The annual meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology took place at Brookline Music School on Saturday, April 19, 2003 with approximately twenty-five members in attendance. The conference featured paper sessions, a Turkish music workshop, and the business meeting.

After a welcome from host Steve Pixley, Ann Morrison Spinney (Boston College) began the first panel with "Contextualizing 'Celtic Punk'." She was followed by   " A Yankee Heritage: Eloise Linscott and Folksong Collecting in New England" delivered by Maureen Loughran    (Brown University), and "Folk Music in Sweden: Raun and the Definition of a Spectrally Elusive Concept" by David Kaminsky   (Harvard)

The second session featured two papers: "Congopop, Capoeira-Reggae and Beyond: Recent Uses of the Berimbau de Barriga in Brazilian Musical Genres," by Eric Galm (Wesleyan University), and "Kwaito Music: A Preliminary Report on Youth Culture in Post-Apartheid South Africa" by Gavin Steingo   (New England Conservatory).

Following lunch everyone reconvened for the third panel. The first paper, "The Performance of Revisionism in Northern Thailand: New Agendas and Reconstituted Hilltribe Tourism," was presented by Stephen Pixley   (Wesleyan). Jessie Wallner ( University of New Hampshire) read "The Sound of Dharma: Musical Form and Function of the Black Makahala Ritual," and the session ended with "Joining Discrete Musical Worlds: I.M. Harjito's Sekat for Javanese Gamelan and Scottish Bagpipe," by Mark Nelson   (Wesleyan)

President Jerry Cadden ran the business meeting, which included a moment of remembrance for two members who passed away during the last year: T. Viswanathan and Lise Waxer. This was followed by a discussion of possible ways for the Chapter to remember Lise, who had been Chapter Vice-President at the time of her death. Other discussions included student interests, ways to increase awareness of NECSEM activities and other events, and the Treasurer's report. Stephen Pixley (Wesleyan) was elected Vice-President, and it was agreed that the remaining officers (Jerry Cadden, President, Susan Asai, Treasurer, and Lisa Lawson Burke, Secretary) would continue pending the outcome of future discussion on election procedures. Wesleyan was tentatively suggested as the venue for NECSEM 2004. To finish, the members expressed thanks to Steve Pixley for his role in hosting the meeting.

NECSEM 2003 concluded with an invigorating workshop entitled "Makan, Usul, and the Boundaries of Tradition in Turkish Classical Music" presented by Robert Labaree (New England Conservatory). All participants thoroughly enjoyed this hands-on learning experience focusing on rhythms in Turkish drumming.

Lisa Lawson Burke
NECSEM Secretary

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