Sonneck Society for American Music
Bulletin, Volume XXIV, no. 3 (Fall 1998)
Conference Update
Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary, Texas Christian University, and the University of North
Texas are proud to host the Society's 25th national conference, scheduled for 10-14 March 1999.
Although the Society will be celebrating its twenty-fifth year, this is the first conference to be
held in the Southwest. The site is Fort Worth's Radisson Plaza Hotel, whose registry has recorded
such names as Rudolph Valentino, Billy Rose, Elvis Presley, Carol Channing, and Luciano Pavarotti.
Sonneckers will be pleased with the basic room rate of $99, which is up a little from the 1948 price
of $3.50 but well within the budget restrictions of most members. This excellent hotel lies in the
heart of the historic downtown area and within a few blocks of Sundance Square, a lively entertainment
and dining district, and Philip Johnson's contemplative Water Gardens.
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An early high point of the conference will come on Thursday afternoon, 11 March, when the Society will
give honorary membership to Van Cliburn at an event in Ft. Worth's newly completed and critically-acclaimed
Bass Hall. This will be an occassion for the performance of several American works commissioned over the
years for the Cliburn Competition. Pianists will probably include Cliburn Gold Medalist Jos Feghali,
Casadesus Prize winner John Owings, and their students from Texas Christian University's Graduate
Performer's Certificate in Piano program. Another honoree, this time for lifetime achievement, will be
Latin American music scholar Robert Stevenson, whose work will be acknowledged as part of a concert by the
Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary Oratorio Chorus and Forth Worth Chamber Orchestra. The Duke
Ellington centennial will be stylishly observed in the evening of Friday the 12th by the University of
North Texas Jazz Repertory Ensemble, David Joyner, conductor. David will return the following evening
with The Roof Raisers, who will provide music for the Society's annual banquet, which naturally will have a
Country & Western theme. Between dining and dancing, an instructor will take us through some of the basic
C & W moves. Previously though, on Friday afternoon, conference attendees will have a choice of tours to
Ft. Worth's museums, the historic Stockyards District, and TCU's Cliburn Archive, for those who prefer
to skip the touring for more scholarship, COPAM will hold a mini-conference for MUSA authors and
potential authors. Some fruits of MUSA labors will be heard in recital on Saturday afternoon before the
business meeting, following which there will be a reception and Brass Band recital.
All things considered, including the weather-friendly time of year and thirty-minute proximity to
Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, this should be a memorable conference. There is even a chance that
NPR's "Performance Today" will spread the musical and scholarly wealth abroad.
Local Arrangements Committee: Barbara Davis, Fang-Lan Hsieh, David Joyner, Allen Lott (co-chair), Mark
McKnight, Michael Meckna (co-chair), and David Music.
Updated 12/29/98