Greece: Conference on Music, Language and Identity in Modern Greece (Athens, 8-10 May, 2015)

Details here

Music, language and identity in Modern Greece: Defining a national art music in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

An international conference hosted by the Centre for Hellenic Studies in collaboration with the Music Department of King's College London, Athens Conservatoire and the British School at Athens

The conference will pose - but will not be limited to - questions such as: How has the concept of song (‘τραγούδι’) made its mark on the productions of Greek art musicians and poets alike? How has this concept been implicated in distinctions such as ‘high’/‘art’ and ‘low’/‘popular’ music? What was the role of religious chant in Greek musical narratives? How have Greek musicians and poets articulated the relationship between their respective arts? How did Greek musicians and poets refer to western composers, such as Beethoven or Wagner? Above all, to what extent was ‘pure’ music (whether by western or Greek composers) viewed in distinction to vocal music in general and song in particular, and how was it linked, directly or indirectly, to the themes of ‘the Greek heritage’ or ‘the Greek spirit’? Accordingly, how have Greek composers of ‘pure’ music been viewed and treated in ‘authoritative’ narratives about Greek art music? How did the ‘language question’ eventually affect the way in which the history of modern Greek music came to be written, especially in the first half of the 20th century?

The conference will be of interest to students of modern Greek poetry and music; ‘the autonomy of music’ and ‘national music’; ‘musical poetics’ of poets; the role of music in the construction of national identity; Balkan music; and more generally cultural approaches to poetry and music.

Confirmed participants:

Academic speakers:
Scott Burnham (Princeton University)
Kostas Chardas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Christophe Corbier (CRAL, CNRS, Paris)
Marina Frolova-Walker (University of Cambridge)
Kostas Kardamis (Ionian University, Corfu)
Katerina Levidou (University of Athens and King’s College London)
Alexander Lingas (City University)
Peter Mackridge (University of Oxford)
Nikos Maliaras (University of Athens)
Eva Mantzourani (City University)
Emily Pillinger (King's College London)
Effie Rentzou (Princeton University)
Katy Romanou (European University of Cyprus)
Anastasia Siopsi (Ionian University, Corfu)
Polina Tambakaki (King’s College London)
Markos Tsetsos (University of Athens)
Panos Vlagopoulos (Ionian University, Corfu)
Petros Vouvaris (University of Macedonia)
Haris Xanthoudakis (Ionian University, Corfu)
Avra Xepapadakou (University of Crete)

Musicians:
Nikos Christodoulou (conductor)
Giorgos Couroupos (composer and artistic director of Megaron Mousikis Athinon)
Keith Moore (composer)

Academic Committee:
Roderick Beaton (CHS, King's College London), Chair
Panos Vlagopoulos (Ionian University)
Katerina Levidou (CHS, King's College London)
Martin Stokes (Department of Music, King's College London)
Polina Tambakaki (CHS, King's College London)

Organising Committee:
Roderick Beaton (FBA, Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature, CHS, King's College London)
Catherine Morgan (ΟΒΕ, Director of BSA, Professor of Classical Archaeology, King's College London)
Dr Polina Tambakaki (George Seferis Research Associate in Modern Greek and Comparative Literature, CHS, King's College London)
Dr Nikolaos Tsouchlos (President, Athens Conservatoire)

Venues:
8-9 May Athens Conservatoire
10 May British School at Athens

Language:
The conference will be English.