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Rethinking Landscape: Environment, Place, and Heritage in British Music Studies

Posted: January 27th, 2025 | Filed under: Calls for Papers | Comments Off on Rethinking Landscape: Environment, Place, and Heritage in British Music Studies

North American British Music Studies Association Online Symposium:
10-12 July 2025 on Zoom
https://nabmsa.org

The topic of the North American British Music Studies Association’s 2025 biennial symposium is Rethinking Landscape: Environment, Place, and Heritage in British Music Studies. Landscape and environment have been topics of perennial interest in British Music Studies, inspiring both celebrated and controversial readings of connections between British music, nature and climate, and identity. Yet in the era of the climate change emergency, these issues are both taking on new urgency, and prompting new debates and compositional techniques. We thus propose a timely rethink of the scholarly terrain and thinking around landscape in British music.

We hope to address the following questions: how does the category of landscape continue to inform British music studies in the era of climate crisis? How are new generations of performers and composers responding to landscape in fresh and innovative ways? How can the traditional methodologies for discussing landscape in music be informed by techniques and perspectives from sound studies, environmental science, philosophy and heritage studies? How can fresh insights into landscape and environment inform our historical study of earlier British musical traditions? How might a new focus on place (ranging from the global to the local) challenge and reframe entrenched conceptions of British musical landscape?

With these initial questions in mind, we invite contributions within the broad field of British music studies, landscape, and environment, addressing any historical period and encompassing historical, theoretical, compositional, and performative perspectives. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Landscape and representation: diverse and distinctive British landscapes in music (four nations, the sea).
  • Music heritage, museology and landscape
  • Global landscapes in British music
  • Precarious landscapes, climate change and music
  • New compositional and performative responses to climate change
  • British music and sound studies
  • Empire and environment: conquered and contested landscapes and sound studies
  • Climate catastrophe and natural threats in British music
  • Music and place: localism, community, institutions, festivals
  • Landscape in British popular musical traditions
  • Music, activism and politics around climate change and environment; traditions of protest and environmental disruption

We invite you to submit an abstract (200‒300 words) and a brief biography (100‒150 words) for a paper presentation of 20 minutes’ duration by 12 noon EST on 28 April 2025 to [email protected]. All participants will be notified by Conveners about the acceptance of their proposals by the end of May. Information about registration will be given in due course. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact the organizing team at the conference email address: [email protected].

Convenors: Rachel Bani, Kirsten Barker, Joanna Bullivant, Rosemary Golding, Nicholas Jones