Begun in 2002, MMaP’s Music & Culture Lecture Series presents cutting-edge research by leading scholars in ethnomusicology and allied disciplines. The talks, which are free and open to the public, take place in the MMaP Gallery on the second floor of the John C. Perlin Arts and Culture Centre. Since February 2017, all of the talks in the series have been livestreamed on the MMaP YouTube channel, and videos of past lectures from the series can be viewed there as well.

2026–2027 Lecture Series

Cross-Genre Musicking in Individual and Collaborative Group Contexts:
Lived Experience and Musical Identity

Ruth Herbert (City St George’s, University of London)
September 22, 2026, 7:30PM

What is it like for a performer to encounter and engage with an unfamiliar network of influences, whilst simultaneously being located within their own habitus of music performance? How does cultural background and training shape an individual’s sense of musical identity? This talk explores the lived experiences of specialist musicians working inside and outside their primary musical tradition and in cross-cultural scenarios where musical traditions intersect. Case studies centre on experiences of improvising musicians from western Classical, north Indian classical, and jazz backgrounds, as well as a cross-genre collaboration between Arabic music specialists, classical string players, and a jazz quintet. Phenomenological characteristics of experiences are considered in relation to an ecological framework and shifts of consciousness.

What Makes the Music Industry?
Brazilian Indie Music’s Production through Consumption

Shannon Garland (University of Pittsburgh)
March 9, 2027, 7:30PM

What is the relationship between the consumption of music, self-organization of music production, and the global, corporate music industries? This talk addresses this question by examining the historical development of the indie music industry in Brazil. It reviews Brazilian consumption and social exchange of Anglo-American indie rock recordings and media in relation to the formation of bands and new music institutions, such as labels, festivals, venues, and concert promoters. Garland traces the way cultural consumption provides a basis for self-organization of music production, which in turn becomes fodder for corporate mediation of further music consumption. The talk theorizes the relationship between non-commodified social practices and the commodified consumption and production of public musical life.