THE
CENTRE FOR INTERCULTURAL MUSICOLOGY
AT CHURCHILL COLLEGE
Music is remarkable for its
ability to build bridges across cultures and promote
understanding among the peoples of the world. Contrary to
popular belief, music is not a universal language and
different peoples have different languages of music.
However, the ease with which we can acquire one
another’s musical languages is an indication of the
unifying power of music. In spite of the diversity of
cultures, there is a high incidence of shared resources in
the musics of the world and this is a phenomenon that
reflects historical and contemporary contacts between the
world’s populations. Think, for example, of the
globalization of the symphony orchestra and of jazz. Think
also of the spread of African resources first to the
Americas and thence to other parts of the world through
idioms of popular music. The symphony orchestra is today
found in practically all regions of the world and it is
almost impossible to believe that it was born partly
through the European acquisition of musical instruments
that originated from the Middle East (and this by the way
is an early example of intercultural activity). As a result
of intercultural mobility, jazz has acquired the status of
world music and is no longer “American”.
The
objectives of the Centre for Intercultural Musicology at
Churchill College (CIMACC) are guided by the comments made
above; the Centre is devoted to the study and promotion of
cross-cultural activity in music, including composition,
performance and scholarly work.
Background
The
creation of CIMACC is the culmination of activities carried
out in the United Kingdom for over 15 years. CIMACC was
preceded by the Centre for Intercultural Music Arts (CIMA),
which was established as a British charity in 1989. Since
1990, CIMA has organized a biennial international symposium
and festival and published a series of books under the
general title Intercultural
Music. CIMA was recently relocated to
Spain, under the presidency of Prof.Dr. Maria Angustias
Ortiz Molina of the University of Granada, where the
9th
biennial
international symposium and festival took place in April
2006. The new organization, CIMACC, is a direct offspring
of CIMA, not least because the director of CIMACC, Akin
Euba, was also the founding director of CIMA (UK) and is
now honorary director of CIMA (Spain). Since 2001, Euba has
organized a biennial international symposium and festival
on “Composition in Africa and the Diaspora” at
Churchill College and this event, too, has been a catalyst
for CIMACC. The new organization, then, is a formalization
and expansion (both thematically and geographically) of
ongoing activities and is based on a solid record of
previous achievement.
CIMACC’s
Programme
CIMACC’s programme will
include international symposia and festivals, which have
taken place biennially at Churchill College since 2001, and
the series “Dialogues in Music”. In addition,
there will be summer residencies for composers and
scholars, ad hoc concerts of traditional and modern music
from various parts of the world, and publications,
including the bulletin, Intercultural
Musicology (previously issued by CIMA UK)
and CDs of selected materials from the CIMACC festivals.
Symposia and festivals planned for the period 2007-10 are
as follows.
2007 4th
Biennial
International Symposium and Festival on Composition in
Africa and the Diaspora.
2008 Symposium and Festival on
Composition in Asia.
2009 Symposium and Festival on
Composition in Latin America.
2010 Symposium and Festival on the
theme “Bridging Musicology and Composition:
Bartok’s Method in a Global Context.”
Dialogues in Music are planned for Beijing (2007), Madras
(2008), Los Angeles (2009) and Berlin (2010).
CIMACC
Board of Management
Tim
Cribb,
formerly Tutor for Advanced Students and Director of
Studies in English, Churchill College, Cambridge.
Ruth
Davis,
University Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology and Fellow
and Director of Studies in Music at Corpus Christi College,
University of Cambridge.
Akin
Euba,
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music, University of
Pittsburgh.
Maxine
Franklin, Concert Pianist.
Abiola
Irele,
Professor of African and African American Studies and
Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University.
Karl
Sandeman, Director of Studies in
Physics, Churchill College, University of Cambridge.
Hwee-San
Tan,
Lecturer in Ethnomusicology, University College Dublin.
Jeremy
Thurlow, Lecturer in Music, Robinson
College, University of Cambridge.
For more information about CIMACC, please contact:
Professor Akin Euba,
Centre for Intercultural Musicology
Churchill College
Cambridge CB3 ODS,
UK
E-mail: oae21@cam.ac.uk
