Joint Meeting of the Allegheny and Capital Chapters of the AMS, Feb 28-Mar 1, 2026 Event Notice NEW

The Allegheny & Capital Chapters of the AMS are pleased to announce the program for our joint spring meeting, held Feb 28–Mar 1, 2026, at Gettysburg College. The conference will feature guest speaker Dr. Rodrigo Sigal (composer and sound studies specialist) and a colloquy on musicology pedagogy today.

Conference Location: Majestic Theatre, 25 Carlisle St, Gettysburg, PA 17325

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28:

11:00–12:30 PAPER PANEL 1: Screen, Stage, & Sound

• Michael Baumgartner, “Motion and Rhythm: René Clair’s Entr’acte (1924) and ‘the Melodious Clowning of Satie’ as a Blueprint for a Modernist Audio-Visual Aesthetic
• Lauren Adamow, “Ave Maria” is Aqua: A Synesthete’s Handbook for Music (Color) Theory”
• Avery Faust, “‘A song to fix what’s wrong’: Diegesis and Hope in Hadestown”

12:30–1:30 Lunch Break

1:30–2:30 MUSICOLOGY & PRACTICE COLLOQUY* (moderated by Gretchen Carlson)

2:30–3:30 PAPER PANEL 2: Text & Act

• Miranda Bartira Tagliari Sousa, “Nineteenth-Century Influencers: Music and the Press in 1880s Rio de Janeiro”
• Davis Badaszewski, “This is the Record of John by Orlando Gibbons: A Guide to Performance and Registration Practices”

3:30–3:40 Short Break

3:40–5:10 PAPER PANEL 3: Visions of Musical America

• Douglas Bomberger, “‘Winter Wraps his Grimmest Spell’: Edward MacDowell’s Seasonal Compositions”
• Codee Spinner, “Pedagogy, Healing, and Eroticism in the Spiritualist Piano Lessons of May Wright Sewall”
• Gretchen Carlson, “Jon Batiste’s American Symphony: Pursuing a More Perfect Union”

5:10–5:20 Short Break

5:20-6:50 KEYNOTE: Dr. Rodrigo Sigal
“The Art of Sound and Technology at the Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts”

7:00– DINNER

SUNDAY, MARCH 1:

9:00-10:00 LECTURE RECITAL
Icy Nguyen, “‘What about the space in between?’–– A lecture recital on Liminal Space in Schumann’s Kreisleriana”

10:00-10:10 Short Break

10:10-11:10 PAPER PANEL 4: Musicology, Methodology, & Pedagogy

• Jessica Grimmer, “From Product to Process: Rethinking Credit in Music DH”
• Matthew Franke, “Decentering Genre and Promoting Critical Thinking in Pop Music Pedagogy”

11:10-11:20 Short Break

11:20-12:20 CHAPTER BUSINESS MEETINGS

* All conference attendees are invited to participate in the Musicology & Practice Colloquy. This session will primarily focus on the following questions, which we encourage you to consider in the lead-up to the conference:

1. What are the primary goals of musicology programs, specifically (i.e., what skills/knowledge/preparation do we want our students to graduate with)?
2. How can we design our programs to align with our primary goals, and to meet the needs and interests/motivations of our current and future students?
3. How do we engage and contend with the current AI/tech revolution?
   What unique challenges/crises are musicology programs currently facing, and what solutions can we offer?
4. How do we continue to effectively communicate the value/importance of musicology to current and future generations of students (and their parents)?