#14

Looking back before the final spurt

Events organized with the participation of SDP members

As we approach the final months of our structured doctoral programme, we would like to reflect on recent events that involved the participation of individual SDP members.

"The Afghan rubab in image and sound" was the title of the Lecture-Performance, initiated by Peter Lell and co-organized by the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology as part of KlangBildKlang, a diverse and vibrant festival organised by the mdw. The event took place on May 21st in the Weltmuseum Vienna. Sobeir Bachtiar and Peter Lell offered an exploration of Afghan musical traditions through their performances and also addressed the impact of Taliban rule, during which music was nearly eradicated through the systematic destruction of instruments and persecution of musicians.

Photo © Daniel Auer

SDP members Ralf von Appen and Isabel Frey gave talks and Sophie Zehetmayer moderated a session at the mdw-Gender Studies Lecture Series: Performing Challenges, organized at the International Research Center Gender and Performativity by Evelyn Annuß. From May 22nd-23rd researchers explored the relationships between performing arts and interdependent social, political, and ecological challenges.

On June 14th, a guest lecture titled “The Dynamics of Electronic Dance Music” took place on the university campus by Dr. Prof. Alex van Venrooij, who visited Vienna from the University of Amsterdam. The lecture, organized jointly by SDP member Juan Escobar Campos and the Music Sociology Department of mdw, presented current sociological approaches to studying systems of music classification. It used the example of the emergence of genre labels for techno and house music in the UK in the late 1980s. Attendees learned about the role of the music industry and the media in producing and institutionalizing new music genres.

At the end of June, Angelica Pinna conducted her last fieldwork trip to London, visiting the Royal College of Music Museum and the Handel Hendrix House. These visits provided valuable insights, helping to contextualize her project's case studies in Vienna among other music exhibitions and museums.

Most of the doctoral candidates will use the summer productively for finalizing their dissertation projects. We are happy that one dissertation has already been submitted and a date for the defense is set: The public disputation of Isabel Frey will take place on September 30th. The topic of her dissertation is: "Vocal Yiddishkeit. Postvernacular Transmission and Performance of Yiddish Folksong". Participation in the disputation is possible on site or via Zoom - please register by September 23rd by sending an email to stdw@mdw.ac.at.