Professor Michael Buchler, TCC Roundtable
Hello Everyone,
If you have not already, I encourage you to use the following link to listen to the most recent episode of the TCC Podcast, featuring the music theorist Professor Michael Buchler.
Having Professor Buchler on the show was an honor and pleasure. As always, Dr. Buchler had a great number of thought-provoking takes, particularly in the case of campus safety/autonomy, and the future of SMT. Something I have continued to think about after the recording and release of the episode is the idea of “politics” barging into the field.
That word, “politics”, means several things in this context. Of course, in academia there has always been politics. Any grouping of people with shared interest/goals are going to create political dynamics within X organization. And, just like any group, we do not live in a vacuum, so the politics of greater society will naturally have bearing on the people within it. What makes this moment different, as touched on in the episode, is that the particularly toxic political climate of today threatens the legitimacy of the arts. It feels trite to label this as “politics”, as the labeling of such feels like a distancing tactic by those not wanting to engage in these difficult issues. It’s all “politics” until an international student is kidnapped by ICE, deported, and then come to find out a minor error in paperwork led to someone’s life being ruined. It’s all just “politics” until entire university music communities are gutted out of pre-emptive compliance (something Dr. Buchler warned to fight against) from upper-administrators. Independent, private institutions being villainized and targeted directly for differences of opinion; the opinion being that diverse voices should be platformed and supported. But, of course, it’s all just politics, right?
While I am not making a large rally cry, I am in no position to do so, I will publicly ring the bell when it comes to supporting, defending, and advocating for students and the arts alike. This is the future, and the cultural diversity of our field; something that should never be relegated to the topical diffusion of “just politics”.
Thank you again to Professor Michael Buchler for coming onto the podcast, keep up the good fight!
I am excited to preview that the next episode of the TCC Podcast is going to feature Dr. Francisco Javier de Alba and Professor Nadine Silverman for the next TCC Roundtable: Festivals/Competitions! It’s great to have both back onto the podcast for this roundtable on a topic I am not incredibly familiar with. As we discuss within the episode, composition festivals and competitions play important, and very different, roles within the field of composition. As I learned through our conversation, issues of financial accessibility are of massive, sometimes unanswered, concern. I thought that music theory conferences had a little bit of work to do in terms of accessibility, but now it seems those issues pale in comparison to other events! We also delve into discussing the career/CV benefit to participating in such events, and conversely how they are not necessarily the end-all-be-all of success. In addition to that, we also touch on the power structures of festivals/competitions and how they can platform works in light of funding deficits in the country, as well as narrowing the presentation of compositions to certain pockets of preference. I want to share more, but you will have to wait until this coming Monday!
Again, don’t forget to listen to the most previous episode if you missed it, featuring Professor Michael Buchler. Make sure to follow our social media links below and the podcast streaming platform of your choice to keep up-to-date on new episodes and blog posts from the TCC. Additionally, set your calendar and or streaming subscriptions to this coming Monday, June 9th, for the roundtable episode featuring Dr. de Alba and Professor Silverman! You won’t want to miss it, and we’ll see you there!
- Aaron
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Aaron D'Zurilla
TCC Founder/Music Theorist
Hello, my name is Aaron D'Zurilla and I am the primary host and founder of the Theorist Composer Collaboration. I created the Theorist Composer Collaboration out of a love of the connection between the artist and their art. Music theory, in my view, is a lens and avenue in which to understand people and their experiences. Often, as music theorists, and individuals attempting to find success in a historically hierarchical field, we find ourselves turning-away from modern music and artists when choosing what to study. As many academics could attest, the decision to study or analyze a work goes beyond that simple decision. It is a choice to highlight, spotlight, platform, and even promote the continuation of a commodity or idea, even if it is in a critical light. While there is plenty of space for such scholarship, and new inventive work in the field of music theory is developed everyday across the world in numerous topics, there is a stark lack of attention to the new music of today.
My personal rationale can be surmised in that we should not wait for music to be 40,50,80+ years old to begin pondering the creation of the art of today. Why wait to engage with literal generations of new composers, creating worlds of novel sounds and experiences everyday across the world? Generally, when looking at where composers and their compositions find support, it is within the composition community, across academia, festivals and through online platforms specific to the field. The hope of the TCC is to expand the support for modern, living compositions and academics outsi… Read More
Emelia Ulrich, Professor Michael Buchler
