Sonneck Society for American Music
Bulletin, Volume XXIII, no. 1 (Spring 1997)
From the President
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
First, I send to all of you special greetings and good wishes. I realize you will be reading this in the
more-or-less springtime, but it's shortly after the New Year as I write, and I'm a creature of season and
time (plus fluffy snowflakes are falling across Middle Tennessee out my window). So, Happy New Year! Or
"Springtime," if you absolutely must.
During my tern at the helm, I've used these letters to highlight special issues, problems, solutions,
initiatives, and programs that affect the Society and the membership. I've touched upon publications,
the internet, conference programming, policy making, and more. This time, I'd like to double back and
report, once more, upon our Interest Groups and what is being done to support and encourage this most
important aspect of the Society's work.
The subject of Interest Groups was the sole agenda item for a three-hour meeting of the Long Range
Planning Committee in Baltimore last November. Some of us characterize the Interest Groups as the
"structured anarchy" wing of The Society. As Interest Groups have grown and the concept broadened, there
has sometimes been more emphasis on "anarchy" and less on "structure." So, in the spirit of anarchy,
we ironically scheduled a meeting!! The mission of the LRPC was to construct a sluice along which
the creative energies of the Interest Groups might flow more easily, with even greater force. At the same
time, the overall mission of The Society must remain primary, for hte good of all.
Administratively, an Interest Group Council has been formed, with a representative elected by each one
of the Interest Groups. The Council is headed by a Board liaison, appointed by the president. (A job
to which Jean Geil has taken like a fish to water, to my eternal gratitude!) The council will meet
annually (and counsel with each other via e-mail more frequently); all Interest Groups are expected to
report to it.
Participation of the Interest Groups in the Annual conference has already changed the nature of
conference programming, and promises to do so even more. For starters, conferences hereafter will have
an "Interest Group Conference Room," for the exclusive use of the groups. It will be scheduled
throughout the conference with whatever the Interest Groups propose. (E.g., Thursday: 8:30 am;
session by "Research Resources"; 10:00 am; panel discussion by "Musical Theater"; 12:00 pm: brown
bag roundtable by "Gospel Music" ...). To insure that Interest Groups might take advantage of
extraordinary opportunities, such as renowned scholars in the area of the conference, the Board has
allocated each group an initial budget of $100. That money can be rolled-over from year to year,
accruing as subsequent Boards (presumably) allocate additional monies.
I hope this doesn't strike you as overly technical. I go into detail here because I believe these
decisions could (and perhaps should) affect each member of The Society, as well as the general health
and outreach of The Society. The Republicans stole from us the idea of "The Big Tent." We have long
been a society of people with unusually diverse interests. (I'd like to see a list of the other
societies to which our members belong, and compoare it to that compiled by the members of any other
music society! Where else do composers, historians, librarians, publishers, performers, amateurs,
folklorists, etc. gather in such diversity?) Interest Groups give us the possibility for community within
society, and it's a special opportunity, unique in its concept and structure to the Sonneck Society.
I would hope that all of you are already involved in one, two, or mor. If not, now's the time. Jump
in!
(For the record, the current Interest Groups are: American Band History Research; American Music in
American Schools and Colleges; Folk and Traditional Music; Gospel Music; Music of Latin America and the
Caribbean; Musical Biography; Musical Theater; Popular Music; Research on Gender in American Music;
Research Resources; Twentieth-Century Music. If your interest isn't here, gather the signatures
of nine other colleagues and submit your petition to the Board. I assure you, the Board is all for you.)
By the time you read this, the Sonneck gavel will have been passed on to Anne Dhu McLucas. (That's
figuratively, of course, since the original Sonneck gavel has been missing in action for several years
now!) How pleased I am that such a capable person comes along at just this time! (To clean up the
mess I leave, some might say, although I hope not.)
Quite honestly, I cannot express to you the honor it has been to serve as your president. I have seen
service and dedication to our society way, way beyond anything one would reasonably expect.
I have asked many of you to take on jobs and tasks, and, to a person, you've responded beyond my dreams.
I've flirted with publishing here a "Special Thanks" list, but the problem would be length, and
the nightmare that I might leave some deserving soul off. So, I'll be getting around to it in my
private way. I do want to state what might be obvious: that you are a society of wonderful, warm,
dedicated human beings (who happen also to be professionals, instead of the other way around). From my
experience, we have something extraordinary here, worth special nurturing.
(Four bells.) Anne Dhu! Your watch.
Sincerely,
Dale Cockrell
Time constraints at the end of the annual meeting of The Society in Seattle precluded appropriate
acknowledgement of the contributions of outgoing Board members Kathryn Bumpass, Secretary, and Karen Ahlquist,
Member-At-Large. Past-President Dale Cockrell particularly wishes the membership to know of the special
support, much beyond the call of duty, lent by Kathy. Kudos all around!
Updated 4/20/98