Category Archives: Conferences

Ben Schoeman features in 90th birthday celebration of South African composer Stefans Grové

Ben SchoemanDMA student and pianist Ben Schoeman has found himself in great demand during the celebrations of the 90th birthday of one of South Africa’s foremost composers, Stefans Grové, on 23 July 2012.

At the Stefans Grové Symposium in Bloemfontein, South Africa on 10-12 August, Ben will give the world premiere performances of two new works by Grové: My Jaargetye/My Seasons (Piano Suite, 2012) and the Piano Quintet (A Venda Legend, 2012). Ben will also present a lecture recital on the composer’s piano music.

Ben was also recently invited to conduct an interview with Stefans Grové as guest journalist for the ClassicSA website: http://www.classicsa.co.za/site/features/view/classicsa_composer_stefans_grove_90/

Ben Schoeman is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Ronan O’Hora and at City University London with Dr Christopher Wiley, preparing a thesis entitled ‘Pedagogical Elements in the Piano Works of Stefans Grové and their Potential Value in the Education of Pianists in South Africa’.

Miguel Mera in New York

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The Head of the Centre for Music Studies, Dr Miguel Mera, gave a presentation at the Music and Moving Image conference in New York In June. His paper entitled ‘Inglo(u)rious Basterdisation?: Tarantino and the war movie mashup’ examined the use of music in Quentin Tarantino’s film Inglourious Basterds. Miguel argued that the multiple layers of appropriative meaning in the film are synonymous with the popular music practice known as mashup and do not exist solely through ironic counterpoint, emphasising  defamiliarisation, but rather seek the true goal of mashup culture which is pluralism.  Evoking Jean Baudrillard’s notion of the simulacrum, Miguel also argued that the film’s reference to music from the spaghetti western sub-genre allowed historical liberties to become a reflection on the metamorphosis of fact into myth that ultimately problematises the nature of historical (mis)representation in war movies.


Dr Christopher Wiley wins University Student Voice Award for second year running

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Dr Christopher Wiley, Senior Lecturer in Music and BMus Programme Director, has won a prestigious University Student Voice Award for the second year in a row.

Dr Christopher Wiley receives University Student Voice Award 2012Dr Wiley was one of 12 members of academic and professional staff across the University to win the much sought-after prize.  Competition was extremely fierce, with over 200 nominees across the University, including a total of six from Music.

The Student Voice Award scheme is intended to reward ‘exceptional teaching practice and outstanding support services’, and to recognize excellent contribution to the student experience.  Nominations are made by the students themselves and winners are decided by the Students’ Union.

Dr Wiley was formally presented with the award at a prize-giving ceremony at the close of the annual ‘Learning at City’ conference at City University London on Wednesday 13 June 2012.

Dr Christopher Wiley addresses Turning Technologies User Conference 2012 at Aarhus University, Denmark

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Dr Christopher Wiley, Senior Lecturer in Music and BMus Programme Director, addressed the Turning Technologies User Conference 2012 at Aarhus University, Denmark on Tuesday 19 June.

In a presentation entitled ‘Using Electronic Voting Systems in the Arts and Humanities’, Dr Wiley argued for the largely unrecognized potential of electronic voting systems to enhance academic practice in disciplines other than the sciences and business.

Drawing on his use of the technology as a music lecturer as well as his original research, Dr Wiley illustrated his presentation with examples from his teaching on the Spice Girls, Jerry Springer: The Opera, and heavy metal, as well as from student focus groups
and academic skills classes.

Dr Wiley was one of six speakers to lead parallel sessions during the conference, selected from over 50 proposals received.  The conference was the first of its kind to be held in Continental Europe, with participating delegates from countries including the US, Denmark, the UK, France, Germany, Holland, and Spain.

The conference agenda is available at http://www.turningtechnologies.com/studentresponsesystems/trainingevents/userconferences/denmark2012/denmarkconference/
and the full programme may be downloaded at http://users-cs.au.dk/mec/frontiers/2012/Frontiers-2012-program.pdf.

Turning Technologies User Conference 2012, Denmark

Centre for Music Studies represented at Annual ‘Learning at City’ Conference

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The Fourth Annual ‘Learning at City’ Conference, held at City University London on Wednesday 13 June, included presentations by a senior undergraduate student from the Centre for Music Studies as well as a member of staff.

James Perkins, a final-year student on the BMus programme who was recently elected  Vice President (Education) of the Students’ Union, spoke on a question-and-answer panel about the students’ perspectives on a wide range of assessment and feedback issues in Higher Education. This session can be viewed online here.

Dr Christopher Wiley addresses 'Learning at City' ConferenceDr Christopher Wiley, Senior Lecturer in Music and a University Learning Development Associate, gave a presentation entitled ‘Divided by a Common Language? Evaluating Students’ Understanding of the Vocabulary of Assessment and Feedback at City University London’ (see video here) which asked whether certain key terms used in assessment and feedback practices might hold a subtly different meaning for students than for staff, presenting evidence from a series of consultations with students.

Further information about the conference, including the full programme, abstracts, and speaker biographies, is available at http://www.city.ac.uk/about-city/education/ldc/events/learning-at-city.