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X-WR-CALNAME:Department of Music Lecture: Bryce Noe & Fang Liu\, PhD studen
 ts in Musicology\, Washington University in St. Louis
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Central Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260611T013145Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_47973574052558
DTSTART:20241108T210000Z
DTEND:20241108T220000Z
DESCRIPTION:Department of Music Lecture: Bryce Noe & Fang Liu\, PhD student
 s in Musicology\, Washington University in St. Louis\n\nBryce Noe\, PhD st
 udent in Musicology\, Washington University in St. Louis Title "Sound(e)sc
 aping Skateparks: Headphone Listening as Self-Imposed Isolation within Ska
 teboard Culture”\n\nTitle\n\n"Sound(e)scaping Skateparks: Headphone List
 ening as Self-Imposed Isolation within Skateboard Culture"\n\nAbstract\n\n
 Skateparks are facilities where skateboarders often silence their immediat
 e soundscape using portable music-listening devices. Listening to music th
 rough headphones can impose a rhythm onto practitioners’ skating as well
  as offer a private\, euphoric experience of their surroundings (Pereira a
 nd Azevedo 2019). I conceive skateparks\, then\, as constituting a “soun
 d(e)scape\,” a space where practitioners employ MP3 devices to escape an
  otherwise cacophonous environment. Drawing on fieldwork conducted at skat
 eparks\, I argue that sound(e)scaping facilitates a sense of individualism
  fundamental to skatepark culture. My paper reveals how portable music-lis
 tening devices individuate skaters’ experience in two crucial ways. Firs
 t\, riders select music and craft playlists to alter their skating style a
 nd trick selections\, opting for faster and louder music selections when a
 ttempting riskier and more physically demanding tricks. Second\, the sight
  of headphones and their wires signals to other skatepark users a desire f
 or solitude. Sounds emanating from speakers are often perceived as “mood
  killers” disruptive to skaters’ performances and\, thus\, telling rid
 ers to silence their Bluetooth devices is common. This sonic policing and 
 self-imposed isolation facilitate concentration when performing tricks and
  an entitlement to control public space.\n\nSound(e)scaping\, however\, is
  more prevalent at public skateparks. Private skateparks\, on the other ha
 nd\, are equipped with sound systems playing music throughout the day. Thi
 s shared music listening reflects a focus on community building\, for priv
 ate skateparks are controlled businesses requiring membership and annual f
 ees and hosting afterschool programs to provide youth a safe space to spen
 d time and practice with others. Still\, skaters’ shared sense of entitl
 ement over their external soundscape persists at private skateparks\, as s
 ome riders noted their embarrassment skating to unsolicited popular music.
  While previous musicological and sound studies literature explores how po
 rtable MP3 technologies enable users to individualize their surroundings a
 nd silence others (Hosokawa 1984\; Bull 2005\, 2012\; Sterne 2013)\, most 
 studies cast these devices as autonomous and separate from humans. By intr
 oducing the verb “sound(e)scaping” to sound studies\, this paper refra
 mes headphones listening as a conscious and embodied human act to tame dis
 orderly surroundings and facilitate physical performance (i.e.\, skateboar
 ding).\n\nBiography\n\nBryce studies choreography and sound in sport setti
 ngs. In particular\, he examines sporting spaces and events as sites where
 by knowledge—both semantic and somatic—is transmitted sonically. Addit
 ional research interests include disability studies\, popular music\, and 
 urban musicology. Prior to graduate study at Washington University in St. 
 Louis\, Bryce earned his Master of Music degree in Musicology at the Unive
 rsity of Miami’s Frost School of Music. His master’s thesis\, “Frees
 tyle Soundscapes: An Acoustemology of Freestyle Skateboarding Contests\,
 ” is an exploration of freestyle skateboarders’ engagement with music 
 and sound during contests as well as the (sub)cultural and gender politics
  embedded within such sporting spaces.\n\nFang Liu\, PhD student in Musico
 logy\, Washington University in St. Louis\n\nTitle\n\n"A Taoist Approach t
 o Bach: Zhu Xiao-Mei's Performance of the Goldberg Variations"\n\nAbstract
 \n\nIn her liner notes to her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations\, 
 Chinese-French pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei (born 1949) highlights the work's “c
 yclical character\,” invoking the Taoist philosopher Laozi's saying\, 
 “The return is the movement of Tao.” She connects the piece to Chinese
  Taoist philosophy\, underscoring the work's capacity to transcend cultura
 l boundaries. This unusual interpretation is grounded in Zhu's extensive p
 erformances of the piece\, which culminated in a 2014 recital at the Thoma
 skirche\, establishing her as the first pianist to play at the site of Bac
 h's burial.\n\nTaking Zhu’s interpretation of the Goldberg Variations as
  a case study\, this paper examines how her Taoist approach shapes her mus
 ical choices. The Tao Te Ching\, the foundational text of Taoism written b
 y Laozi in the 4th century BC\, describes water as a natural force that\, 
 exemplifying the principle of wu-wei\, flows with effortless efficiency an
 d embodies virtues of calmness and spontaneity. Zhu acknowledges that her 
 approach to the Goldberg Variations aligns with the water-like attributes 
 of Taoist wu-wei\, but how she embodies this philosophy in her performance
  remains unexplored. Drawing on Zhu’s memoir and the Thomaskirche record
 ing\, this paper argues that Zhu shapes her performance of the Goldberg Va
 riations to convey specifically Taoist images and ideals\, notably the met
 aphor of water’s flow\, serenity\, and spontaneity\, and the concept of 
 return as a transformational process. Although the sounds Zhu produces fit
  within the conventions of classical pianism\, her words about her own aes
 thetic choices invite us to hear them as a Taoist’s engagement with Bach
 .
GEO:38.646364;-90.311863
LOCATION:Music Classroom Building\, 102
SUMMARY:Department of Music Lecture: Bryce Noe & Fang Liu\, PhD students in
  Musicology\, Washington University in St. Louis
URL;VALUE=URI:https://happenings.washu.edu/event/department-of-music-lectur
 e-bryce-noe-fang-liu-phd-students-in-musicology-washington-university-in-s
 t-louis
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