The 27th annual meeting of the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium (MGMC) will be hosted at the University of Chicago on March 31-April 1, 2023. This conference will feature paper presentations, a new music concert by the University of Chicago New Music Ensemble, and a keynote address delivered by Dr. Nadine Hubbs, Professor of Music, Women’s and Gender Studies, and American Culture at the University of Michigan.
This year’s conference theme, “Unruly Resonances: Music in Cross-Disciplinary Conversation,” speaks to the imbrication of music studies with fields as wide ranging as linguistics, politics, queer theory, and mathematics. What does music have to offer these fields, and perhaps more importantly, how can an interdisciplinary approach enrich — or disrupt — the fields of (ethno)musicology, music theory, and composition?
MGMC is a joint venture organized by graduate students from the University of Chicago, the University of Iowa, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. This year’s conference theme, “Unruly Resonances: Music in Cross-Disciplinary Conversation,” speaks to the imbrication of music studies with fields as wide ranging as linguistics, politics, queer theory, and mathematics. What does music have to offer these fields, and perhaps more importantly, how can an interdisciplinary approach enrich — or disrupt — the fields of (ethno)musicology, music theory, and composition? Submissions can engage with interdisciplinary in theory or in practice, either by explicitly discussing the resonances between music studies and other disciplines or by utilizing methodological or theoretical approaches that draw from fields outside of music studies.
For full details, visit the 2023 Conference website.
Conference Program
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2023
8:30 AM-9:00 AM - Breakfast and Registration
9:00 AM-10:30 AM - Panel 1: Beyond the Concert Hall
- “Intimacy as a Layer of Musical Meaning: AURORA’s Virtual Concert in the Sky: Children of Light” – Alex Sallade, Ohio State University
- “Music’s Otherness in Ari Aster’s Horror FIlm Midsommar” – Miguel Quintero, The University of Iowa
- “Centering Music Educator-Ethnomusicologists and Decolonizing the Classroom through Cross-Discipline Collaboration” – Rachel Schuck, University of North Texas
10:45 AM-12:15 PM - Panel 2: Sound and Sociality
- “Listening to Listening: Silence in the Music of Rebecca Saunders” – Justin Weiss, University of Chicago
- “The Power of Meaning Belongs to the People: An Analysis of Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony no.6” – Brian Sanders, University of North Texas
- “Musique Spectrale and the Quilting Points of Tristan Murail’s Désintégrations” – Calum Jensen, McGill University
12:15 PM-2:00 PM - Lunch Break
2:00 PM-3:30 PM - Panel 3: Music, Language, and Semiotics
- “Hypermetric Declamatory Schemata in Mozart’s Queen of the Night Aria” – Daniel Martin, Michigan State University
- “Meter and Stress Between Linguistics and Music Theory” – Jacob Reed, University of Chicago
- “From Explicit to Implicit: A Semiotic Interpretation to the Sonata Formal Prototype in the First Two Movements of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony” – Zhuo Zhao, Rutgers University
2:15 PM-7:30 PM - Dinner Break
7:30 PM-9:00 PM - New Music Concert
- Morrisby’s Gum – Victor Rangel (UIUC)
- Turbulent Mind – Wenbin Lyu (CCM)
- Gaudy – Willyn Whiting (UNT)
- Miniatures from Phoenicia – Sami Seif (CUNY)
- Duo – Geli Li (UT Austin)
9:00 PM-10:00 PM - Reception
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2023
8:30 AM-9:00 AM - Breakfast and Registration
9:00 AM-10:30 AM - Panel 4: Music and Gender
- “Escaping Toxic Masculinity in Rock Music” – Tanya Honerman, The University of Kansas
- “Poets in Disguise: Navigating Gender and Persona in Art Song” – Kaylee Bernard, Michigan State University
- “Gender Play in the Music of Nikki Minaj” – Matthew Mason, University of Iowa
10:45 AM-12:15 PM - Panel 5: Critical Interventions through Analysis
- “Sonata Form Revisited: Towards a Cognitive Theory of Formal Interference” – Hunter Hoyle, Northwestern University
- “The Application of the Graph Model to Cadential Contexts in Parlor Songs” – Lili Tobias, Hunter College
- “This is not a Concerto: A Critical Analysis of Ruth Lomon’s Orchestration of Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata” – Ash Mach, University of Denver
12:15 PM-2:00 PM - Lunch Break
2:00 PM-3:30 PM - Panel 6: Music and the Natural World
- “Beyond the Open Prairie: Pentatonicism and Moving Basslines in Portrayals of Western Landscapes” – Sylvie Tran, University of Michigan
- “Nocoastjazz, Contrafact Ontology, and David Lord’s Approach to Forest Standards” – Dustin Chau, University of Chicago
- “Sounding Silence: Design and Reception of Soundscapes of Japanese Gardens in the United States” – Devanney Haruta, Brown University
3:30 PM-4:00 PM - Coffee Break
4:00 PM-5:30 PM - Keynote Address Dr. Nadine Hubbs, University of Michigan
All paper presentations and the keynote address will take place in Fulton Recital Hall, located on the fourth floor of Goodspeed Hall at 1010 East 59th Street. This building is accessible.
The New Music Concert will take place in the Penthouse of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, located at 915 East 60th Street. This building is accessible.
Pastries and coffee will be available in the Fulton lobby throughout the conference proceedings. For lunch and dinner, we recommend visiting 53rd Street or 57th Street for a wide variety of restaurant options.