Conference highlights research on composers
Article By: Denise Ray
The University of North Georgia (UNG) hosted the sixth annual Research on Contemporary Composition (ROCC) Conference on Oct. 29-30 at its Dahlonega Campus.
ROCC is dedicated to the scholarly activity of composers. It is the combination of the Music for Now series and the New Research Music Symposium and grew out of a project Dr. Esther Morgan-Ellis, UNG associate professor of music history and assistant director of academic engagement, gave her 2015 Music History III class.
"I designed the project to be guided yet open-ended, so that students are uncovering and reflecting on information that is not available to me or anyone else. They are achieving new heights in terms of academic accomplishment," Morgan-Ellis said.
Morgan-Ellis described the conference as a "substantial, mandatory research experience where students learn something new, develop a unique perspective about it, and make a public presentation."
I designed the project to be guided yet open-ended, so that students are uncovering and reflecting on information that is not available to me or anyone else. They are achieving new heights in terms of academic accomplishment.
Dr. Esther Morgan-Ellis
UNG associate professor of music history and assistant director of academic engagement
In its first year the students presented in class, which grew into a symposium, and at the encouragement of Dr. David Peoples, UNG Department of Music part-time faculty member, it grew into a conference with a public call for contributions, including both research presentations and compositions.
"This is a really important experience for students. I need them to really understand what constitutes research," Morgan-Ellis said. "Crafting an original argument and teaching people about something is difficult. It takes a lot of work. Most of them are nervous and apprehensive, but then they get through it. It's achieving new heights in terms of academic accomplishments."
This year's event featured a composer interview component for the first time. Sydney Prince, a senior from Athens, Georgia, chose to interview Emily Koh, a Singaporean composer and assistant professor of composition at the University of Georgia.
"It was fun and more engaging to do a live interview," Prince, who is pursuing a degree in music education, said. "I'd never interviewed someone before, but it wasn't entirely out of my comfort zone to get up in front of people and do things."
The two had a great deal in common, Prince later found out, and those commonalities made the conversation even more enjoyable.
"When I read about her on her website, I was very intimidated. She's a highly decorated composer, a brilliant educator, and has a great background in music," Prince said. "But we instantly hit it off. We have a lot of shared interests. She's wonderful and very easy to have a conversation with."
Canton, Georgia, resident Teagan Boley's project focused on increased government spending for music and composers. She found that countries with lower Gross Domestic Product spend more money on music and helping composers. Funding musicians was of higher importance in the U.S. during the New Deal and during the Cold War, she said.
Boley, a senior seeking a degree in interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in social sciences and music, took the ROCC experience as motivation for her future.
"Whether in compositions or in life, we should be able to freely express ourselves, and that is what I saw in their compositions: the freedom of expression," Boley said.
Undergraduate students from other institutions including Emory University in Atlanta and Tufts University in Boston submitted their research and presented, Morgan-Ellis said.
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