CfA: Special Issue “Popular Brass Music in the 21st Century”, Journal of World Popular Music
Call for Articles: Special Issue “Popular Brass Music in the 21st Century”
Journal of World Popular Music
Guest Editors: Dr. Bernhard Steinbrecher (University of Innsbruck, Department of Music); Bernhard Achhorner (Stella Vorarlberg Privathochschule für Musik)
Deadline for Proposals: 24 March 2024
This special issue aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of contemporary popular brass music, with an emphasis on its global manifestations. Against the backdrop of the increasing popularity of brass music in German-speaking regions, particularly in youthful demographics, the special issue discusses from an international perspective the contemporary aesthetic, stylistic, sociocultural, economic, and political facets of music that gravitates around brass instruments. The objective is to shed light on recent developments since the 1990s, elucidating whether there are parallels, resonances, and distinctions in diverse glocal contexts. Hereby, the special issue also strives to initiate the transnational scholarly conceptualization of a newly emerging and adapting musical field.
In particular, the call for articles invites scholars who are interested in the entanglements between brass music and popular music, including genres such as pop, rock, rap, and electronic dance music, as well as in related intersections with folk/folkloristic and classical music. In this context, the special issue's goal is to examine the hybrid repertoire of contemporary brass bands and how they create their original music and/or employ the established canons and recent hits, for example, in their arrangements. How do generational differences affect the current shape of brass music and its popularity? Are brass bands achieving chart success?
Moreover, we aim to address the role of social, cultural, economic, and political factors in the popularization of brass music, together with notions of spaces and functions. To what extent do educational conditions, institutional structures, and identity formations of gender, class, or race shape the practices and experiences of the communities in which brass music is performed and listened to today? Are there even distinctive communities or scenes at all? Articles could explore the role that traditional media, social media, and streaming platforms play in promoting and discursivizing brass music or discuss brass music as a part of political activism.
In addition, the special issue aims to highlight the wide spectrum of methodological pathways through which popular brass music, and its potential trajectories, can be explored in current or future research. We are interested in how qualitative and quantitative methods, discourse analysis, music analysis, hermeneutical readings, and other perspectives can help us capture the various dimensions of the phenomenon(s) and discuss the implications of brass music’s popularity for the broader cultural landscape.
We welcome articles from various disciplinary perspectives—including musicology, sociology, cultural studies, media studies, economics, and other fields—to bring together a diverse group of international scholars who emphasize the richness and breadth of research in this field.
Articles can relate to, but are not at all limited to, the following topics:
Conceptualizing Popular Brass Music: Delving into the global comprehension and classification of brass music as a distinct genre, style, or phenomenon.
Intersections with Popular Genres: Exploring the intricate relationships between brass music and popular genres, elucidating the repertoire dynamics of contemporary brass bands.
Sociocultural Impacts: Examining the multifaceted role played by social, cultural, economic, and political factors in shaping the popularization of brass music.
Youth Culture and Transformation: Investigating the status of brass music as a youth phenomenon, discerning its role in broader sociocultural trends.
Formalities:
The journal and article language is English.
Potential contributors are asked to submit an article proposal that includes the title, an abstract of 300 words, five keywords, name(s), academic affiliation(s), and a short biographical note.
Please email your proposal to bernhard.achhorner[at]stella-musikhochschule.ac.at by 24 March, 2024. You will be informed at the latest about the results of the selection process by the end of April 2024.
The deadline for final articles, which will be evaluated in a double-blind peer review process, will be 1 October 2024.
Journal website: https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JWPM