SGMO-Circular newsletter, October 2006

Dear SGMO members,
This newsletter will concentrate on our conference in November and contains only a few other news.

SGMO Conference, Honolulu - November, 19-21, 2006
Attached you find the program and the abstracts as a pdf-document. Those members, who will participate, please, print out this pdf-document and take it with you to Hawai'i – this is the official program.

All of you are familiar with travel in the Pacific and many of you have been to Hawaii before. The organizers would just like to give you a few tips before you start your trip.

Because of the events of the last few years, the American government has tightened immigration controls. Please make sure that your passport and, if needed, your visa will be accepted by the American immigration service. Due to the tight controls you should expect to be waiting in line when entering the USA.

The weather in Hawaii is most always comfortable. You might expect 64 – 75 °F resp. 18 – 24 °C at this time of the year. With a shirt, T-shirt during the day time, a jacket or pullover in the evening you should be comfortable. However, carry an umbrella, because sometimes there is rain even on Hawai'i.

Honolulu, the city of our conference site, lies on the island of Oahu, the home of Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head. You might want to visit some of these places after or before the conference – on the internet you find interesting tours, for example - http://www.hawaiivacationsite.com/index.html

ICTM World Conference
Remember: The deadline to send in your abstract for the 39th ICTM World Conference in Vienna (4 -11 July, 2007) is 1 November, 2006.

News
The 3. Melanesian Arts Festival in Fiji has just ended (2 – 11 October, 2006). Delegations from all the Melanesian countries were taking place. This was a particular event for the multi-cultural society of Fiji, to celebrate their Melanesian families.

Fest’Napuan in Port Vila (Vanuatu) also just finished. It took place from the 5th until the 8th of October. Now in its eleventh year, the Fest’Napuan is recognised nationally as the premier cultural event of the year and in terms of numbers of people attending, this annual four-day outdoor music concert was the biggest event of any kind in Vanuatu.

News from members
A dedication ceremony, naming the Barbara B. Smith Amphitheater and Ethnomusicolgy Wing of the Music Building complex of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, was held on April 29, 2006. Including among the music and dance performances of the ceremony were a traditional Hawaiian blessing chant for the structure, a mele inoa (name chant) for Barbara that was composed for the occasion and chanted by Ka‘upena Wong—a 2005 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Awardee and the University’s first teacher of Hawaiian Chant—and hula performed by students in the advanced hula ensemble class.

The Charles Seeger Lecture of the 51st Annual Conference will be delivered by SGMO member Adrienne Kaeppler. Adrienne was based at University of Hawai'i before she joined the Smithsonian Institution.

Please excuse the briefness of this newsletter, our focus during the last few weeks was directed on the conference program for next month.
I look very much forward to see you in Honolulu.

Best Regards

Raymond