The annual meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology was hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University on April 24, 1999 with twenty-six members in attendance. Scheduled events included papers, a special film presentation by Dora Hast, and the business meeting.

Chapter President Richard Jones-Bamman (Eastern Connecticut State University) chaired the sessions. The first paper of the morning session, "The Display of Chinese Culture in the International Arena: From Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine to Red Top Arts’ Farewell My Concubine," was presented by Chao-Jung Wu (Wesleyan University). In her paper she compared the film version with that presented by an all-male performance troupe examining social and political issues, entertainment value, and questions of tradition and gender. Sindhumathi Revuluri (Smith College) followed with, "Conversations: An Examination of Kinka Drumming of the Ewe of Southeast Ghana." Her paper discussed how the Ewe view their own drumming, dancing, and singing by examining the language used to describe Kinka music and musical events. In his paper, "Codeswitching and Survivance: The French-Canadian Quadrille in Rhode Island," Henry Hample (Brown University) discussed how Francophone communities such as that in Woonsocket, Rhode Island maintain their traditions through cultural borrowing and linguistic codeswitching during quadrille dance parties. Judith Casselberry (Wesleyan University) presented the last paper of the session, "The Living Dead and Spirits: Inspiration and Guidance for Black Women in Popular American Music." She described how aspects of traditional African spiritual belief retain their significance for black American women, and illustrated her points through an examination of contemporary song texts by two African-American women composers.

Three papers followed in the second paper session, following the lunch break. In the first, "Endingidi (Tube Fiddle) of Uganda: Its Adaptation and Significance Among the Baganda," James Makubuya (MIT) described the structure and usage of the tube fiddle, illustrating his points by playing the instrument and through film excerpts. Joseph Getter (Wesleyan University) followed with his paper, "Imagining the Image of India: Symbols of the Nation in Two Films." He described how film songs are multi-layered, fluid symbols of Indian identity, culture, and nation. The final paper, "Heel and Toe: Cultural Ambivalence and the Case of the Quadrille in Carriacou, Grenada," was presented by Rebecca Miller (Brown University), who explained how the quadrille in Carriacou is a syncretic activity fraught with unresolved issues of both cultural appropriation and victory and European oppression and control.

The final contribution was a film presentation from "Exploring the World of Music," (The Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection) by Dorothea Hast (Southern Connecticut University). Following the video excerpt Dora, the general editor of the recently released video series, gave a general overview of the project along with suggestions on using the videos, accompanying CDs, and written materials in the classroom.

NECSEM 1999 concluded with a business meeting during which chapter officer elections were held: Paul Austerlitz was elected as the new President, replacing Richard Jones-Bamman. Tomie Hahn (Vice-President), Tony Rauche (Treasurer), Lisa Lawson Burke (Secretary), and Joseph Getter (Newsletter Editor) will continue in their positions. Henry Hample (Brown University) and Harriet Hurie (Wesleyan) were elected as the new student representatives. Members expressed appreciation to outgoing President Richard Jones-Bamman and Okun Hwang of Eastern Connecticut State University for organizing and hosting the conference.

Judith Casselberry was awarded the James T. Koetting Prize for her paper, "The Living Dead and Spirits: Inspiration and Guidance for Black Women in Popular American Music," in a decision following the meeting.

Lisa Lawson Burke
NECSEM Secretary
April, 1999

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