Dr. John Pippen will present his research at the 2019 Society of Ethnomusicology conference; the 64th annual conference is being held at the Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana on Nov. 7-10.
According to ethnomusicology.org, “ethnomusicology is the study of music in its social and cultural contexts. Ethnomusicologists examine music as a social process in order to understand not only what music is but what it means to its practitioners and audiences.”
Based on a survey of previous conference attendees, the primary society encouraged the formation of paper presentations by panels comprised of a mix of junior and senior scholars from multiple institutions, and presenters from more than one country. Dr. Pippen organized a panel, which was accepted by the national conference selection committee. “Though I’ve presented there several times, it was a competitive process,” said Dr. Pippen.
Dr. Pippen’s paper draws on his fieldwork in the rehearsals of professional new classical music groups to demonstrate the ways social relations and musical ideologies blur. He contrasts the private labor of rehearsals with ensemble brands built on virtuosity and notions of accessibility. To this end, ensembles routinely post rehearsal pictures with entertaining captions on social media. However, rehearsals could see tense discussions, disagreements, and even arguments. A similar contrast emerged in the way musicians conceived of music. Rehearsal efforts were guided by an ideology of the “work concept” as an autonomous object, yet routinely re-worked structural aspects of a piece in order to “make it better.” However, too much change risked presenting a poor evaluation of the composition. This was demonstrated whenever composers attended rehearsals and musicians affected a fun and cordial atmosphere that played up positive evaluations of the composition.
Honest opinions of the music in question and the playing of members, however, remained guarded, often only revealed in private after-the fact discussions. In interviews, musicians explained both the face work of rehearsals and the adaptation of musical works as necessary for ensemble unity and the demands of their professional field. Examining such rehearsals as site of labor shows the music as a mode of both social and ideological negotiation, and it complicates distinctions between personal relations and professional goals. By contrasting such labor with promotional strategies, Dr. Pippen shows how musicians construct commodities intended to align with contemporary discourses of labor and art.