The chapters tie anti-colonial advocacy to the creation of spaces where creativity can flourish, show how creative applied ethnomusicology benefits communities, and address the creative pedagogies required to situate diverse musical cultures in the context of academia, while overcoming gaps in student and faculty understanding
In Positioning Creativity in Ethnomusicology: Study and Practice, ethnomusicologists succinctly demonstrate various ways of centering creativity in music higher education. Across six chapters, 12 authors with a variety of specializations and years of experience in (and outside of) academia come together to offer their answers to the question, “What might be possible if we were to (re)position creativity at the center of all we do?” Their contributions range from creative philosophical and theoretical approaches that deemphasize Western canonical views, to practical applications in ensembles, to creative ways of being respectful and reciprocal in complicated cross-cultural relationships in the field (the ethnomusicologist’s research locus), among music faculty, and with students in the classroom.
Bringing together a wide range of case studies, the chapters tie anti-colonial advocacy to the creation of spaces where creativity can flourish, show how creative applied ethnomusicology benefits communities, and address the creative pedagogies required to situate diverse musical cultures in the context of academia while overcoming gaps in student and faculty understanding. Providing new insights for scholars, instructors, and students Positioning Creativity in Ethnomusicology is an essential resource that reframes how we practice and teach ethnomusicology.
List of Figures
Series Foreword
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction / Brenda M. Romero and Jennifer LaRue
1. Embodiment as a Step Toward a De/Anti-Colonial Study of Music / Jennifer
LaRue
2. Rethinking Japanese Music Ensemble / Jay Keister and Mami Itasaka Keister
3. Gamelan in the Mountain West: Our Stories / I Madé Lasmawan, Victoria
Lindsay Levine, Elizabeth McLean Macy, and Ni Ketut Marni
4. Where Im From, Creativity Needs No Repositioning / Putu Tangkas Adi
Hiranmayena
5. Ethnomusicology as Interdiscipline: Bridging Gaps through Collaboration
and Co-Mentorship / Jocelyn Nelson and Brenda M. Romero
6. Folk Performance as Indigenous Social Commentary: Stories from Karnataka,
India, and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan / Deepak Paramashivan and Amelia
Maciszewski
Epilogue / Jennifer LaRue and Brenda M. Romero
Index
Jennifer LaRue served as postdoctoral scholar in musicology at Florida State University (2023-2025). Her research interests include intercultural music, African art music, popular music, and decolonial approaches to music in academia. She is Director of the consulting site, "Jennifer LaRue Writing."
Brenda M. Romero is a professor emerita at the University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology (University of California, Los Angeles) and BMus and MMus in music theory/composition (University of New Mexico). She is a recipient of the Fulbright García-Robles Scholar (2000-01) and Fulbright Colombia Scholar (Spring 2011). She coedited Dancing across Borders: Danzas y bailes mexicanos and originated and coedited/coauthored At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice.