International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance

A Non-Governmental Organization in Formal Consultative Relations with UNESCO

Third Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music of the Turkic Speaking World, 1-2 December, 2012, Cambridge, UK

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce that the Third Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music of the Turkic Speaking World will take place on 1-2 December 2012 at the University of Cambridge, UK.

The title of the Symposium is “Popular Culture in Turkic Asia and Afghanistan: Performance and Belief”

The popular culture of this area is unique and contains many specific genres. Even though in the past many traditional forms of music culture had been adapted to religious purposes, during latter centuries they have taken on a different appearance. Today when the development of TV and radio is global, influencing daily life and transforming the original practice of local performances, music has become an enclave where features of the past and present are intertwined. Popular music conveys a number of references to previous music and its religions connections, and our task is to focus on such cases.

Papers are invited to address the following themes:

  • What is the definition of popular culture at the beginning of the 21st century?
  • What role does music play in it? How important are religions and beliefs in this process?
  • What are the main forms of music and religious connections in 21st century music performance?

Focusing on the theoretical and practical issues, the event will be illustrated by the performance of the invited musicians, turning into a Symposium and Workshop.

Abstracts of 200-300 words in English may be submitted to Dr Razia Sultanova (rs588@cam.ac.ukbefore 20 February 2012, to be  reviewed by our  Programme Committee (Siddharth Saxena, Firuza Melville, Razia Sultanova from University of CambridgeDorit Klebe from Germany, and Janos Sipos from Hungary). The Conference will be hosted by the Cambridge Central Asia Forum.

We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge.

With best wishes,

Dr Razia Sultanova, Member of the ICTM Executive Board, Co-chair of the Study Group for the Music of the Turkic Speaking world, Fellow, Cambridge Central Asia Forum, University of Cambridge, Director of the Centre for Central Asia Music.