 |
 |
Fri May 9, 2008
|
|
|
Fri May 9, 2008
|
About the AMS
The American Musicological Society was founded in 1934 as a non-profit organization to advance "research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship." In 1951 the Society became a constituent member of the American Council of Learned Societies. At present, 3,300 individual members and 1,200 institutional subscribers from forty nations are on the rolls of the Society.
The Society is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by the membership at large, consisting of six directors-at-large and five officers. An elected Council of sixty regular members and thirty student members advises the Board of Directors concerning the general policies of the Society. Within the framework of the Society are fifteen chapters, geographically circumscribed divisions covering all of the U.S. and Canada. The chapters hold meetings, at such time and place as determined by their elected officers, to bring the activity of the Society to the local level and make participation in the affairs and concerns of the discipline available to all.
To fulfill its declared purpose and to create a community of scholars, the AMS conducts a variety of enterprises. From the very beginning the Society has held annual meetings; these run from Thursday afternoon to Sunday noon on a weekend near the beginning of November. Concurrent sessions to accommodate the reading of about 145 papers form the core of the meetings, which also include study sessions, panel discussions and forums on a variety of topics. Concerts, exhibits, and social and business functions engage the time and interests of members beyond the scholarly sessions. The meetings are held in metropolitan centers from coast to coast in both the U.S. and Canada. Depending on the site of the meeting, attendance varies from 1,200 to 1,900. Abstracts of papers read are available for all in attendance and are for sale after the meetings.
In addition to its formal association with the American Council of Learned Societies, the AMS cooperates with the International Musicological Society, the Music Library Association, the Society for Music Theory, the Society for Ethnomusicology, the Society for American Music, and the College Music Society in undertakings of common interest. Joint meetings with one or more of these societies are held from time to time. In 1948 the Journal of the American Musicological Society was established, superseding earlier bulletins and papers read at annual meetings. It is published three times a year and contains articles, book reviews, and scholarly communications. By giving permanent form to the best in musicological research, the journal makes manifest the growth and vitality of the profession and reflects the scholarly interests of members.
A Newsletter, published in February and August, began to be issued regularly in 1971. It contains announcements, reports, a list of papers read at chapter meetings, obituaries, the program for the annual meeting, and sundry items of interest to the members.
The AMS Directory is an annual publication. In addition to the names and addresses of all current members and institutional subscribers, it includes the By-Laws of the Society as well as lists of governing personnel, honorary and corresponding members, past presidents, current committees, guidelines for award and fellowship competitions, and the Society's Guidelines for Ethical Conduct.
Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology, a published list of dissertations in progress and completed at institutions worldwide, reached its eighth accumulation in 1996. The comprehensive index, regularly updated, is available on-line at http://www.music.indiana.edu/ddm
Music of the United States of America (MUSA) is an extensive series of music editions sponsored by the American Musicological Society and funded through the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Michigan's Institute for American Music. Its offices are located at the University of Michigan. Eleven of the projected forty volumes are currently available.
Bequests from Manfred Bukofzer, Otto Kinkeldey, Gustave Reese, Dragan Plamenac, Paul Pisk, and Lloyd Hibberd formed the nucleus of an endowment fund established in 1971 to support the publication of books and editions of music. These have in some cases been published and distributed by the Society, but are more often supported by subventions to university and commercial presses. The endowment also provides income to fund annual awards. These include the Einstein Award for the best article published in the preceding year by a young scholar, the Kinkeldey Award for the best book of that year, the Greenberg Award for support of a performance-oriented project, and the Pisk Prize for the best paper presented at the AMS Annual Meeting.
On the occasion of the Society's fiftieth anniversary in 1984, a new venture was inaugurated: a campaign to raise $500,000 of capital funds to endow one-year fellowships awarded to doctoral candidates in the dissertation-writing year of their education. An award of matching funds on a three-to-one basis was granted by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Society's goal, to provide five annual fellowships, was met in 1997. Although the anniversary celebration quite properly looked to the future, the past was docmuented in a booklet, The American Musicological Society 1934-1984. This contains an anniversary essay on the founding and early history of the Society and is followed by lists of officers and board members, winners of awards, editors of the journal, and honorary and corresponding members.
