The Fifth International Conference on Minimalist Music
September 24–27, 2015
The Department of Musicology, University of Turku & the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland
Usually associated with the North American style propagated since the 1960s by composers like Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and La Monte Young, the influence of minimalism on musical life and cross-arts practices extends beyond these now canonical figures and arguably also predates them. This conference will continue to direct focused attention towards the core repertory, but will also encourage work which challenges our assumptions about the boundaries of the style and its significance.
Minimalism Unbounded! will focus above all on the relevance of the minimalist style in the 21st century. The influence of minimalism is especially evident in music performed in multimodal and cross-artistic settings, including film, musical theatre, sound, installation and performance art. It has disseminated and transformed beyond its reductive origins in the musical avant-garde and is today heard in diverse settings, some of them recognisably postminimalist, informed by environmental concerns, inspired by spiritual or mystical ideas, and permeating popular styles and forms including film scores, ambient and drone music, glitch and IDM.
We cordially invite submissions on a broad range of topics representing different disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. We welcome musicologists and composers, cultural theorists and philosophers, inter-arts researchers and music theorists with a view to stimulating lively debate about the past and current state of the art in minimalist music and cognate artistic practices.
In this conference we will encourage new debates about the sounds and cultural meanings of minimalist music.
We especially welcome work which
– extends our understanding of minimalism as a sonic, social and cultural practice in the 21st century
– offers new perspectives on the core minimalist repertory
– opens new pathways to understanding minimalism as a musical and cross-arts phenomenon, especially how the style has migrated between genres, media and forms
– offers new perspectives on the different traditions and influences on the style, including precursors of minimalism
– sheds new light on minimalism in the Nordic region
– discusses examples of postminimalism which have taken the style in new directions, including drone music and music that draws on alternative tuning systems
– addresses the rich terrain of intersections of minimalism with popular music and culture, ranging from pop art to IDM.
Keynote speakers (details to be posted later)
Robert Fink
Jelena Novak
Guest composer (details to be posted later)
Kyle Gann
Proposals for individual papers, sessions and workshops should be submitted using the online forms at the conference website:
http://www.utu.fi/minimalism
Deadline for proposals: March 30th 2015.
The conference is organised jointly by the Department of Musicology at the University of Turku and the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, in Helsinki, Finland. It is supported by the Society for Minimalist Music (http://minimalismsociety.org ) and the International Institute for Popular Culture at the University of Turku (https://iipcblog.wordpress.com)
Contact email: minimalism(at)utu.fi
http://www.utu.fi/minimalism