New AMS Contemporary Musical Modernisms Study Group Established

The American Musicological Society (AMS) is pleased to announce the formation of the Contemporary Musical Modernisms Study Group.

This study group aims to stimulate research activities, scholarly dialogue, and an explicitly diverse, transnational, and interdisciplinary collegial community centered on contemporary musical modernisms. The study group will develop space for rethinking and reworking “musical modernism” as appropriate to contemporary times. It will also provoke use of the burgeoning re-conceptualizations of modernisms that have been overlooked in studies of music after postmodernity. This will enable new interpretative models for better understanding current composers’ and musicians’ creative work and practices, going beyond an anachronistic formulation of ‘modernism’ being applied to the music of today.

The organizing of the Contemporary Musical Modernisms Study Group has been spearheaded by Seth Brodsky, Christine Dysers, and Samuel Wilson. The Society thanks them for their work and commitment to advancing the study of music and modernism under the umbrella of the AMS.

Interested AMS members may join the study group using the Chapter and study group signup form. A study group website, Community Site group, and By-Laws are in development and will be published in the next 2-3 months. In the meantime, members wishing to learn more about the study group or connect with its founding leaders, should write the AMS office at: AMS [at] amsmusicology [dot] org.