2022 IAWM International Conference

June 2-4, 2022

Oregon State University, Corvallis 

The 2022 IAWM Conference was held at Oregon State University in Corvallis, a 90-minute drive from Portland. With Covid 19 lingering, OSU hosted about 40 people in person and more than 80 online. The hybrid format allowed for more voices to be heard. The conference activities echoed across time and space with satellite events in Australia and the Netherlands and with calls and responses sounding across the planet via digital connections. The seamless execution of in-person and virtual presentations made the online experience of the conference intimate and inviting. From the very first moment, as a camera wound around through the registration area showing conversations between participants and the conference crew, the deeply personal and connective nature of the event was clear. The weaving together of online and in-person concerts helped to expand the conference experience, showcasing a diversity that was very moving.

On opening day, Thursday, June 2, the sessions addressed topics such as global practices and reframing the work of women in the twenty-first century. In her presentation “Voices of Intervention,” Jerika O’Connor Hayes gave a careful accounting of Canadian throat singer Tanya Tagaq’s transcendent activism. Pamela Madsen’s lecture/recital captured the improvisatory spirit of Anne La Berge’s Brokenheart. Conversations about embodiment were stimulated by presentations engaging with Wadada Leo Smith’s graphic notation and Esperanza Spalding’s musicality.

The first day closed with a concert program and a panel discussion from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, hosted and moderated by IAWM board member Monica Buckland. The program featured performances of outstanding works by contemporary women composers in Australia, including the world premiere of Elizabeth Younan’s Concord Concertino. The post-concert discussion addressed the ongoing struggles for equal representation of women in professional musical practice and emphasized long-term commitment to inclusion, equity, and diversity.

On Friday, attendees continued to explore issues for women in music through panels, lectures, and Virtual Listening Room sessions. Performance programs included works by Chi Wang, Anne Hege, Anne Vanschothorst, and Emmalia and Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor, showcasing transmedia, vocal, and electronic works well suited to the virtual experience. At midday, a concert featuring the OSU Jazz Band included Judy Rose’s A Jubilant Day. Later, keynote speaker Dr. Nina Eidsheim introduced her work on practice-based epistemologies and embodied research, challenging monolithic narratives of music and sound. Her Saturday writing workshop yielded thoughtful insights from participants.

The closing program on Friday evening, Cinema’s First Nasty Women Collection, led by Conference Chair Dana Reason, delivered one of the most animated performances of the conference. Saturday included the Embodied Sonic Meditation and Deep Listening Workshop and the Virago Symphonic Orchestra’s program from Antwerp, featuring works by Augusta Holmés, Florence Price, Fanny Mendelssohn, and the premiere of a work by Lara Denies. The final day continued with papers on queer, transgender, and non-binary-embodied musical practices, challenging thinking beyond binaries.

The timing of this hybrid, global event facilitated a return to professional musical life after a long absence. The many calls and responses generated during the three days of the IAWM conference are surely still echoing far beyond the moments shared together.