January 2023 - Lisa Urkevich

Symposium General Editor Lisa Urkevich is Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology and former founding Division Head (Dean) of Arts and Humanities and founding Chair of the Department of Music and Drama at the American University of Kuwait (AUK). She also regularly serves as an advisor for international government and private sector initiatives in the performing arts and education. Before joining AUK, she was a full-time professor at Boston University and has also held teaching positions at Bucknell University and the University of Maryland.

Lisa works tirelessly behind the scenes to publish not just one, but two volumes of Symposium, CMS’ virtual academic journal, each year. We asked Lisa a few questions about her experience working as Symposium General Editor, and we hope you’ll enjoy reading about her role!

Q: When did you begin your service with CMS, and what led you to take on the position of General Editor for Symposium?

A: When I accepted the position in the Spring of 2017, I was really interested in serving as General Editor for a few reasons. Firstly, CMS has been important to me since I was in grad school, and in fact, my first publication was an essay in a 1993 CMS Newsletter, thirty years ago. Then later, as a professor and administrator in the Middle East, sometimes I felt isolated and I wanted to stay connected with multiple facets of music and higher education and engage with colleagues who have perspectives different than mine. I knew that being the Symposium General Editor would give me this opportunity. Also, I knew the journal would be going through a major transformation, and I so enjoy a complicated challenge!

Shining a Spotlight on Optimism

Optimism is a quality inherent in all innovative ventures. Without it, we would lack the foundation of belief that allows us to convert our entrepreneurial dreaming into actionable strategies and tactics that lead to meaningful change.

As 2022 comes to a close, there is reason to be optimistic that the College Music Society is pointed in positive directions for organizational growth and financial stability. We, too, know there is more work to be done. I’d like to take this moment to spotlight some of the initiatives underway and the people who are making them happen and solicit your feedback about how we can better serve you.

As a membership organization, CMS relies on revenue from annual dues and engagement by our members that advance the initiatives taken up by our Councils and Committees and serve our Common Topic. CMS membership, however, has experienced significant decline since 2014 when membership was 7,377. In 2021, we were able to slow decline, which then reached an historical membership "low point" in April of 2022 (3,883 members). Through a series of strategies and tactics, including Institutional Group Membership, we have since grown membership to 4,207, an increase of 8.4%. We are currently 193 members short of our membership goal for the fiscal year, which we aim to achieve by July 31, 2023.

This month, we are excited to launch the newly formed International Chapter, which will both serve as a home for colleagues around the globe and extend our reach across the profession and across the pond. We, too, are excited to announce our Institutional Undergraduate Student Membership. This new program, rolling out in early January, will allow music units to support their entire undergraduate student population to join our community of change agents by writing a single check.