The College of Music at Florida State University had a strong presence at the joint meeting of three major academic societies: the American Musicological Society (AMS), the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), and the Society for Music Theory (SMT). The societies met in New Orleans, LA from November 10-13, 2022, and FSU students, faculty, and alumni presented throughout the conference.
The presentations from FSU students, faculty, and alumni were engaging, diverse, and frequent throughout the week in New Orleans. Thirty-one music of our theorists and twenty-one of our musicologists presented papers, chaired panels, and participated in round tables making for a very busy conference. In addition, FSU affiliates jammed in sessions around the conference and performed in the exhibition hall. Our scholars presented topics in Barbershop music, archival research, African music, music and neurodiversity, and Broadway music. With the diverse offerings of the College of Music it was no surprise that our students and faculty presented on such a wide variety of topics and forms of analysis.
Florida State University faculty also serve on various boards and councils across the three societies with Michael Buchler serving as the president of the Society for Music Theory, Sarah Eyerly serving on the Board of Directors for the American Musicological Society, and Panayotis League serving on the council for the Society for Ethnomusicology.
At the Florida State University reception on Friday, November 11, members of the three societies celebrated three faculty retirements: Michael Broyles (musicology), Joseph Kraus (music theory), and Douglass Seaton (musicology). To celebrate their retirement, attendees of the reception listened as colleagues and alumni reflected on the three professors’ amazing careers and everyone sang a retirement song. The celebratory reception of FSU faculty, alumni, and students was a wonderful way to reconnect with our amazing scholars and to stay up to date on our alumni successes.
The joint AMS-SEM-SMT conference demonstrated the success of our students, faculty, and alumni while also sharing musical ideas and theories with scholars and universities from around the world. It was a great week in the Big Easy and one that many scholars will not forget!
