Upcoming Meetings

Society for Ethnomusicology, Southern Plains Chapter & American Musicological Society, Southwest Chapter
Spring 2024 Joint Meeting
Proposal Due Date: January 19, 2024
Meeting Date: Friday & Saturday, April 5-6, 2024 

We cordially invite you to attend the SEM-SP/AMS-SW Joint Conference hosted by the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) on April 5-6, 2024.

Register now to take advantage of our pre-registration discount. Please click the SEM-SP/AMS-SW 2024 Google Registration Form link to complete your registration. Registration fees are $10 for professionals and $5 for students (by 3/15).  

  • Membership dues for AMS-SW are to be paid online at the AMS-SW chapter button on the “Store” of the American Musicological Society, via this link.
    • In accordance with AMS bylaws, presenters at AMS-SW Chapter meetings are required to hold membership in both the AMS-SW Chapter and in AMS.
    • Otherwise, registration payment should be made via PayPal at paypal.me/SEMSP  (semsouthernplainschapter@gmail.com)
  • IMPORTANT: Please select “Friends and Family” when making your payment to avoid a fee. 

Visit the SEM-SP Regional Conferences website for the full program and recommendations for accommodations.

Featured Events

Friday, April 5th (All events in the Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd)

  • Musical Performances and lecture-recitals, 1:00 – 3:00pm
  • Roundtable discussion on “Music Curriculum on the Border by the Sea and Beyond,” 3:30 – 5:00pm
  • OU New Book Release Reception, 5:00-6:00pm
  • gl-OK-al Masala Concert (featuring world and new music of Oklahoma), 7:30 – 9:00pm
  • Post-concert Irish-Contra Dance “Session” and refreshments.

Saturday, April 6th (All events at Wagner Hall, 1005 Asp Ave.)

  • Presentations by scholars & students, 8:30am – 3:00pm
  • Keynote Address, 4:00 – 5:00pm, followed by a reception from 5-6.
    • Marysol Quevedo (University of Miami) – “Composing Opera Beyond Labels: Liquid Sonority in Tania J. León’s Scourge of Hyacinths

In this presentation, Dr. Quevedo contextualizes Tania J. León’s aria “Oh Yemanja” within the opera Scourge of Hyacinths (1994) and the broader web of connections that imbue the work with a multiplicity of meanings. Following a discussion on how León modified Wole Soyinka’s original radio play—shifting its focus to a matriarchal perspective—Quevedo explores its connection to historical political events in Nigeria and its potential resonance with audiences and performers facing similar circumstances of political oppression. Her analysis demonstrates that León not only merges contemporary classical music traditions with Yoruba-derived melodies, she also integrates aesthetic and spiritual practices that draw from and speak to Afro-diasporic understandings of womanhood, motherhood, sacrifice, and pain. This presentation also reflects on how this analysis dialogues with and contributes to the emergent field of aquacentric humanities.

For any other questions or concerns regarding the conference, please visit the Society for Ethnomusicology Southern Plains Chapter or send an email to semsouthernplainschapter@gmail.com