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About the MWC
Mountain West Center for
Regional Studies
0735 Old Main Hill
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-0735  
phone:  435.797.3630
fax: 435.797.3899
email:  mwc@cc.usu.edu   

The first Mountain West Symposium on Song, June 3-5, 2004, was an exhilarating weekend for all involved. A mixure of musicians and scholars from a variety of traditions came together to share their work on song, perhaps the most ubiquitous form of human communication after speech itself.

See pictures from the Symposium on Song.

Thursday, June 3
The Symposium began with a traditional song to the four directions sung by Navajor singer-songwriter Geraldine Barney. Cowboy singer Michael Martin Murphey, who helped create the Symposium, made some opening remarks and introduced keynote speaker Bill C. Malone, the foremost historian of country and southern music and author of the classic Country Music, USA (University of Texas Press, 1968; 2nd revised edition, 2002) and Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class (University of Illinois Press, 2002). Malone's lecture, "Country Music's Search for Identity: Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers" addressed how early marketing of country music created the outlaw-like image of the cowboy and the home-loving image of the mountaineer.

Thursday's events also included a lively panel of composers who discussed their approaches to songwriting. The participants were Geraldine Barney, techno-classical composer Phillip Bimstein, Michael Martin Murphey, Nashville songwriter Ryan Murphey, and contemporary art song componser Gene Scheer. Later that day, Geraldine Barney and singer/songwriter Deanna Edwards gave workshops, and the Mexican traditional group Quetzalcoatl conducted a rehearsal/workshop with the children of the Cache County 4-H Mexican Dance Group. The evening concert was by Barney and the two Murpheys. Folklorist/radio producer Hal Cannon emceed the concert, helping the audience better understand Navajo and cowboy music, both of which he has studied.

Friday, June 4
Brigham Young University ethnomusicologist Larry Shumway began the day with his lecture, "Singing in the Wilderness: Music of the St. Johns Mandolin and Guitar Club, 1886-1992." He traced the history and popularity of mandolin and guitar clubs in the late nineteenth century and discussed the history of one group that flourished in the tiny town of St. Johns, Arizona. USU music therapy professor Elizabeth York followed Shumway with her lecture on "Song as Empowerment," in which she showed song and songwriting helped battered women recover.

Also that morning, Salt Lake City's Beehive Band gave a workshop on early Mormon music, discussing their research into British, Scandinavian, American southern, and other music types that influenced the musical lives of nineteenth-century Mormons in Utah. They also showed how the experiences of early Saints found their way into song. The Beehive Band members also participated in a panel on Mormon music that also included Larry Shumway and folklorist/radio produced Hal Cannon and Elaine Thathcer of USU's Mountain West Center for Regional Studies. Panelists shared their thoughts on the origins and influences in Mormon music and demonstrated with fiddle tunes and songs.
Friday afternoon, Quetzalcoatl gave a workshop on percussion that featured many different kinds of drums and other percussion instruments used in Mexican music. In addition, an outdoor concert was held at the Taggart Student Center, featuring Elizabeth York and the "chamber-folk" group Blue Haiku. The Beehive Band and bluegrass pioneers the Lilly Mountaineers were the featured groups for the evening concert, and Bill C. Malone emceed, providing some context for the music.

Saturday, June 5
Saturday began with high energy, with a workshop by the Lilly Mountaineers and Bill C. Malone, in which the history of country music was discussed and demonstrated, and in particular, the role of the Lilly Brothers (Everett and Bea, whose children form the Lilly Mountaineers) in creating an audience for bluegrass music in the northeastern U.S. The Lilly's workshop was followed by a workshop and concert by Salt Lake City's Calvary Baptist Church Choir. The Reverend France Davis, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, traced the history of African-American music in North America, and the choir illustrated with renditions of spirituals and various forms of gospel music. The enthusiasm of the choir was infectious, and the audience was soon clapping and moving to the music.

In the afternoon, New York-based composer Gene Scheer presented his music with the help of USU voice professor Cindy Dewey and student singers Jay Godfrey and Joelle Willmore, accompanied by Aram Arakelyan, a USU piano student. Scheer, who is currently working on a libretto for the Metropolitan Opera, discussed the creative process involved in his work. which included a cycle of songs about World War II, some love songs, and "American Anthem," which has become well-known through having been performed for both Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Utah-based composer Phillip Bimstein then presented a lecture, "Cow Sounds and Pitchers' Mounds; Techno-Classical Story and Song," in which he illustrated how he uses ordinary sounds and voices to create extraordinarily moving compositions. In particular, he discussed how he has interviewed people (a farmer, some Paiute Indians concerned about nuclear waste, and a Nevada casino dealer) and used their stories and the sounds of their voices to develop pieces that amplify and emphasize aspects of their lives.

Hal Cannon wrapped up the Symposium with a discussion of "What's in a Song?", referring to people who spoke and perfomed throughout the weekend and also playing some of his short radio pieces that illustrated his points.

The evening concert on Saturday was by Quetzalcoatl, a group of five musicians hailing from various parts of Mexico. Two of them are university music teachers in Mexicali, and they specialize in the many music traditions of Mexico. They gave a virtuoso performance, and invited the Cache County 4-H Mexican Dance group on stage to perform three dances. This was a great experience for the young dancers, who usually have to perform to recorded music, which is very different from working with a live band. The dance group's director, Margarity Mendiola, helped the children make the necessary adjustments for this experience.

In addition to all of the above activity, the Symposium also showed two noontime films that demonstrated the role of song in the world. The first was 'Why the Cowboy Sings," produced by Hal Cannon of the Western Folklife Center. The film profiles several working cowboys who make music and demonstrates the interrelatedness of work, family, environment, and music. The second film was "Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony," which traced the use of music in the South African struggle against apartheid. The film shows the power of music to give strength and motivation to people.

The Mountain West Symposium on Song was an experiment in bringing together musicians from many traditions in the belief that both audience and musicians could benefit from cross-cultural discussions and performances. It was an experience that audience, performers, speakers, and organizers all agreed was extraordinary, and for some, it was life-changing. The next Symposium will be held in June, 2006.

The Mountain West Symposium on Song was funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Utah Arts Council, the Utah Humanities Council, and private supporters.