Sound Check! Festival Call for Papers

Sound Check! A Festival of Asian American Music, Sound, and Scholarship

Organized by the Music of Asian America Research Center

In partnership with Wing Luke Museum

Seattle, Washington, April 27-29, 2024

 

The Music of Asian America Research Center, in partnership with Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum, will host “Sound Check! A Festival of Asian American Music, Sound, and Scholarship” from the evening of Saturday, April 27 (immediately after the conclusion of the Association of Asian American Studies conference) to Monday, April 29. The hybrid in-person/virtual festival will include concerts and artist talks by Asian American musicians, and research presentations by scholars (including students), musicians, educators, and community organizers. Research presentations can be made in-person at Wing Luke Museum or virtually via Zoom.

The program committee invites proposals for research presentations on any topic related to Asian American music.  We particularly encourage proposals that are related to Seattle as a place of Asian American musicking and the roles of Asian American memory institutions. Additionally, we welcome submissions on under-studied topics, including but not limited to:

  • Asian American music-making in the Pacific Northwest
  • Asian American musicians in mainstream popular music
  • Studies of Asian American sound and soundscapes
  • Asian American musical institutions
  • Asian American musicians before the 1970s
  • Community music-making
  • Music making by children and seniors
  • Music by younger artists
  • Asian Americans in Western classical music, country music and non-Asian traditional musics

We accept proposals in the following formats:

  • Lightning Talks: 7-minute presentation plus 3 minutes for questions (150-word abstract, 100-word bio)
  • Individual Paper: 20-minute presentation plus 10 minutes for questions (250-word abstract, 100-word bio)
  • Panel or Roundtable: 60 minutes (750-word abstract, 100-word bio for each presenter)
  • Special format: 60 minutes (750-word abstract including an explanation of how the session will work, 100-word bio for each presenter. If your proposal has specific technological and space requirements beyond an LCD projector and microphones, please contact Eric Hung (email below) before submitting.

We encourage individuals from a variety of backgrounds, including those outside of academia, to apply.  For presenters without institutional support, small travel stipends may be available.  Proposals must be submitted via this Google form (https://forms.gle/6GGEmsx9hHtJpdo86), and the deadline is Tuesday, January 2 at 11:59pm PST. Notifications will be sent no later than January 27, 2024.   Questions should be directed to Eric Hung (eric@asianamericanmusic.org).

The Wing Luke Museum is an art and history museum in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Established in 1967, the museum is a Smithsonian Institution affiliate and the only pan-Asian Pacific American community-based museum in the United States.  Through September 2024, “Sound Check! The Music We Make” is on view in the Special Exhibition Gallery.  This exhibition explores the role music has played in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander lives & communities as an element of cultural heritage/identity, a form of personal/creative expression, a commercial industry, a connecting/healing force, and an integral part of thriving communities and culture.

Program Committee:

  • Elaine Kathryn Andres
  • Vivian Chan
  • Ami Dang
  • Eric Hung (chair)
  • Brian V. Sengdala