The Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa excels at World Conference
The Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa excels at the 47th World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) in Ghana
Founded in 2004, the Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa (JMAA) is published by NISC (Pty) Ltd in partnership with Taylor & Francis, and associated with the South African College of Music (SACM) at the University of Cape Town. Celebrating its 20th year of publication in 2023, the journal has sought to raise awareness of research on musical arts in Africa within a broader scholarly community.
Focusing on some perspectives and experiences on the research-mentoring cycle in African contexts, Professor Anri Herbst chaired a successful roundtable at the 47th World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) held in Legon, Ghana earlier this year. Panellists included the Editor-in-Chief of JMAA, Dr Wilhelm Delport (University of Cape Town), the Associate Editor of JMAA, Dr Emaeyak Sylvanus (University of Nigeria, Nsukka), the Editor-in-Chief of African Music, Dr Lee Watkins (Rhodes University) and the former Managing Director of NISC, Mike Schramm. At this historic event Dr Delport, who has been affiliated with JMAA for over 10 years, was officially announced as the Editor-in-Chief.
Four lecturers and several current and former students from the SACM took part in the conference, including Professor Sylvia Bruinders, a former Reviews Editor of JMAA and the current Head of African Music.
Held at the University of Ghana in Legon, the conference also saw the promotion and launch of JMAA Volume 19 (2022), a special issue on African music theory, analysis and aesthetics from the second symposium of the ICTM Study Group on African Musics (ICTM-SGAM).
Dr Delport handed over copies of JMAA to Judith Opoku-Boateng, the senior archivist of the J.H. Kwabena Nketia Archives, Institute of African Studies, at the live broadcasting of the prestigious Nketia Memorial Concert (University of Ghana). The concert celebrated the unique contribution of the internationally-renowned scholar and composer Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia who passed away in 2019 at the age of 97. Professor Kwasi Ampene (Department Chair of Music, Tufts University) wrote a special tribute to Nketia in JMAA Volume 18 (2021).
“The ICTM conference highlighted the crucial role that the Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa plays on the African continent, and it was rewarding to meet so many authors who published in this flagship of the University of Cape Town”, said JMAA Founding Editor-in-Chief, Professor Anri Herbst.
