Elliott S. Schwartz
As we prepare for the fall of 1990 and the start of the academic year, we can look back on a remarkably exciting and productive spring and summer for The College Music Society. There are so many fascinating developments at CMS for me to report! Where to begin? Perhaps it would be easiest to group these along the three major areas of activity by which the Society defines itself.
(1) Publications. In recent months, the Society has released two more issues in the "CMS Reports" series, both of which make for lively, stimulating reading. One of these volumes contains the summary of findings of the CMS Study Group on the Content of the Undergraduate Music Curriculum. The other is drawn from one of the most exciting panels during the 1987 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, a gathering of distinguished musicologists discussing the teaching of music history at the undergraduate level.
(2) Special Events. CMS offered two summer institutes at Copper Mountain, Colorado, this past June. One of these provided an extensive overview of music and technology, including not only lectures and discussions but a unique opportunity for hands-on interaction; this overlapped with a separate institute entitled "The Post-Stravinsky Generation," an outgrowth of our long¬standing concern for music in general studies. Both institutes were successful in every way, with a fascinating mix of participants, faculty, and special guests (representing diverse backgrounds and viewpoints), and a highly charged, provocative, challenging atmosphere. The glorious Colorado weather didn't hurt the proceedings, either.
The entire area of CMS special events has grown in importance over the past decade—so dramatically, in fact, that we have recently established a new ad hoc committee to oversee this aspect of the Society's offerings. I have just appointed Douglas Moore, outgoing CMS Vice-President, as chair of this new committee. He will begin working early in 1991, coordinating long-range plans for future CMS symposia, workshops, institutes, and the like.
(3) Meetings. On the regional level, I am delighted to note a fascinating milestone—two chapter meetings held this spring outside the continental United States! The Southern Chapter held its meeting in Puerto Rico, and the Northeast Chapter in Toronto. These represent a real "first" for the Society, and taken together they may provide an especially gratifying barometer—not only of the growing scope of CMS membership, but the increasing popularity, drawing power, and overall significance of chapter meetings for many people.
Our 1990 national meeting, scheduled for Washington, D.C., this October, has all the ingredients for a truly exciting gathering. It has been designed to tap the unique resources—artistic, historical, and political—of the capitol area, from the Smithsonian to the Library of Congress, to the NEH and NEA. For example, the opening day (Thursday, October 25) will feature two symposia. One will focus upon 'Native American Music", while the other, entitled "The Impact of the 'Music Information Explosion' on College Teachers and Students", is designed to provide a fresh perspective on libraries and other information retrieval systems in a new technological age. On Friday evening, October 26, The College Music Society and the National Museum of Women in the Arts are co-sponsoring a concert of music by American women. In addition, there will be a special Saturday afternoon symposium, held at the Smithsonian, devoted to the music of Duke Ellington. Our thanks to Lloyd Ultan of the University of Minnesota, 1990 Program Chair, who was so instrumental in creating this exciting array of events. I hope to see you there!