Event overview
A one day interdisciplinary seminar at Kings College London, 23 May 2014, organised by Dr Christina Scharff and Anna Bull. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council
Studies of contemporary practices and institutions associated with western classical music have tended to fall in between disciplinary boundaries, in the interstices of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, ethnomusicology and musicology. As a result, questions around the social and cultural reproduction of these practices as well as the institutional settings in which this reproduction occurs remain under-scrutinised. In the context of the on-going association of classical music with ‘high culture’ and middle class taste; the continuing lack of diversity among classical musicians and audiences; and the expansion of classical music as a middle class practice in China and India, among other developments, we seek to reinvigorate critical analyses and explorations of Western classical music.
This seminar calls, therefore, for a renewed attention to the contemporary cultures surrounding classical music, asking what is being legitimated, reproduced and subverted alongside and through these practices. Building on theoretical and empirical work on music and the social by Georgina Born; writing on music and ideology from Lucy Green; and wider considerations about the role of music in our lives (David Hesmondhalgh), themes for this workshop may include (but are not limited to):
- the role of institutional settings in shaping dominant traditions of classical music practice;
- the politics and ideologies of the field of classical music, including its perceived status as 'high' or 'dominant' culture;
- the working lives of musicians, situating the profession within the broader field of the cultural and creative sector and attending to the workforce’s lack of diversity
- continuities, changes and exclusionary practices in the education and training of classical musicians.
Respondant: Professor Bev Skeggs, Values and Value Unit, Department of Sociology
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 23 May 2014 | 9:00am - 5:00pm |
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