International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus15).

Abstract

The 8th International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus15) took place from the 17th to 19th of September, 2015, in Leipzig, Germany, a city with a strong academic and musical heritage. Leipzig was home to famous musicians such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. It was where Wilhelm Wundt opened the first laboratory for experimental psychology in 1879 (Rieber & Robinson, 2001, p. 206), and where Hugo Riemann founded one of the first institutes for Musicology in 1914 (Gollin & Rehding, 2011, p. 140). Against this background was held a conference highlighting the interdisciplinarity of modern Musicology.Musicology itself is a broad field. The discipline in its modern shape has grown out of Historical and Systematic Musicology, and Ethnomusicology as a younger field. The most prominent segregation thereby lies between Historical and Systematic Musicology; exactly where the line falls is up for debate, however, the two differ slightly in their aims. Whereas Historical Musicology may be largely descriptive, cataloguing how music has been written and performed in the past, Systematic Musicology asks why music is the way it is (Parncutt, 2007). Musicology as a whole is considered basic research in a widely spread area, as it draws upon knowledge from a vast range of disciplines and applies it to the study of music. This is, perhaps, more so the case with Systematic Musicology, because wide perspectives must be drawn upon to address these fundamental questions. Consequently, Systematic Musicology borrows methods from Psychology, Mathematics, Computer Science, Sociology, Neuroscience, Anthropology, Biology, and even History, in its search for answers. As a conference for young researchers, SysMus15 embodied these interdisciplinary ideals, so that attendees could be exposed to a wide range of perspectives on music.The Idea of SysMusThe idea behind the SysMus conference series is to give earlystage researchers the possibility to become familiar with scientific conference procedures in an environment of peers. Due to the internationality of the presentations, all sessions are held in English. Critical feedback can be offered by members of an audience with differing backgrounds because of the openness of conference toward researchers either from within Musicology or from other disciplines with an interest in music research. Furthermore, renowned researchers are invited to present their research in keynotes, or to give workshops. The conference is held in a different country every year, which further increases its internationality; the previous conference (SysMus14) was held at the University of London (Bauer & Neumann, 2014). At present, over five different countries across Europe and North America have hosted SysMus since it started in Austria in 2008, where it was founded by Dr Manuela Marin (who was a Doctoral candidate at the time) and Professor Richard Parncutt. All SysMus conferences are organized by a local committee composed entirely of Doctoral and Masters students, under the supervision of a member of staff at the host university. The annual cycle may seem intense compared with biennial or triennial conferences that have sometimes become a norm (e.g., ICMPC is biennial, Neuromusic is triennial) but, given that SysMus only accepts student presenters (with the exception of the invited keynote speakers), this maximizes the opportunity for young researchers to participate. Ultimately it aims to provide a practice ground for students, and an ideal first conference in which to speak and share their ideas with their peers.SysMus15SysMus15 hosted >30 early-stage researchers from various universities with a focus on music. It was organized by a team led by Laura Neumann (University of Leipzig) under the supervision of Professor Sebastian Klotz (formerly of the University of Leipzig, now Humboldt University of Berlin). …