The State of the Society
Kathleen Lamkin
The January Newsletter is devoted to informing the membership about the State of The College Music Society with an overview by the President and more specific reports from the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs. The State of the Society in 2007 reveals that in fifty years of existence The College Music Society has made tremendous strides forward in providing service to music faculty and the field of higher education. From its establishment in December 1957 and its first meeting held jointly with the American Musicological Society in 1958 at Harvard University, CMS has grown enormously in membership, programs, and services to the profession. Beginning with fewer than 250 members at its inception, The College Music Society grew to 5,000 members by its 25th year and to 9,500 members by the age of 50. CMS continues to lead, affect, and respond to change as the needs of music in higher education and our society evolve.
Anniversary Projects
The year 2007 has focused largely on 50th anniversary projects. A 50th Anniversary Committee was formed in 2005 and met for the first time at the National Conference in Quebec City. Bernard Dobroski was appointed Chair of the Committee and he and his committee members have been working over the past several years organizing and planning for the many anniversary projects including the two national conferences, the 50th in Salt Lake City and the 51st in Atlanta, which act as bookends for the anniversary year, and the Super Regional Meetings in the spring of 2008 located directly in the middle of the anniversary celebrations.
Anniversary Campaign — “CMS Beyond 50”
One of the major projects of the 50th Anniversary Committee was the establishment of an Anniversary Campaign Committee chaired by David Woods, the first fundraising campaign initiated by CMS through The CMS Fund. At the 50th Anniversary Banquet at the National Conference in Salt Lake City, David Woods officially announced the launching of the “CMS Beyond 50” campaign. The enthusiasm was heightened by the announcement of the “Robby Gunstream Education in Music Award,” which has already received over half of its funding goal from past and current CMS presidents, board members, and staff. An article by David Woods in the March Newsletter will provide more details of the campaign. “CMS Beyond 50” will provide the financial support to move the important initiatives and goals of the Society forward in order to strengthen the place of music in our culture.
Professional Activities
Regional Conferences
For CMS professional activities it has been another very busy and productive year. The conference schedule for 2007 began last spring with the meetings of the ten regional chapters. All chapters held successful, professionally stimulating conferences for their regions.
International Conference and Professional Development Institutes
The summer featured the biennial international conference in Thailand. Terry Miller, ethnomusicologist at Kent State University, organized the conference and was assisted in the planning by his colleagues in Thailand as well as by Tod Trimble and Peter Park of the executive staff. Presenters from many countries were featured on the program. The summer was also full of professional development institutes in the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe, offering to our membership a variety of options for professional development. One of the most successful institutes was the Tango Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina, organized and executed by Kristin Wendland of Emory University.
50th National Conference in Salt Lake City 2007
A day before the 50th National Conference David B. Williams, Chair of the Technology Committee, and his committee members led an instructive, practical and enthusiastically received Technology Boot Camp with over 90 registrations. A highlight of the preconference was the evening’s dinner presentation, which featured futurist Jonathan Richter. CMS has continually embraced changes in technology, understood the importance of technology in our changing world, and has led in technological instruction in collaboration with the Association for Technology in Music Instruction. Preparations are already underway for another technology preconference at the 2008 Atlanta National Conference. Be sure to sign up early.
James Parakilas, Program Chair, and his Program Committee planned and executed a lively, informative, and celebratory 50th Anniversary National Conference. The outstanding program included reflections on the history of the Society and the history of music in higher education through the various fields of music. Conference attendees were stimulated by the variety of the sessions, the Trotter Lecture presented by Robert Werner, the Festival of New Music concerts organized by Dennis Kam, the panel of fourteen past presidents, an anniversary banquet with 200 in attendance, historical exhibits, book exhibits, receptions, numerous opportunities to dialogue and network with colleagues and the marvelous concert of music by William Walton performed by the ensembles of the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. Besides the fourteen past presidents, many past board members, committee chairs, editors of publications, and regional chapter presidents participated in the 50th National Conference, making for even greater celebrations and historical perspectives. As part of the conference there were effective engagement and outreach projects offered in the Salt Lake City area organized by Cynthia Taggart, Donna Emmanuel, and Robert Walzel. Conference attendance records were surpassed with over 500 registrations. Meeting jointly with the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) and the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) added a further significant professional dimension to the conference. The work of ATMI President Scott Libscomb and NASM President Daniel Sher and Executive Director Sam Hope and their committees made possible these collaborations. We appreciate the recognition plaque presented by President Gail Berenson and Executive Director Gary Ingle of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) to CMS on behalf of our 50th celebrations. CMS looks forward to continuing our long relationship with ATMI and to strengthening cooperations with NASM, MTNA, and other music societies in working together to advance music in higher education and cultural life.
SuperRegionals – Spring 2008
Coming up in the spring of 2008 and continuing the 50th anniversary celebrations will be a new model for the regional chapters. Douglas Ovens, Vice President, has worked with the regional chapter presidents, coordinating committees, program committees, and local arrangements committees in organizing five SuperRegional conferences. These conferences, which combine two regional chapters, will be held in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Illinois, Montana, and California. Engagement and outreach projects will take place at these SuperRegional conferences. You will not want to miss your SuperRegional conferences and you might also want to travel across the country to participate in another meeting as well.
