African Music Association

African Music Association The African Music Association is an international scholarly society dedicated to the study, performance, and promotion of African music and related traditions across the African diaspora, connecting researchers, performers, and institutions. It serves as a hub linking fieldworkers, ethnomusicologists, conservatories, and cultural organizations to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars associated with Smithsonian Institution, British Museum, University of Ghana, and other centers. The Association engages with festivals, archives, and policymaking forums to influence practice at venues such as the Kennedy Center and festivals like the Dakar Festival.

History

The Association emerged during a period shaped by scholarly debates in ethnomusicology, institutional growth at places like Indiana University Bloomington and University of California, Los Angeles, and decolonization movements tied to Negritude and postcolonial discourse. Founding members included academics connected to International Council for Traditional Music, researchers who had worked with the British Library Sound Archive, and performers linked to ensembles such as Fela Kuti's bands and the Ethiopian musical revival. Early conferences featured collaborations with the Institute of African Studies (Legon) and exchanges with the New School and SOAS University of London. Over decades the Association navigated changes in funding from sources including the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities while responding to technological shifts from field tape recorders to digital archives like the British Archives Online.

Mission and Activities

The Association's mission emphasizes documentation, pedagogy, and advocacy for practitioners affiliated with institutions such as University of Cape Town, Makerere University, Howard University, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Activities include ethnographic fieldwork coordination with museums like the National Museum of African American History and Culture, digitization projects in partnership with the Getty Research Institute, and workshops for repertory transmitted in contexts like the Griot tradition and the Samba diaspora. The Association sponsors educational outreach in collaboration with conservatories including the Royal Academy of Music and university programs at Yale University and University of Chicago, while advising cultural policy through UNESCO-linked initiatives and regional bodies such as the African Union.

Membership and Organization

Membership comprises academics, performers, archivists, and students affiliated with organizations like the American Musicological Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, and pan-African networks including PANAFEST participants. Governance typically features an executive board with officers drawn from universities such as University of Ibadan, University of the Witwatersrand, Columbia University, and research institutes like the African Studies Association and the Center for Black Music Research. Committees oversee partnerships with record labels (e.g., Nonesuch Records, Buda Musique), museum curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum, and grantmaking entities including Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation.

Conferences and Publications

The Association organizes biennial conferences hosted at venues like University of Ghana Legon, Howard University, University of Lagos, and international sites tied to International Council for Traditional Music congresses. Presentations often address topics referencing work on artists such as Miriam Makeba, Ali Farka Touré, Brenda Fassie, and scholars publishing through presses like Oxford University Press, Indiana University Press, and journals including Ethnomusicology Review and African Arts. The Association publishes conference proceedings, monographs, and an annual peer-reviewed journal produced in collaboration with university presses and distributed to libraries including Library of Congress and the Schomburg Center.

Awards and Recognition

The Association confers awards recognizing lifetime achievement, emerging scholar contributions, and exemplary field recordings, with honorees often drawn from the ranks of artists like Hugh Masekela and Tony Allen and scholars affiliated with University of Michigan and SOAS. Awards ceremonies have been held in partnership with festivals such as Festival au Désert and institutions like the Carnegie Hall and are supported by foundations including MacArthur Foundation. Recipients gain visibility through media outlets such as BBC World Service and NPR and through curated exhibitions at galleries like the Museum of Modern Art.

Category:Music organizations Category:African studies organizations