Facebook inspires UQ Centenary score

The third International Conference on Narrative Inquiry in Music and Education (NIME3) was opened with a world premiere of Three Madrigals on Love at The University of Queensland recently.

The specially commissioned piece was created for the UQ Centenary celebrations and performed by the So-la Voce Chamber Choir, an a cappella choir of UQ Music students and alumni.

Composer Joseph Twist, a 2010 PhD graduate from the School of Music, said he was inspired by a range of sources, including books and Facebook.

“The madrigals seek to express the mystery of love, particularly its cheeky and duplicitous nature,” Dr Twist said.

Hosted by the School of Music and held from November 24-27, the conference drew 120 delegates from across the globe, including Europe, the United States, Africa and the Asia Pacific region.

NIME3 presented multi-disciplinary perspectives on narrative inquiry with researchers from music, the arts, education and creative writing.

During the conference a number of performers and performances were analysed, including Cabangon, who performed at the June 2010 Inauguration of Philippines President Benigno Aquino.

Professor Graham Welch, President of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), Chair of Music Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and visiting Professor at UQ gave the keynote address.

Other keynote presenters included Tom Barone (Arizona State University), Ellen Dissanayake (University of Washington), Cheryl Craig (University of Houston) and Dr Bronwyn Lea (UQ).

UQ Music’s Dr Robert Davidson presented an innovative keynote address on melodic speech, attracting universal praise from delegates.

The closing keynote was presented by Sandra Stauffer, Professor of Music at Arizona State University.

Professor Stauffer is co-author with UQ Music Professor Margaret Barrett of Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty.

Media: David Mayocchi (07 3365 4121, uqdmayoc@uq.edu.au)