Diaspora Sounds: Innovation and Creativity in Music Learning and Performance

This one-day symposium will bring together academics and musicians to discuss innovation and creativity in diasporic music learning and performance. Cutting across disciplinary boundaries and across sectors, Diaspora Sounds will address current musical practices in diasporic communities in the UK. What issues are being experienced and expressed through experimental musical projects? How is diasporic learning and performance impacted by austerity and the reinforcement of national borders? The symposium will provide an opportunity for engagement and dialogue between academics and musicians involved in teaching and performance to develop new perspectives.

This symposium aims to explore emerging musical styles by new generations of musicians from different backgrounds in the UK. Building on the important scholarly work that focused on the Asian Underground and Bhangra between the 1980s and 2000s, we will explore innovative learning methods and creative projects reflecting changes in migration and resettlement patterns, musical taste, technology, representation and expression. From the development of online South Indian classical concert platforms to the expression of current diasporic experiences through combinations of South Asian classical music, Euro-American popular styles and UK Grime in new music productions, we will explore community-based, state-funded and music industry practices.

Academics, musicians, and arts organisations will discuss innovation and creativity in diasporic music-making in the context of austerity, Brexit and threats to arts funding. The event will incorporate academic papers, talks by practitioners, performances and films. Supported by the Institute of Musical Research (IMR), the event will be hosted by the Asian Music Unit (AsMU) at Goldsmiths, University of London. This is an interdisciplinary event and we particularly encourage PhD students and early career researchers from a variety of backgrounds to enter discussions with musicians and arts organisations.

For more information, including the schedule, please go to https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=11448