Locations and Dislocations: An Ecomusicological Conversation

April 8-10, 2016

Westminster Choir College of Rider University

Princeton, NJ

“Locations and Dislocations: An Ecomusicological Conversation” seeks to bring together scholars, performers, and composers to further explore the relationships between music, culture, and the environment. The conference will tune to sounds as they fit or belong in the place they are heard, as they fit or belong in some other place, or as they have no ecological home, either built or natural. Among the questions at stake are those concerning how listeners (dis)locate sounds; how sounds both emanate from and shape their environments; what causes sounding bodies to locate, relocate, and dislocate; whether some sounds are un-locateable; and how technologies splice, combine, and compress sounds into new locations. The keynote speaker is composer Byron Au Yong (hearbyron.com). The son of immigrants, Au Yong’s music and music theater works—which include site-specific collaborations—have extensively explored notions of “home” and “not home,” location and dislocation.

This conference is co-sponsored by Westminster Choir College of Rider University, the Ecocriticism Study Group of the American Musicological Society, the Ecomusicology Special Interest Group of the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Popular Music Study Group of the American Musicological Society.

Conference Schedule

Abstracts and biographies for presentations on April 8

Abstracts and biographies for presentations on April 9

Abstracts and biographies for presentations on April 10

Call for Papers

Registration Information:

The conference is now full, and registration is closed.

Transportation and Hotel Information

Westminster Choir College of Rider University is located at 101 Walnut Lane, just blocks from downtown Princeton, NJ. It is about one hour by car from both Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport. For those looking to use public transportation from an airport, Newark is more convenient, as you can take the AirTrain to the New Jersey Transit train station. For car directions, please visit: http://www.rider.edu/wcc/about-us/contact-us/directions.

The conference hotel is the Doubletree Princeton at 4355 US Route 1, Princeton, NJ 08540. The conference rate is $117/night, and you can make the reservation at: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/P/PCTDTDT-WCC-20160404/index.jhtml. Reservations under this rate is changeable, and include shuttle service to and from the Westminster Choir College campus. Internet and parking are free. The conference rate will be available until March 8th or until the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first.