In the memory of ESEM’s founder John Blacking, every year during the annual 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 speech.
List of John Blacking Memorial Lectures
2025, Aveiro. Miguel Ángel GARCÍA, Doubts, mutations and estrangement surrounding field recordings.
2024, Zagreb. Ankica PETROVIĆ, Listening to and Theorizing the Un-wanted.
2023, Palermo. Salwa EL-SHAWAN CASTELO-BRANCO, Performing pasts. The politics of Arab music heritage in postcolonial Cairo.
2022, Graz. Tan SOOI BENG, Democratizing Collaborative Research, Socially Inclusive, Equitable and Critical Approaches.
2020/2021, Valladolid. Naila CERIBAŠIĆ, Music as heritage, On do-it-yourself curators, culture bearers and ethnomusicologists in the context of experience economy, liquid governance, and other facets of late modernity.
2019, Durham. Rolf Inge GODØY, Constraint-Based Musical Expression.
2018, Riga. Philip V. BOHLMAN, Riga Reprise – Resounding song in the ethnomusicological entrepôt.
2017, Tbilisi. no JBML
2016, Cagliari/Santu Lussurgiu. Sardinian Masters’ Talks, Dialogical Ethnomusicology in John Blacking’s Memory. Chair, Martin Clayton. Video and live conversations with Giuseppe Brozzu (Castelsardo), Franco Davoli (Orgosolo), Daniele Giallara (Cuglieri), Tonino Leoni (Samatzai), Bachisio Masia (Bonnanaro), and Giovanni Ardu, Mario Corona, Roberto Iriu, Antonio Migheli (Santu Lussurgiu).
2015, Limerick. Mícheál Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN, Blacking, Baily and Belfast, An Autoethnographic Journey.
2014, Prague. Bruno NETTL, On Bridges and Islands in Ethnomusicology, Remarks on History and Personal Experience.
2013, Bern. Laurent AUBERT, New Objects, New Challenges, Rethinking. Ethnomusicology.
2012, Ljubljana. Naila CERIBAŠIĆ, Tenacious and malleable pasts in post-Yugoslav, post-war, post-socialist music cultures.
2011, Aberdeen. Anthony SEEGER, Taking a Part, Song Sequences and Sound Sentiments.
2010, Budapest. László FELFÖLDI, Dance Knowledge – Dancing Ability: Homage to John Blacking (1928–1990)
2009, Milton Keynes. Richard WIDDESS. Performances of Humanly Organized Sound in South Asia.
2008, Warsaw. Giovanni GIURIATI. Coping with Change. Changing musical traditions, changing ethnomusicology.
2007, Lisbon. Philip V. BOHLMAN, Herder’s Cid and the Epic of Modern Europe.
2006, Jokkmokk. Beverley DIAMOND, The Music of Modern Indigeneity, From Identity to Alliance Studies.
2005, Cologne. Robert GÜNTHER, The Anthropology of Hearing and Listening, Prolegomena to a Theory of Music Perception and Understanding.
2004, Venice. Jean Jacques NATTIEZ, La recherche des universaux est-elle incompatibile avec l’étude des spécificités culturelles?
2003, Vienna. Franz FÖDERMAYR, Music as a problem posed to the humanities/social sciences and the natural sciences.
2002, Druskininkai. Roderyk LANGE, Dance and Scholarship.
2001, Rauland. Jan LING, Is world music the Viennese classicism of our time?
2000, Belfast. Paul BERLINER (no tile in the program published in ESEMpoint 28)
1999, London. Gerhard KUBIK, Age-sets, initiation and masked performances in the eastern Angolan culture area. Analysis of audio-visual field-documents 1965-1987.
1998, Jerusalem, Israel, Simha Arom, Cognitive Aspects of Time Organisation in African music.
1997, Jyväskylä, 1997. Jeremy MONTAGU, The Magpie in Ethnomusicology.
1996, L’Isle Jourdain (Toulouse). Amnon SHILOAH, Musicians and Musicianship in Muslim and Jewish Musical Traditions.
1995, De Doelen (Rotterdam). Mantle HOOD, The Musical River of Change and Innovation.
1994, Oxford. Ana CZEKANOWSKA. John Blacking Memorial Lecture III. The Ideal Musical Man.
1993, Barcelona. (no info in the preliminary program in ESEMpoint 21)
1992: no JBML
1991, Genève. John BAILY, with screening on his newly re-edited version of an early John Blacking film.