The H. Wiley Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music (HISAM) supports American music scholarship, pedagogy, and performances.
We recognize and seek to connect diverse local, national, and global musical practices across a broad spectrum of oral, popular, and art music traditions. We represent scholars, performers, and creators that reflect the racial, economic, and gender diversity of our students, faculty, community, and the world.
Through our biannual publication, American Music Review, the Polycultural America Speaker Series, monographs, collection of oral histories, and forums for public musicology, the faculty and staff of HISAM seek to resist systems of oppression, acknowledge the privileges of whiteness, strive for social justice, and publicly promote antiracism.
Join us today!
Afro-Venezuelan Drumming Diaspora in NYC:
Tambor y Caña & Escuela de Tambores Afrovenezolanos y Percusión Afrolatina (E.T.A.P.A.)
Conversations surrounding Latin-American representation and identity should include Afro-Latin experiences within the Americas. Tambor y Caña, Escuela de Tambores Afrovenezolanos y Percusión Afrolatina (E.T.A.P.A.) are NYC-based drumming groups uniting Afro-Venezuelan immigrants from the Venezuelan states of Aragua, Maracuyi, and Carabobo. These organizations host events and workshops to inform participants about Afro-Venezuelan musical performance, sound, and dance, referencing the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which brought over 100,000 African slaves to Venezuela from present-day Angola, Senegal, Gambia, Benin, Nigeria, and Congo. This presentation will highlight the rhythmic traditions tied to the Afro-Venezuelan diaspora communities found in the coastal regions of Venezuela.
Please Join us for a 1-hour conversation and performance with Afro-Venezuelan drummer Wille Quintana and Tambor y Caña NYC musicians!
Date: November 30th, 2023
Time: 7-8pm
Space: Recital Hall (Room 306) in the Music Building
Lehman College – 250 Bedford Park Blvd W, Bronx, NY 10468
Paid Internship Opportunity: Social Media management and Events Promotion for HISAM.
The W. Hitchcock Institute for the Study of American Music (HISAM) is offering a paid internship for a student for Spring 2024. Housed at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, HISAM supports American music scholarship, pedagogy, and performances across a broad spectrum of oral, popular, and art music traditions. If you are passionate about music and avid in social media, we would love to work with you!
Read below for details!
Past events
Find the program below.
H. Wiley Hitchcock Centennial Birthday Party and Concert benefitting the H. Wiley Hitchcock Fund for Studies in American Music
Come to a birthday concert honoring H. Wiley Hitchcock’s 100th! This centennial concert, thrown by Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music, est. 1971, highlights and benefits collaborations between students, faculty, and the New York City arts community through Hitchcock’s rich scholarly legacy in American music scholarship and praxis.
After brief opening remarks by former HISAM directors Carol J. Oja and Allan Lott, the first half of the program will feature a program of American choral works historical and modern curated by Malcolm J. Merriweather to align with Hitchcock’s personal interests, acquaintances, and scholarly affinities. Works will include compositions and arrangements by William Billings, Charles Ives, Margaret Bonds, Valerie Capers, Leonard Bernstein, and Gregg Smith.
A brief intermission will include a silent auction of HISAM publications and swag including a robust offering of prints from both the monograph series and back issues of the ISAM Newsletter and American Music Review.
The concert’s second half will transport the audience into the world of avant-garde jazz and experimental theater, featuring selections from Cecil Taylor’s musical adaptation of Adrienne Kennedy’s play A Rat’s Mass in 1976. A project conceived and facilitated by Michelle Yom, this segment highlights the bold artistic endeavors that emerged at the intersection of music, drama, and social commentary during a time of creative upheaval. Just as H. Wiley Hitchcock championed the amalgamation of disciplines, this performance resonates with his enduring legacy, inviting attendees to engage with the fusion of art forms and delve into the complexity of American music and culture.
Reserve your spot here!
