Call for contributions via text or video blogs
Online Conference on Performance in the Studio
29 April-5 May 2013
Convened by the (UK) AHRC-funded Research Network on Performance in the Studio (PitS)

The PitS Network was set up to study musical performance in the recording studio from as wide a range of perspectives as possible. The main focus has been a filmed recording session that took place in the studios of the London College of Music, UWL involving Jo Beth Young, a singer / songwriter and Grammy-winning producer Mike Howlett. Along with drummer Chris Taylor, double bass player Jonny Bridgwood and the Bergersen String Quartet arranged by Oscar nominated arranger/composer John Cameron, Jo Beth Young and Mike Howlett were filmed in rehearsal and throughout the session and in a series of interviews. This unprecedented resource will be available to view on the Art of Record Production (ARP) website at the beginning of April 2013. As a further output of the research network we are convening an online conference which will also remain as a legacy resource on the ARP website. Continue reading →

Call for papers
Studying Music
An International Conference in Honour of Simon Frith
University of Edinburgh
10-12 April 2014

Music scholarship has widened enormously in scope in the last several decades, especially in response to developments in sociology and cultural studies. Previously accepted concepts such as excellence, authenticity and value have become understood as social constructions rather than inherent or aesthetically autonomous. As a result, long-established canons have been questioned and the boundary between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture has become less secure, with questions of aesthetics becoming intertwined with questions of politics and identity. Continue reading →