Our Mission
The mission of the Society for American Music is to stimulate the appreciation, performance, creation and study of American musics of all eras and in all their diversity, including the full range of activities and institutions associated with these musics throughout the world.
Oscar Sonneck (1873-1928)
The Society for American Music was founded in honor of and originally named for the first critical scholar and bibliographer of American Music, Oscar G. T. Sonneck.
The Sonneck Circle was established in 2003 to honor the memory of Oscar Sonneck, and offers its members additional benefits. To see a list of contributors and read more about the Sonneck Circle click here.
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37th Annual Conference, Call for Submissions Deadline: June 15, 2010
2010 Awards of the Society
At the annual business meeting held on March 20, 2010 in Ottawa, the following awards were announced:
Irving Lowens Award for distinguished scholarship in American Music (book):
Charles Hiroshi Garrett, author of Struggling to Define a Nation: American Music and the Twentieth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008)
Irving Lowens Award for distinguished scholarship in American Music (article):
Brian Harker, author of "Louis Armstrong, Eccentric Dance, and the Evolution of Jazz on the Eve of Swing," Journal of the American Musicological Society Volume 61, No. 1
Wiley Housewright Dissertation Award:
Jonathan Greenberg for "Singing Up Close: Voice, Language, and Race in American Popular Music, 1925-1935" (University of California, Los Angeles, 2008)
Mark Tucker Award (student paper):
William Cheng for "A Question of Co-Hobbitation: Towards a Virtual Democracy in 'The Lord of the Rings Online'"
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Wayne Shirley, in recognition of his wide and deep love for American music, unparalleled knowledge of it, and lifelong determination to share that knowledge and love with others.
Honorary Membership Award: R. Murray Schafer, in recognition of his extraordinary and deep commitment to the fields of music and theater as composer, performer, educator, scholar, visual artist, and journalist.
Distinguished Service Award:
Dale Cockrell,, in recognition of his deep commitment to bettering our community of the lovers of American music and with sincere appreciation for his dedicated efforts toward furthering the mission of the Society.
Congratulations to all our award recipients!
Updating Resources of American Music History
The Society for American Music, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for American Music, has received a National Leadership Grant to plan for an updated and electronic version of Resources of American Music History: A Directory of Source Materials from Colonial Times to World War II , originally compiled by D.W. Krummel, Jean Geil, Doris J. Dyen, and Deane L. Root (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1981). Position papers are being written and a planning conference is scheduled for 26-28 April 2009. For more information on the project visit the RAMH2 website.
News:
Copyright Petition
Please download the ARSC copyright petition and make any comments to the ARSC Petition email thread soon to be on the SAM list-serv. Not subscribed to the list-serv yet? Join up here!
Give a JSAM Gift Subscription
The Society for American Music is pleased to announce that it is now possible for you to share the in-depth and quality research presented in each issue of the Journal of the Society for American Music with family and friends. Gift subscriptions are only $50.00 per year! These are only available to current members of SAM and can be renewed annually. We'll even send the recipient a card letting them know about your gift! Simply complete the JSAM Gift Subscription Form and mail or fax it back to us.