Music conference strikes a chord

21 April 2009

The conference provided a platform for the department to share their knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment towards the study of music and dance from all parts of the world.

There were many reasons why this year’s conference was a special event: it was held for the first time in the ‘Capital of Music’ Liverpool, and it attracted an extraordinary number of international delegates. Delegates came from all over the world, from as far as Brazil, Thailand, Colombia, South Africa, Australia, the US, Japan, Peru, Israel, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  The conference brought together these people through a shared love and passion for music.

Two prominent keynote speakers, Professor John Tomlinson from Nottingham Trent University and Professor Timothy D Taylor from the University of California, were invited to contribute a range of different theoretical perspectives on a more contemporary understanding of music and global culture.  Held in the Lady Chapel in the Anglican Cathedral, Professor Tomlinson specifically addressed two emergent agendas of cultural globalisation, namely the global management of cultural diversity and the impact of ‘fast capitalism’ and globalising technologies on the common texture of everyday life.  Professor Taylor, meanwhile, discussed the status of ‘world music today’ by charting the genre’s earlier developments and examining states’ responses to the proliferation of music and other media around the world
 
As the conference progressed, the delegates moved around a number of venues in Liverpool, including the Dean Walters Building, the Anglican Cathedral, Blackburne House and the Adelphi. Some of the highlights included a welcome reception in the Main Hall of the Anglican Cathedral with wine and classical guitar music by David Bridge and Richard Harding from Liverpool Guitar Studio.   This was followed with a film screening in the Concert Room of the Anglican Cathedral, which presented leading British ethnomusicologist Professor John Baily’s film “Scenes of Afghan Music: London, Kabul, Hamburg, Dublin” (2007).

A chance to visit the city centre occurred on Friday evening with a social in Hannah’s Bar on Hardman Street where delegates enjoyed a live performance by Sense of Sound, a Liverpool-based company that specialises in vocal coaching across the UK and internationally, and have worked with some of the finest singers, songwriters and performers in the music industry today, including Ringo Starr (The Beatles) and Damon Albarn (Blur). The support was presented by Barbieshop, a Liverpool-based female a'cappella trio who specialise in close-knit vocal harmonies inspired by the Barbershop tradition.

Liverpool is well-known for its rich cultural and musical heritage, and delegates joined the Magical Mystery Tour to explore Liverpool’s musical past, followed with a visit to the world-famous Cavern Club. There was also a guided tour of the Anglican Cathedral. The social highlight was the conference dinner and party on Saturday evening in the Adelphi Hotel. The live music was provided by Paprika Balkanicus, a contemporary four-strong folk band playing a fiery blend of traditional Gypsy music from the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Having just returned from an international tour in Australia and a concert in London’s Albert’s Hall, they are one of the hottest newcomers in world music. This was followed by a world beat dance event with DJ Stuart Borthwick (Programme Leader in Popular Music Studies) whose DJ style takes in Jamaican reggae, Ghanaian high life, Congolese rumba, and South African kwaito, as well as other world beats. The performances encapsulated a range of musical styles, thereby making visible and audible the social realities of contemporary cultural life in the city of Liverpool.

Conference members also took the stage and continued informal music and dance sessions into both Friday and Saturday nights, including performances on Armenian duduk, Japanese shakuhachi, classical Indian music by Ravi Shankar performed on flute and guitar, Trinidadian steelpans, English concertina, Chinese erhu, as well as sea shanties (shipboard worksongs) that are part of the legacy of the Liverpool-based shantyman Stan Hugill.
 
During the conference, conference organiser and Senior Lecturer in Music Simone Kruger was supported by Dr Stuart Borthwick, Tim Dalton and Dr Siân Lincoln. Ten LJMU students conducted a one-year placement as BFE 2009 Conference Assistant in line with the university’s WoW initiative.

Pictured: top - Paprika Balkanicus; bottom - conference delegates and LJMU staff at the gala dinner in the Adelphi Hotel.