Northern California Chapter – AMS

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 Northern California Prize in Musicology has been awarded to Matthew Gilbert for his paper “Singing Maps and Musical Geographies.”

Matthew is currently a Ph.D. student at Stanford University. His paper, read at the April 11 chapter meeting, impressed the prize committee with the way he connected one particular folk song with the critique of geography as the dominant organizing principle of the study and presentation of American folksong.

Congratulations to Matthew, and deepest thanks to Heather Hadlock, Tekla Babyak, and Beverly Wilcox for serving on this year’s prize committee.

Please join us for the NorCal chapter meeting! There is no conference registration but we ask that members pay their chapter dues at this link. Dues are $15, or free for students.

Date:  April 11, 2026

Location:
CCRMA Stanford Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics
660 Lomita Ct, Stanford, CA 94305

There is visitor parking at the bottom of the hill by Tresidder Union as well as up the hill on the way to CCRMA. Visitor parking is free on weekends.

PROGRAM (updated April 10)

9:30: coffee and pastries (provided)

10:00–11:30: Paper Session 1: Music and Politics

Session chair: Sean Keenan

Mariana Da Silva Gabriel (UC Davis), ‘Fado in the Free World: Cultural Diplomacy, and the Sound of Portugal in Cold War North America’

Kolawole Rasheed (UC Santa Cruz), ‘#EndSARS Lekki Massacre: The National Anthem as Performative Demand and the Failure of Recognition’

Soren Edward Nyhus (UC Berkeley), ‘Early Music and Jazz: The German Jugendmusikbewegung Between History and Modernity’

11:45–12:45: Paper Session 2: Improvisation and Material Culture

Session chair: Erica Buurman

Sean Keenan (UC Santa Cruz), “David Moss Dense Band: Structuring Improvisation in the Studio”

Theodora Serbanescu-Martin (Cornell), “Liszt as Necromancer: Morgues, Dead Hands, and the Thermodynamics of Romantic Pianism”

12:45–1:40: lunch (provided)

Business meeting: 1:40-2:00

2:00-3:30: Paper Session 2: From Berkeley to Nashville: Broadcast Sound, Musical Cartographies, and Collaboration in America

Session chair: Chris East

Matthew Gilbert (Stanford), ‘Singing Maps & Musical Geographies’

Grant Knox (San José State University), ‘Exploring William Grant Still’s Collaborative Partnership with Artie Shaw and his Orchestra’

Ian Mahanpour (UC Berkeley), ‘Towards a Radiophonic Ethics: Broadcasted Soundscapes in The World Ear Project 1970–1973’

The annual meeting of the AMS Northern California chapter will take place at the Stanford University music department on Saturday, April 11, 2026, from 9:30am to 3:30pm.

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 March 20, 2026. Please send your proposals to the NorCal chapter president, Erica Buurman (erica.buurman@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 winner receives $250 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 AMS website: https://www.amsmusicology.org/chapter-and-study-group-signup/. Chapter dues are $15 (free for student members).

At the business meeting we will discuss nominations for the following chapter officer positions beginning in Summer 2026: President, Secretary-Treasurer, Council Member, Student Representative. Please consider putting yourself forward for one of these positions.

Erica Buurman, San Jose State University (Chapter President)
Beverly Wilcox, CSU Sacramento (Vice President)
Monica Ambalal, Merritt College (Secretary-Treasurer and AMS Council Member)
Chris East, Stanford University (Student Representative)
Sean Keenan, UC Santa Cruz (Student Representative)

Thank you to everyone who voted in the recent officer election. The following have been newly elected as AMS NorCal officers: