The end of the New York Musicological Society in 1934 resulted in the beginning of the American Musicological Society (AMS). When the New York organization disbanded, several of its former members met under the direction of Gustave Reese, a young faculty member at New York University. The group was a mix of scholars, teachers, and performers who wanted to grow and strengthen the study of music as an aspect/element of culture (i.e., musicology) with its history, economies, sociologies, material cultures, etc. They decided that day, on June 5, 1934, to create the AMS and to elect Professor Otto Kinkeldey of Cornell as its president. Richard Crawford, president of the AMS in 1984, wrote about the event in an essay to commemorate the organization’s fiftieth birthday.
“The field of musicology was still nascent then, and as it developed and gained legitimacy, the Society grew,” explains Siovahn A. Walker, PhD, MPA, who serves as the R.F. Judd Executive Director of the American Musicological Society, Inc. “That is why and how the AMS started.”
Now, 90 years after that fateful meeting, the AMA is going strong under Walker’s leadership. Based in New York, the Society is dedicated to advancing the study and teaching of music through a broad array of programs, including grants, fellowships, awards, publications, and events.
“What we do today is much more expansive and testifies to the huge importance of music -- all types of music -- in culture and everyday life,” says Walker. “Basically, we give away money for research, teaching, publication and performance; we convene meetings and conferences in music studies where people teach, learn and connect; and we try to find engaging ways to deliver accurate information about music history, repertoires, and cultures that comprehends the full complexity and diversity of music and sound, including the ways that different musical cultures have influenced each other or become intertwined.”
Walker states she is not an academic but a humanist and historian by training. “I have an MPA and a business degree in running nonprofits.” She is not a musician but admits to playing the viola “badly.” Entering the nonprofit world, Walker worked for several organizations before starting a consulting business for nonprofit management. One of those organizations was the AMS.
The unexpected death of the previous executive director, Robert Judd, left the AMS in a lurch. “He had been with the AMS for twenty years. The Board asked if I would step in as interim director, which I did. Then the pandemic hit.”
The organization made it through, and during that time, Walker realized that she was working with a group of “lovely people.” She explains that it’s not all about getting on stage and performing in the musical world. “Many musicologists are also performers, but many also study how music has developed over time, how instruments were developed, the economic impact of music, music industries, and social structure. Really, it’s everything about music, and there is always some kind of interpretive content.”
Walker talks about music as an experiential art and says that music is essential in this complicated political moment. “We can connect people and tell our history through music.”
The AMS is a nationwide organization with 15 chapters in different regions of the country, many of which hold public lectures and events. Membership in the AMS is heavy with people who are academics in one way or another. “There are a lot of members who are in music study or music history departments at universities and conservatories. We also have students who are interested in musicology.
As part of “Many Musics of America,” a project of the AMS, the Kennedy Creek Old Time Music Festival is held each fall. This year’s festival will be held September 5 through 8 at Kennedy Creek Resort in Suches, Georgia. “It’s a wonderful event,” says Walker. “We got involved three years ago as a sponsor, and now it is part of our Many Musics of America series. The festival will have workshops and performances, with something for music scholars and the general public.”
The AMS also holds an annual meeting, which will be held this year on November 14 through 17 in Chicago.
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