| NECSEM 2002 Chapter Report |
| Annual Meeting- Boston College, May 4, 2002 |
The Northeast Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology held its annual meeting in Connolly House at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Saturday, May 4, 2002. The activities included two paper sessions, a keynote address by Séamus Connolly, the business meeting, and a reception. Following his opening remarks, President Jerry Cadden (Boston College) moderated the morning paper session. Three papers were presented including “An Analysis of ‘A Celebration of Twelfth Night’, a Seasonal Tradition in a New England Town,” by Duncan Vinson (Brown), “Can You Hear That in the Hills? That Drumming! It’s Obeah!: The Representation of Jamaican Music in Film,” by Daniel Neely (New York University), and “Italian-American Religious Festivals: Music and Identity in Boston’s North End,” by Jennifer Caputo (Tufts). The afternoon paper session, moderated by Vice-President Lise Waxer (Trinity), began with Samara Rainey’s (Wesleyan) paper, “The Exotic Self: Toru Takemitsu, John Cage, and Orientalism’s Influence on the East.” Lisa Lawson Burke (Framingham) followed with “Costume as an Essential Element in Kiribati Performance, “ and the session concluded with Stephen Pixley’s (Wesleyan) paper “Remote Peoples, Faked Intimacies: Musical Images of the Primitive n Hill Tribe Tourism.” The annual Business Meeting followed. Among other business, it was decided to hold NECSEM 2003 at Wesleyan University, on April 19 or 26. Student representative Birgit Berg (Brown) gave a report on the SEM 2001 Student Concerns meeting, and the membership voted Stephen Pixley (Wesleyan) as a second student representative. The Treasurer’s report indicated that the Chapter is financially solvent. Future plans include an Officers’ meeting to discuss election processes, communications, and other issues including revising the Chapter Bylaws. The
final event of NECSEM 2002 was the keynote address, delivered by Séamus
Connolly (Boston College). Connolly, a renowned performer, presented an Irish
Music Workshop/Sesíun centered on variation in Irish fiddling traditions.
His personal retrospectives and demonstrations provided a lively and stimulating
conclusion to the day’s formal events. Following the address, everyone
enjoyed an informal reception. |