines was also held up by the delay in getting our domain name registered. This has now been done, however, and the site should begin appearing on searches in response to specified keywords within the next weeks. Brett has installed a hit counter so we can monitor traffic, and will continue to test the site for compatibility with all major browsers. Wherever possible, he will undertake smaller changes and updates on a 'same day' basis. He also has asked me to mention a number of initiatives and plans he would like to get up and running over time.

They include:
· Researching the possibility of a Discussion Board area. This would mean installing a page where members can ask questions (and we hope, get answers). This should be a good way to attract visitors. Brett explained he would be prepared to field technical PC questions. Active promotion in the printed copy of MA (and in this Newsletter) would be required initially, but over time it can be hoped that members will begin to see the site as a useful resource.
· Looking at contacting other similar organisations and getting each other's web sites listed (Link Exchange).

Brett pointed out that we already have the beginnings of this on the "Other Sites of Interest" area, but he would like to expand this-and make sure the other sites list MSA on their web sites!
For any questions, suggestions, updates, corrections or enquiries of any kind, please feel free to contact Brett at Brett.Chapman@riotinto.com
Ed.

CONFERENCE REPORTS

35TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC
19-25 August 1999, Hiroshima

Both in terms of the number of people who participated and the quality of papers presented, the 35th World Conference of the ICTM was a highly successful conference. Among the 270 participants were eleven Australians, eight of whom gave papers or presented panels. Stephen Wild, Allan Marett and Linda Barwick presented a well received plenary panel on Music and Reconciliation under the conference theme of Music and Peace. Their respective papers were entitled "Music, Dance and Reconciliation in Australia", "Regeneration and Reconciliation through the Performance of wangga in contemporary Australian contexts" and "Wumpurrarni songs for papulanji: producing a CD of Warumungu women's songs for an Australian and a global audience". In this panel the participants explored traditional Aboriginal modes of reconciliation as they are revealed through ceremonial and other perform-ances against the background of current debates about reconciliation in Australia. Helen Reeves Lawrence also presented a paper under the same theme entitled 'Music, Dance and Conflict in Christian Practice among Torres Strait Islanders'.

Papers on Asian topics included "Li Shutong: A Pioneer of Modern Chinese Music" (Peter Micic, Monash), "Minoru Miki's vision for Japanese Music" (Kimi Coaldrake, Adelaide) and "Transmission and Transgression in Biwa practice" (Hugh de Ferranti, Michigan/Sydney). Hugh de Ferranti also co-presented a workshop with Thomas Marshall and Fumon Yoshinori on "Satsuma Biwa and traditional music theory". Allan Marett chaired a session on gagaku that comprised papers by Gamo Mitsuko, Endo Toru and Terauchi Naoko. Bruce Koepke's (ANU) paper "Dance Traditions in Northern Afghanistan: Performance, Religion and Politics" was illustrated by some of his own brilliant film footage. Also attending the conference were Roland Bannister, Birgit Drüppel and Steven Nelson.
It is hoped that the Australian contribution will be sustained, or even increased, at the next ICTM World Conference scheduled for Rio de Janeiro in July 2001.
Allan Marett,
Chair, ICTM National Committee for Australia

GRADUATE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM '99

All who attended the Graduate Music Symposium 99 agreed that it provided a stimulating weekend with diverse points of view tabled. I for one enjoyed the vast territory covered, and felt that the diversity of papers presented indicated a healthy variety in viewpoints in the graduate student body.
Carol Williams, in summing up the approaches of the conference presentations, described the papers as being concerned with recent areas of musicologial exploration. In particular, it was the emphasis on 'new' or fresh approaches that she found impressive, and in comparison, the recent national MSA conference seemed less forward-looking. Williams also suggested (somewhat humorously) that perhaps this emphasis on new approaches may be an 'east coast' phenomenon, for it set the conference apart from similar occasions in Melbourne as well.

Papers that questioned the connections between ideology and musical practice were prominent, including the construction of the notion of the score (Helen Saunders, ANU), and postmodernism and authorship (Adrian Renzo, UWS). Relatively new methodologies for research were also displayed, for example, newspaper research (Elisabeth Matheson, ANU). Insights into early Australian musical history revealed it to be a vibrant place that holds much significance not just for Australian musical traditions, but possibly Western music making in general (Alan Maddox, Sydney Conservatorium).

Individual sessions ranged in topics from early music, composition studies, instrumental pedagogy, nineteenth century Australian music, popular music studies, and the broadly titled "Music and Musicology as Culture". This last session contained four very different papers, and represented a cross-section of universities participating in the conference. Barry Kenny (UNSW) in "Who Cares if Anyone Listens?" tackled some 'new musicologists' by pointing out the pitfalls (as demonstrated in particular by Susan McClary) of promoting analysis situated in social/political/sexual context whilst not being able to live up to one's own ideological position. Hassan Shanal (UWS) in "Holding On to Tradition" described the contradictions inherent in the writing down of an oral culture by paying particular attention to a Turkish music school in Australia. Katrina Hunt (ANU) in "Historical Dance and Dance Music in Australia" has embarked on a study of the recreation of medieval society (and particularly dance) through the Society for Creative Anachronism and the everyday practices revealed through lived medievalism. Rachel Hainsworth (UWS) in "Socioeconomic background in Relation to Musical Opportunity and Experience" compared the proportion of music students in tertiary institutions in relation to established reputation and urban proximity, questioning how the construction of musical identity and employment occur.

These four papers embodied the reflexive nature of recent musicological studies as displayed by the students involved in the conference. Understanding how the subjective self (or musicology) works within the discourse of music studies is a vital part of gaining perspectives on our own work, as well as the discipline itself. I shall look forward to hearing more from my colleagues in the future, and feel that the conference was a great success. I would like to thank all those involved, whether presenting, chairing, or observing, for their participation in this worthwhile event.
Meredith Connie
(Reprinted from Articulation vol. 2, no. 3)

FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES

Please note that this is a draft from February 2000.

MUSIC AS CULTURAL INTERPRETATION
23rd National Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia
and 17th Annual Conference of the New Zealand Musicological Society

Thursday, April 27th to Sunday, April 30th, 2000
Department of Music, Seymour Centre, University of Sydney

Conference ThemesThe theme of the conference, Music as Cultural Interpretation, aims to include all aspects of musicological research. It is particularly intended as an invitation for musicologists to reflect on the cultural and theoretical underpinnings of their research enterprises and to consider ways in which they relate to other disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences for whom cultural interpretation is a major focus. Subthemes include:

• Cultural Interpretations of Music
• The Contribution of Musicology to the Study of Popular Music
• Current Issues in Research in Indigenous Performance