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Music Spirituality and Genre
May 20, 2022 @ 9:30 am - 7:30 pm
A Study Day convened by Mide Dines and Brian Inglis, of Middlesex University, in association with the International Network of Music, Spirituality and Wellbeing . Free. In London and online.
Details at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/music-spirituality-and-genre-study-day-tickets-311198913327?.
From Lady Gaga and Leonard Cohen to Arvo Pärt and Galina Ustvolskaya via John Coltrane, musicians working in various genres have notably explored spiritual themes and/or made music with spiritual intention. Music without such intentions can also be received in a spiritual context. How does spirituality manifest in musical terms through different genre lenses? How can such radically different sounds purport to have, or achieve, similar aims? To what extent can spirituality be de-coupled from religion?
This study day will explore how spirituality is manifested within a particular piece/performance, idiolect, genre, or across genres. It will also examine how this manifestation might involve the setting of, or reference to, spiritual/religious texts, or a more abstract evocation of spirituality/spiritual intent.
We are pleased to announce two lead speakers for the day: Georgina Gregory (co-editor with Mike Dines of Exploring the Spiritual in Popular Music: Beatified Beats) and Richard McGregor (writer on music and spirituality including in James MacMillan; co-author of books on Peter Maxwell Davies). Their joint session will be moderated by Revd Prof. June Boyce-Tillman, editor of the ‘Music and Spirituality’ series for Peter Lang Verlag.
The day will include lunchtime performances of works by John Tavener from BA Music students (classical performance/composition pathway), and conclude with spiritually-inclined popular music performances from students on the Popular Music pathway. There will also be a launch of Exploring the Spiritual in Popular Music.