Graduate student triumphs at Society for Ethnomusicology Conference, receiving an awarded prize in the field of ethnomusicology.
The Society for Ethnomusicology, Southern California and Hawaii Chapter (SEMSCHC) held its annual conference at UC Santa Barbara from March 2-3, 2019. The event brought together scholars, students, and music enthusiasts to share insights and research on various aspects of ethnomusicology, a field dedicated to the study of music across all cultural contexts and historical periods.
One of the highlights of the conference was the Ki Mantle Hood Student Prize, an award presented to recognize outstanding ethnomusicology students associated with SEMSCHC. This year, the prize was awarded to Tyler Yamin, a graduate student in the Department of Ethnomusicology at UC Santa Barbara.
Tyler's winning paper, titled "Creativity and Contestation in the Canopy: Reflections on the Material-Discursive Boundaries of Gibbon Song," showcased his innovative research and academic excellence. The paper, which was read at the 2018 conference, reflected the values and scholarly rigor championed by Ki Mantle Hood, a pioneering figure in ethnomusicology.
Ki Mantle Hood (1918–2006) is often regarded as one of the founders of ethnomusicology as a formal academic discipline in the United States. He was influential in establishing ethnomusicology as a distinct field, emphasizing rigorous fieldwork, musical transcription, and the integration of musicological analysis with cultural context. Throughout his career, Hood made substantial contributions to the study of Native American music, as well as music of various world cultures.
The Ki Mantle Hood Student Prize is dedicated to supporting and recognizing outstanding ethnomusicology students associated with SEMSCHC, fostering emerging scholars in the region that covers Southern California and Hawaii. The award helps maintain Hood’s legacy by inspiring new generations of ethnomusicologists to contribute meaningfully to the discipline. It serves as a tangible acknowledgment of student achievement and potential in ethnomusicology within the SEMSCHC community.
The 2019 SEMSCHC conference also featured a roundtable, "Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings," organized by the Ethnomusicology Archive. The event was a publishing collaboration between the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive and Adam Matthew Digital.
The Department of Ethnomusicology at the conference was represented by a group of graduate students, faculty, alumni, and archivists. Among them were Wan Yeung, William Matczynski, Lucas Avidan, Mehrenegar Rostami, Blair Black, Maureen Russell, Jesse Ruskin, Jessie Vallejo, Katherine Lee, Shani Miller, Linda O'Brien, Aaron Bittel, Xiaorong Yuan, Mei-Chen Chen, Alfredo Rivera, Veronica Pacheco, and Simone Salmon.
Congratulations were given to all who participated in the 2019 SEMSCHC conference, including Helen Rees, who was among the participants. The 2019 SEMSCHC conference program is available here.
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