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Rubina Mazurka Hovhannisyan awarded the NorCal Prize in Musicology

Dear NorCal chapter members,

I am delighted to announce that the 2025 Northern California Prize in Musicology has been awarded to Rubina Mazurka Hovhannisyan for her paper “Why Organ? Forming the Veneto-Cretan Identity.”

Rubina is currently a PhD student at UC Berkeley where she is researching Venetian and Ottoman cross-cultural interactions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Her paper, which she read at the April 12 chapter meeting, presented fascinating perspectives on the role of the pipe organ in the Venetian Republic’s efforts to cultivate a hybrid Veneto-Cretan identity. Her research demonstrated that the pipe organ’s symbolic and physical characteristics made it an ideal tool for bringing the Greek Orthodox population on Crete into closer alignment with the Republic—an important political goal following the 1570 Ottoman conquest of Cyprus.

Many congratulations to Rubina, and deepest thanks to Mary Ann Smart, Amy Beal, and Rachana Vajjhala for forming this year’s prize committee.

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Meeting on April 12, 2025 – program and officer elections

The program for the April 12 meeting is available here: Program – 2025 April.

This meeting will take place at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, 5th floor (through the glass doors on your right as you leave the elevator), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 150 E San Fernando St, San José.

The most convenient parking is the Fourth Street Garage, 44 S Fourth St. at San Fernando St. Parking is $10 maximum on Saturdays.

 

At the business meeting on April 12 we will be holding elections for a new Chapter Vice President (currently vacant), a new Secretary-Treasurer (to replace Edmund Mendelssohn as his two-year term ends), a new AMS Council Representative (currently vacant), and two Student Representatives (to replace Daniel Koplitz as his two-year term ends).

We therefore invite you to send nominations for all four of these positions by email to erica.buurman<at>sjsu.edu at any time between now and April 12.

 

Officer role descriptions:

—The Vice President works together with the President and Secretary to plan meetings and oversee the operations of the Chapter.
—The Secretary-Treasurer keeps the records and correspondence of the Chapter, and files the required AMS reports each year by June 30.
—The AMS Council Representative represents the Chapter on the AMS Council and serves a three-year term.
— Student Representatives serve two-year terms as non-voting members of the AMS Council.
— Chapter officers and student representatives attend separate breakfast meetings at the Annual Meeting. The travel of student representatives to the Annual Meeting is subsidized through the Chapter Fund.

 

Election to Council is not only a distinct honor, but the stepping stone to all further elected positions within the Society. The Council considers issues of interest to its members, may initiate new committees to study those issues, and sends recommendations to the Board.

 

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2025 Norcal Chapter Meeting: April 12 at San José State University

The annual meeting of the NorCal chapter will take place at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University on Saturday, April 12, from 9:30am to 3:30pm (timetable tbc).

We invite submissions for 20-minute paper presentations on any subject of musicological interest. Lecture recitals and panels will also be considered.

Abstract submissions are due by end of day on March 14, 2025. Please send your proposals to the NorCal chapter president, Erica Buurman (erica[dot]buurman[at]sjsu.edu). The proposal should include a title and a 250-word abstract.

At this conference we will confer the Northern California Prize in Musicology for the best graduate student paper presented at the meeting. The prize consists of a $250 prize and the winner will be named at the end of the conference. If you would like to be considered for the award, please indicate this when you submit your abstract.

Conference registration itself is free, but we ask that presenters and in-person attendees join the chapter or renew their memberships via the general AMS membership page: https://www.amsmusicology.org/store/ListProducts.aspx. Chapter dues are $15 (free for student members).

Best wishes,

Erica Buurman, San Jose State University (Chapter President)
Edmund Mendelssohn, UC Berkeley (Secretary-Treasurer)
Daniel Koplitz, Stanford University (Student Representative)