In the memory of ESEM’s founder John Blacking, every year during the anual seminar, an eminent ethnomusicologist is invited to give a presentation addressing central issues in Ethnomusicology. In this section, you can find an overview of former speakers, their topics and in some cases a transcript of the speach.
List of John Blacking Memorial Lectures
The 16th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2008
Giovanni GIURIATI. Presented at the XXIVth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology in Warsaw, Poland 2008. 19. September 2008.
The 15th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2007
Philip V. BOHLMAN (University of Chicago): Herder’s Cid and the Epic of Modern Europe. Presented at the XXIIIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology in Lisbon, Portugal. 12. October 2007.
The 14th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2006
Beverley DIAMOND (Memorial University of New Foundland, Canada): The Music of Modern Indigeneity: From Identity to Alliance Studies.Presented at the XXIIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology in Jokkmokk, Sweden, 7. September 2006.
The 13th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2005
Robert GÜNTHER (University of Cologne, Germany): The Anthropology of Hearing and Listening: Prolegomena to a Theory of Music Perception and Understanding. Presented at the XXIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology in Cologne, Germany, 24.August 2005.
The 13th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2004
Jean Jacques NATTIEZ: La recherche des universaux est-elle incompatibile avec l’étude des spécificités culturelles? Presented at the XXth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology in Venice, Italy, 2.October 2004.
The 12th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2003
Franz FÖDERMAYR (Austria): Music as a problem posed to the humanities/social sciences and the natural sciences. Presented at the IXXth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology seminar in Vienna/Gablitz, Austria, 20. September 2003.
The 11th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2002
Roderyk LANGE: Dance and Scholarship. Presented at the XVIIIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology 28. September, Druskininkai, Lithuania.
The 10th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2001
Jan LING, Is world music the Viennese classicism of our time? Presented at the XVIIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, 8. September, Rauland, Norway
The 9th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 2000
Paul BERLINER (Northwestern). Presented at the XVIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology. 9. September 2000, Belfast, UK.
The 8th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 1999
Gerhard KUBIK (Austria): Age-sets, initiation and masked performances in the eastern Angolan culture area. Analysis of audio-visual field-documents 1965-1987. Presented at the XVth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, London, UK. 12. November 1999.
The 7th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 1998
Simha AROM. Presented at the XIVth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology 1998.
The 6th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 1997
Jeremy MONTAGU (Oxford, UK): The Magpie in Ethnomusicology. Presented at the XIIIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology at Jyväskylä, Finland 15-19 October 1997.
The 5th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 1996
Amnon SHILOAH (Hebrew University, Jerusalem): Musicians and Musicianship in Muslim and Jewish Musical Traditions. Presented at the XIIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology. 1996.
The lecture provided an overview of the musicians in the Mediterranean Muslim and Jewish worlds, with emphasis on their distinctive characteristics and crucial role in the development and survival of artistic, religious, and folk musical traditions. It dealt with common traits and even concepts that may justify the mingling of the three aforementioned categories, as well as other particularities, namely, the antagonistic attitude toward music held by the strictest theologians and jurists.
The 4th John Blacking Memorial Lecture 1995
Mantle HOOD: The Musical River of Change and Innovation. Presented at the XIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology at Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
The 3rd John Blacking Memorial Lecture 1994
Anna CZEKANOWSKA. John Blacking. the ideal musical man. Presented at the XIth European Seminar in Ethnomusicology at Leiden, The Netherlands. 9. August – 2. September 1994.