What were the musical practices of Early Black Americans, and how can current performers and educators engage with them? We invite scholars, teachers, and practitioners to a two-day symposium designed to amass a musical toolbox for performing this music. We hope also to create a space for long term collaboration. The symposium takes the antebellum Black American practices as a point of departure but moves chronologically backwards and forwards and geographically across the Caribbean and Atlantic. Preliminary investigations include: what types of music and vocal/instrumental techniques did Black musicians in antebellum United States perform and in what contexts? What do we know about the performances, and what are the gaps in that knowledge? What tools do we need to interpret available sources? What are the ethical questions to consider surrounding performances of—and specifically white musicians’ participation in—historical music of the Black experience?
Participant preparation and discussion center a variety of seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth- century sources, theoretical approaches to the study of race and music, debates in historically-informed performance, excerpts of recordings from the early twentieth century, a range of transcriptions, and recent recordings. We will consider the local history of northern Virginia as a case study for how to involve one’s place in the process of interpretation and performance. We ask participants to come to the symposium prepared to: present specific responses to a number of directed discussion questions; engage critically and empathically in discussion with all other participants; and experiment with performance techniques with commitment and an open mind. Josephine Wright will participate (if the pandemic allows). There will be performances by local musicians as well as performance workshops. This symposium is part of a state-funded Virginia project led by Emily H. Green (George Mason University) with Michael Nickens (George Mason University), Bonnie Gordon (University of Virginia), and Mary Caton Lingold (Virginia Commonwealth University).
Applications from the following professions are especially encouraged: scholars of music, literature, dance, and history; performers of music or dance; K-12 teachers; and historical interpreters. Applicants should submit a 300-word narrative of experience with and interest in this subject matter and a CV/resume to egreen10@gmu.edu. The deadline is March 10, 2022.
More information about the symposium can be found on the Music of Early Black Virginians page.
The event image is a selection from this nineteenth-century source: http://www.slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/item/1022