Eighth International Conference on Music and Minimalism

The MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music at BGSU’s College of Musical Arts and the Society for Minimalist Music present the 8th International Conference on Music and Minimalism, May 5–8. This four-day event features eight curated concerts that offer an eclectic mix of musical minimalism and are free and open to the public. The conference also includes keynote lectures by scholar Ellie Hisama and composer Tashi Wada, as well as research presentations and lecture-recitals from national and international scholars and performers. All concerts are held in Bryan Recital Hall at the College of Musical Arts.

***DOWNLOAD THE FULL CONFERENCE PROGRAM PDF HERE

Thursday, May 5, 1pm
  Downtown Minimalism: Music by Glass, Monk, Reich & Ziporyn [Program]
Thursday, May 5, 8pm
  Low Country Minimalism: Music by Andriessen & Goeyvaerts [Program]
  U.S. premiere of Goeyvaerts’s Pour que les fruits mûrissent cet été for 14 Renaissance instruments
Friday, May 6, 1pm
  Minimalist Potpourri: Music by Bryars, Leach, Monk, Pärt & Tenney [Program]
Friday, May 6, 8pm
  Minimalism for Deep Listening: Music by Frey, Hennies, Lamb & Oliveros [Program]
  U.S. premiere of Frey’s Glafsered I 
Saturday, May 7, 1pm
  Keyboard Minimalism: Music by Adams, Lang, Lauten & Moe [Program]
  World premiere of Moe’s Alternating Currents
Saturday, May 7, 8pm
  Ecstatic Minimalism: Music by Julius Eastman (featuring baritone Timothy Mix) [Program]
Sunday, May 8, 8:30am
  Conceptual Minimalism: Music by La Monte Young [Composition 1960 No. 5]
Sunday, May 8, 1pm
  Minimalist Supermix: Music by Budd, Johnston, Joyce, Labadie, Reich & Wada [Program]
  World premiere of Johnston’s inalgebras; 2nd performance of Budd’s Into the Cloud

Research Presentations
With eighteen different presentation sessions, this conference illustrates the wide range of scholarly inquiry prompted by musical minimalism. Sessions include Philip Glass on Stage, Ontologies, Historiography, Global Minimalisms, Spiritualities, and Archival Perspectives on Reich, among others, with paper topics ranging from phase-shifting in Brazilian minimalism, signification in John Adams’s China Gates, and Pandit Pran Nath’s influence on minimalist composers to Robert Hood’s techno, Éliane Radigue’s aesthetic of slowness, Harold Budd’s “pretty” minimalism, the Great Highland Bagpipe in minimal music, and much more. The conference is hybrid in nature: some presentations will be delivered virtually; most will be delivered in-person. Click here for the conference program.

COVID-19 Mitigation Policy
Face coverings are required for the presentation sessions in MMAC 1002 and MMAC 1004, with the exception of individual presenters when they are delivering their papers. For all events in other spaces (such as Bryan Hall), face coverings are optional but strongly recommended. KN-95 masks and rapid antigen tests are freely available for conference attendees and participants upon request.

Registration

Conference presenters and attendees must register to attend the paper sessions, keynotes, and lecture-recitals. Standard registration is $45; the fee for students and virtual (non-presenting) attendees is $20. BGSU faculty, staff, and students may register at no cost. Online registration closes on Monday, May 2; after this, the in-person registration fee at the conference is $75. The registration fee includes light afternoon refreshments.

Travel

BGSU is located in Bowling Green, Ohio. It is a 1.5-hour drive from Cleveland, about 90 minutes south of Detroit, and three hours north of Cincinnati. You can find driving directions here: https://www.bgsu.edu/admissions/visit-bgsu/directions.html.

Toledo Express Airport (TOL) is the closest airport to campus and is about a 45‑minute drive. The closest major, international airport is located in Detroit (DTW). Public ground transportation to/from DTW and BGSU is limited, so ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft are recommended.

Conference presenters who would like to arrange to share a taxi or Uber/Lyft to or from DTW or TOL are encouraged to contact the conference organizers as soon as possible.

Lodging & Meals

BGSU has reserved a block of rooms for conference attendees at the Best Western Falcon Plaza, which is a 10-minute (1/2 mile) walk from the College of Musical Arts. To book a room, you can call 419-352-4671, or you can click here to book your room online with the conference-discount rate. The $90 conference rate includes breakfast, and must be booked by no later than Friday, April 22 to receive the discount.

Other nearby hotels include the Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inn & Suites. On-campus housing is not available during the conference dates.

Conference presenters who would like to find a roommate are encouraged to contact the conference organizers as soon as possible.

Bowling Green has several convenient restaurants located within walking or driving distance; many of these will deliver to the College of Musical Arts. Click here to view of PDF list of local restaurants.

Conference Organizers

Ryan Ebright, Assistant Professor of Musicology
Dan Piccolo, Assistant Professor of Percussion
Kurt Doles, Director of MACCM

Email the organizers at minimalism2022@bgsu.edu.

Program Committee

Ryan Ebright, Bowling Green State University
Sumanth Gopinath, University of Minnesota
Jelena Novak, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Kerry O’Brien, Cornish College of the Arts
Pwyll ap Siôn, Bangor University