cfp.english.upenn.edu

Music and Philosophy

1st Annual Conference of the Royal Musical Association Music and Philosophy Study Group

Generously supported by the British Society of Aesthetics and the Centre for Music on Stage and Screen (University of Nottingham)

Institute of Musical Research and Institute of Philosophy, Stewart House, University of London

Friday and Saturday, 1-2 July 2011

Keynote speakers: tbc

The RMA Music and Philosophy Study Group warmly invites paper submissions for their inaugural two-day international conference, to be held in London on 1-2 July 2011. The event, the first of an annual series of conferences run by the Study Group, will offer an opportunity for musicologists and philosophers to share and discuss work in the hope of furthering dialogue between the two disciplines. Paper submissions on all topics related to the area of music and philosophy are welcome, but in particular those relating to this year’s theme of ‘Opera and Philosophy’. Collaboration between persons from different disciplines would be especially welcomed.

In addition to papers relating to the conference theme, topics of interest might include (but are not limited to):

- music, meaning, and language
- perception and expression
- music and ethics
- music and ontology
- performance, authenticity, and interpretation

Conference theme 2011: ‘Opera and Philosophy’

For centuries, from Rousseau, through Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, to Adorno, Williams, Zizek, Dolar and beyond, opera has captured the imaginations of philosophers. At the same time, musicology has engaged enthusiastically with connections between philosophical thought and operatic themes, such as, for example, the relationship between music and words, the limits and possibilities of opera as social and political expression, and the rich potential of voice as bearer of meaning and subjectivity. This year’s theme of ‘Opera and Philosophy’ seeks to encourage further discussion of opera as a medium which straddles ontological, metaphysical, and hermeneutic spheres, inviting exploration of issues related to areas such as representation, expression, language, narrative, meaning, and ethics.

Proposals of up to 500 words are invited for individual papers (20 minutes) and collaborative papers (up to 30 minutes).

Please submit proposals by e-mail to the conference organiser Dr Nanette Nielsen: nanette.nielsen at nottingham.ac.uk

The deadline for proposals is Monday 10 January 2011.

All paper submissions will be considered by the conference committee:

Professor Garry Hagberg
Professor Julian Johnson
Mr Tomas McAuley
Dr Nanette Nielsen