51st National Conference in Atlanta 2008
Robert Weirich, Program Chair, and his committee are working to develop a new model for the 2008 national conference in Atlanta. More plenary sessions with keynote speakers and opportunities for discussion will be offered. The 2008 national conference will provide the opportunity to “look forward to the next fifty years, to imagine a future for the music field, and consider what might be done to prepare for it” as the conference website states.
CMS Publications
The publications of CMS are designed for sharing news of the Society and for addressing issues of importance to music in higher education. The publications committee, chaired by David Woods, has been especially active this past year. As editor of the CMS Newsletter, Ann Sears is completing her first year in that position. In addition to writing an article for each of the issues, she has worked with CMS past presidents and other contributors in featuring articles on the 50th Anniversary Celebrations and other issues of importance to music in higher education. For the 50th anniversary CMS commissioned Mary Anne Rees of Portland State University to write a History of CMS. Mary Anne’s book will be published during the anniversary year. Under the editorship of Richard Green, Volume 46 of Symposium, which includes a tribute to Robby Gunstream in celebration of 25 years as executive director, has been published and Volume 47 is nearing completion. Glenn Stanley at the University of Connecticut will start his term as Symposium Editor beginning with Volume 48. Michael Budds, editor of the Source Books in American Music series, is working with numerous authors in preparation for new publications that are forthcoming.
Forums and Dialogues
A new professional activities committee, Forums and Dialogues, was formed this year with representatives from the major music disciplines and is chaired by Douglass Seaton. This committee assists the Society in the identification and analysis of professional concerns, and in the development of projects, programs, publications, and professional development initiatives designed to address issues within them. The committee met for the first time in Salt Lake City.
Engagement and Outreach
In the area of Engagement and Outreach there are five committees studying the field of music and its opportunities for outreach to higher education and the community. These committees and their chairs are: Community Engagement – Cynthia Taggart; Cultural Inclusion - Sang-Hie Lee; Higher Education - Lawrence Kaptain; International Initiatives - Ricardo Trimillos; Music Business and Industry - E. Michael Harrington, and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning - Elizabeth Barkley. The committees offered numerous sessions at the 50th National Conference. Community Engagement is one of the Engagement and Outreach areas in which CMS is currently placing special emphasis. Since the 2004 National Conference in San Francisco, community engagement projects have been an important part of the work of the national conferences and this spring they will also be a part of the SuperRegional conferences. In support of community engagement The CMS Fund has awarded eight Community Engagement Seed Grants to faculty members who institute ongoing community engagement programs. The “CMS Beyond 50” Anniversary Campaign will seek funding opportunities to support future community engagements projects.
Career Services
The Career Services area assists members with professional career growth, development, and management. The committees and their chairs are: Academic Citizenship—Anne Patterson; Administration—Keith Ward; Career Options and Entrepreneurship—Derek Mithaug; Mentoring—Terry Lynn Hudson, and Faculty Retirees—David Butler. At the 50th National Conference the committees offered job interviews, mock interviews, mentoring sessions, sessions on administration, academic citizenship, and career options and entrepreneurship. The Committee on Career Options and Entrepreneurship has recently brought onto its committee membership top national leaders in the field who are also members of the Network of Music Career Development Officers. This dynamic committee, besides offering sessions at the national conferences, is seeking ways to extend their services to the CMS membership with an important web presence.
ADAMS Project
The newly launched ADAMS Project (Academic Digital Audio Music Service) provides the opportunity for CMS members to build a professional profile and share their work with the profession and the public. In support of ADAMS a life membership for retired faculty will soon be established to give retired life members the opportunity of keeping their ADAMS profiles on the web for years to come.
CMS Board of Directors
A replacement in a board position occurred this summer. Alex Jimenez, Board Member for Performance, was unable to complete his term of office because of extensive professional commitments. Replacing him is Simon Carrington, Professor of Choral Conducting at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the School of Music. We welcome Simon Carrington to the Board of Directors.
Each year there are board members whose terms expire at the end of December. Five board members completed their terms on December 31, 2007. These are Eileen Hayes, Board Member for Ethnomusicology; Kristin Wendland, Board Member for Theory; James Briscoe, Board Member for Musicology; Douglas Ovens, Vice President, and Tayloe Harding, Immediate Past President. They have each been valued members of the Board of Directors and will be missed, although we look forward to their continued work with the Society in other capacities.
Replacing the outgoing Board of Directors, we welcome five new board members who began their terms January 1, 2008. These new members are: Janet Sturman, Board Member for Ethnomusicology; Matthew Shaftel, Board Member for Theory; Todd Sullivan, Board Member for Musicology; Max Lifchitz, Vice President, and Cynthia Taggart, President Elect.
CMS Executive Office
The work of the Society would not be possible without the CMS Executive Office. Robby Gunstream celebrated twenty-five years as Executive Director in 2007. We congratulate him for his dedicated work in helping to advance The College Music Society for a quarter of a century and look forward to many more years ahead. All of the staff in Missoula work tirelessly for CMS and for each of them we are grateful. An addition to the staff was made on October 1 of this year when David Schafer was hired for the new position in information technology.
On behalf of the Society, I would like to thank all of the membership for making CMS a leader for music in higher education for 50 years. Our challenge now is to continue to lead with conviction and insight as we move into the years beyond 50!