What do a disastrous Mahler premiere, the copyright battles brewing around artificial intelligence and an imaginary 827-player orchestra have in common? Each will take center stage in the Music and Ideas Series, a new musicology lecture series launching this fall at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Organized by the school’s musicology department, the series brings four leading scholars to campus between October and March for free talks open to the public. Three of the lectures are scheduled just before same-day Shepherd School concerts, giving audiences the chance to pair an hour of ideas with an evening of music.
“We’re thrilled that these four world-renowned scholars accepted our invitation to present their research at Rice because it gives us the opportunity to share our passion for musicology with the campus community and the broader public,” said Peter Loewen, professor and chair of musicology.
The lineup spans centuries and continents from the trials of composers who broke new ground to a global rethinking of Italian opera and the orchestra’s surprising role in visions of utopia.
- “Going First is Always Hard”: Douglas W. Shadle, associate professor of musicology at Vanderbilt University, explores how charting new territory shaped the lives and legacies of Amy Beach, Ethel Smyth and Gustav Mahler.
Oct. 24 from 6-7 p.m., Duncan Recital Hall, followed by a 7:30 p.m. orchestra concert. - “Copyright and IP in the Wake of AI: Ethical Considerations”: Matthew Morrison, associate professor of African and African American studies at Stanford University and author of the award-winning “Blacksound,” examines the ethics of AI and intellectual property in music.
Nov. 4 from 7-8 p.m., Tudor Patrons’ Lounge. - “Alternative Histories of 19th-Century Italian Opera”: Benjamin Walton, professor of music history at the University of Cambridge, looks beyond the canonical composers to trace Italian opera’s unruly global story.
Feb. 7 from 12:30-1:30 p.m., Tudor Patrons’ Lounge, ahead of a 2 p.m. scenes program. - “Orchestral Futures: Musical Blueprints for a New Sociology”: Francesca Brittan, associate professor of music at Case Western Reserve University, follows orchestral utopianism from Berlio’'s ever-expanding ensembles to socialist, feminist and even intergalactic visions of collective harmony.
March 6 from 6-7 p.m., Duncan Recital Hall, followed by a 7:30 p.m. symphony concert.
“It’s an exhilarating feeling to learn something new about even a well-known piece of music because it deepens our appreciation of a work of art as it existed in its time,” Loewen said. “It is also exciting to reevaluate a piece of music’s meaning in our own time whenever it is performed.”
Learn more about each event on the Shepherd School of Music events calendar.