Music in Difficult Times: Global—Plural Temporalities Concordia University, Montreal. May 3–5, 2024Deadline: February 15, 2024

“May you live in interesting times!” 

Apocryphal Chinese Curse

From global pandemics to rising inflation, through the expansion of authoritarian governments and military conflict, set against climate transformations caused by unchecked capitalist development, the world is now living (or perishing) through what Indo-German composer Sandeep Bhagawti cheekily calls “interesting times.” And yet, as is often the case during periods of crisis, these times have also seen countless forms of resistance, organizing, and creativity spring up in the face of hardship. Efforts to question and transform oppressive institutions and practices have emerged through organized students, artists, and activists who know that the future belongs to all. Since a crisis is always a turning point (krisis), it demands a time for thinking, a critical decision (krinein) that takes account of the present to imagine future possibilities. It is a time to gather, to listen broadly and critically.

We are seeking proposals for a two-day interdisciplinary conference at Concordia University’s Matralab Inter-X Arts Research Space in Montréal, in the context of the Society for Contemporary Music of Quebec’s 2023-2024 Homage Season dedicated to composer and multimedia artist Sandeep Bhagwati. Inspired by the wide-ranging, interdisciplinary orientations of his work, the conference seeks performers, composers, academics, organizers, and diverse publics to examine the conditions, challenges, and possibilities for transformation in global musical communities.

In this respect, the conference focuses on the relation between music-making and the concepts of crisis, time, and temporality—broadly conceived. This includes music-theoretical concerns with musical time in its various dimensions (rhythm, meter, hypermeter) as well as the different temporalities that music occupies: from the millisecond-scale of microsounds through hour- and day-long compositions, through the generational expanse of performing traditions, and even the macrotemporal dimensions of geological times opened by the sonorification of earthly phenomena and their accelerating transformations during the anthropocene. 

How have musicians responded to moments of upheaval in historical times? How does musical practice engage transformative action? Can music be both a space for withdrawal, spiritual or bodily healing, as well as an avenue for social change? What responsibilities do we have as academics, educators, curators, and performers with respect to our musical traditions and the communities that nourish us? What unique capacities emerge from a living practice in musical culture—training, tradition, listening skills—that we might draw upon in order to face the demands of the present?

With keynotes by meLê yamomo (University of Amsterdam), and a workshop by Anaïs Maviel (NYC).

Alongside academic papers (20min + 10min Q&A), we are interested in open-form, experimental formats, and lecture-recitals. Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• — Intersections between current economic, social, and/or environmental crises and musical practices
• — Historical perspectives on musicking in periods of crisis
• — Music as resistance/healing/transformation/community organization 
• — Critical/postcolonial/decolonial perspectives on the notion of “crisis”
• — Music and futurity (especially Queer, Indigenous, Afro-futurist, Global-South and other non-hegemonic perspectives)
• — Conceptual and critical aspects of musical time and “difficulty” (complex meters, extreme speed or slowness, unusual durations)
• — Music, climate change, and the anthropocene (glocal, pluriversal, situated approaches)
• — Scarcity, precarity, and capital in new, experimental, contemporary music scenes
• — Musicking as resistance against (new)fascism, anti-Black racism, white supremacy, settler-colonialism, authoritarianism
• — Music and/as world-building, resurgence, sustainability, deceleration, intergenerational ethics

Proposals from graduate students, particularly from minoritized communities or backgrounds, are especially welcome. 

Please send a 350-word abstract, 150-word bio, and a list of five keywords to daniel.villegasvelez@concordia.ca with the subject “Conference submission.” For alternative format proposals, you may provide one page or a weblink to access supporting materials (2-3 minutes in length).