Dr Sue Miller gave an invited talk ‘Execices de ‘Steal’ in English and French at Sorbonne University Paris 10 April 2018 at the Serge G conference organised by Iremus – starting with Gainsbourg’s creativity and eclecticism and then examining the Cuban roots of the French cabaret scene in the mid-twentieth century. Serge G Conference, Paris […]
The Leeds Arts Research Centre (LARC) brings together creative practitioners and academics across Leeds Beckett University whose research interests lie in the arts, whether that is music, film, fine art, design or performing arts.
LARC draws on staff from the School of Art, Architecture and Design and from the School of Film, Music and Performing Arts. It brings together cultural historians and theorists with arts practitioners at the cutting edge of practice as research. Providing a forum for debate, it is also a window on the exciting and innovate creative work going on across the two Schools. Here staff collaborate on new projects, showcase their research and build together the research culture
Recontextualising Ragtime: Connections, Influences, Perspectives A Two-Day Symposium 6–7 May 2017 Location: Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield, UK Organised by: Prof. Rachel Cowgill (University of Huddersfield) and Dr Sue Miller (Leeds Beckett University) in association with Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield Join us for a two-day symposium examining the […]
Recontextualising Ragtime: Connections, Influences, Perspectives
A two-day symposium
6&7 May 2017
Location: Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield, UK
Organised by: Prof. Rachel Cowgill (University of Huddersfield) and Dr Sue Miller (Leeds Beckett University) in association with Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield
Review by Sunni Witmer of ‘Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation and Improvisation’ by Sue Miller in Latin American Music Review, Volume 37, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2016, Published by University of Texas Press
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/619638
‘All in all, Miller’s book is a valuable contribution to the scant research on charanga, and it is especially informative for those interested in improvisation, performance practices, analysis of popular music, flute performance, and, of course, Cuban music.’
Sue Miller is giving a pre-concert talk on Cuba-based and New York-based charanga music and then her band Charanga del Norte are performing that night at Churchill College, University of Cambridge – tickets from the Cambridge Jazz Festival site.
Sue Miller provides an intricately argued call for the study of both theoretical and practical improvisation to take centre-stage in higher music education (Chapter 6), a point pursued by Esmée Olthuis, who posits that improvisation can foster musical leadership and critical skills of self-reflection.
Sue Miller’s monograph on Cuban flute style will be of interest to ethnomusicologists and flautists alike. It is a clearly written, highly musical book that serves as both a guide to performance practice and an academic text. Miller brings together performance as a research technique, interviews with musicians, lessons with renowned flautists, and detailed and extensive transcription and analysis of recordings to create a ‘musical archaeology’ (246) of creative processes, interpretation and improvisation in Cuban charanga flute performance.
Sue’s panel at the Society for Ethnomusicology’s annual conference in Texas Austin takes place on 3 December at 4pm. Also on the panel are renowned scholars of Latin American music Professor David Garcia (University of North Carolina) and Dr Ben Lapidus (CUNY).
Panel Abstract: ‘Clave feel’ is often cited as one of the main elements of Afro-Cuban/salsa improvisation yet very little to date has been done to demonstrate this concept analytically. Building on research in this area by Christopher Washburne, Peter Manuel, David Garcia, Robin Moore, Lise Waxer, and Robert Farris Thompson, scholars of Latin improvisation consider how clave remains a point of tradition, pride, and practice for many performers of Afrocuban music in New York City. Brass, woodwind and piano clave-based improvisation styles are examined to demonstrate how clave feel can define both the artistry and identity of performers. Ethnographic research informs the musical analyses of solo improvisations from both recordings and live performances to demonstrate how clave sensibility permeates the artistic work of New York-based Latin soloists.
Sue will be presenting a paper ‘Getting into Bed with the Cultural Theorists’ at the NIMiMS conference to demonstrate how the detailed analysis of sound connects directly to cultural aspects of the music and to advocate closer working partnerships with scholars in musicology and cultural studies.The aim of the symposium is to bridge gaps and create positive dialogue between different approaches within music studies. The symposium is focused on two questions.
[1] How can music analysis and cultural studies benefit from each other?
[2] How can music theory and musical practice benefit from each other?
Organizing parties: NIMiMS, Musicology at the Helsinki University Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies, Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory, and the Finnish Music Archive JAPA.