Welcome Note 

from the IMS2022 Chair

The members of the Hellenic Musicological Society are pleased and honored to welcome musicologists from around the world to Athens-Greece, where the 21st Quinquennial Congress of the International Musicological Society (IMS2022) will be held under the auspices of the Departments of Music Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The IMS2022 Congress is of particular importance in the field of Musicology and is expected to attract the interest of prominent musicologists from across the globe. It will also offer participants the opportunity to get acquainted with the rich history and cultural tradition of the city of Athens, as a connecting point of cultural and musical trends, as a hub of musical traditions created and maintained through interactions, inter-artistic relationships, mergers, movements, and migrations.

“Music across Borders” is the theme of the Congress, as we will be exploring artistic mobility throughout the centuries and countries. The research of music in constant motion, beyond spatial and temporal borders, will open new horizons in the way we consider and research its creation.

We warmly welcome your scientific contribution and your active participation in this journey of music, and we hope that it expands, redefines, enlightens, and embellishes in many ways the scientific frontiers of the artistic existence and vision of mousikē / ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ.

On behalf of the Hellenic Musicological Society, I would like to express my warm thanks to our collaborators for their cooperation and support:

  • the International Musicological Society and its President, Daniel K. L. Chua, Professor and Chair, Department of Music, University of Hong Kong;
  • the IMS2022 Program Committee and its Chair, Kate van Orden, President-Elect of the International Musicological Society (2022–27) and Dwight P. Robinson Jr. Professor of Music at Harvard University;
  • the School of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and its Dean, Achilleas Chaldaeakes, Professor of the Department of Music Studies;
  • the Board of the “Lilian Voudouri” Music Library of the Friends of Music Society.

Evi Nika-Sampson
President of the Hellenic Musicological Society
Emeritus Professor, School of Music Studies
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Welcome Note 

from the IMS President, 2017–2022

As I write, protest and pandemic continue to disrupt our world, dividing and isolating communities. Just the thought of the 21st Quinquennial IMS Congress on the near horizon, offers a ray of hope and glimmer of joy. It brings a smile to my face despite the grim reality around me. Hopefully, by August 2022 the virus will no longer distance us and confine us to Zoom, and we can gather as a community of musicologists as if reuniting with family and friends. The IMS is a global community, and the theme of the congress, “Music across Borders,” will be reflected in us as we gather together—musicologists across borders. The call for papers is out, but there is another call: Athens is calling. The attraction of the congress is not merely the joy of being with one another, but the joy of thinking with one another. Protest and pandemic have aggravated the divisions in our society to such an extent that truth itself has been divided. “Fake news” is the condition where the line between fact and fiction is crystal clear, but the terms are reversible depending on which side of the divide you support. Truth has turned into a shouting match amplified by social media and verified by whichever group repeats its slogans the longest and loudest across the divide. To come together in Athens as a community of scholars to negotiate shared truths will be a welcome relief from all the alienating noise of fake news. To cross the divide and thread our ideas within the social fabric in nuanced and complex ways is the privilege of our vocation. Music has always crossed borders to explore what we might share in common. It is in this generous and generative spirit that I warmly welcome you to come to Athens. Come, let’s make musicology together! After all, this is the mission of the IMS—to connect us to the world community of musicology through cooperation and collaboration.

I am very thankful for the Local Organizing Committee, headed by Evi Nika-Sampson, and the Program Committee, chaired by Kate van Orden, for their astute and tireless work in realizing our vision.

Daniel K. L. Chua
IMS President, 2017–2022
Hong Kong, October 5, 2020

Welcome Note 

from the IMS2022 Program Committee Chair

Greetings! One of my great joys this year has been working with the Program Committee and our Local Organization Committee in preparation for the 21st Quinquennial IMS Congress in Athens. Learning about emerging trends across the globe, the strengths of our regional associations and study groups, and current priorities across the musicologies has been invigorating, and as our team works on programming for IMS2022, the prospect of coming together to share research and chart new trajectories for our fields has kept all our spirits aloft. The congress theme, “Music across Borders,” feels more compelling than ever, and we look forward to greeting you in August 2022 for what promises to be a celebration of society itself and the camaraderie that makes music and scholarship so rewarding.

.

Kate van Orden
IMS2022 Program Committee Chair
Dwight P. Robinson Jr. Professor of Music
Harvard University