Ellen Waterman

Dr. Kati Szego of the School of Music at Memorial University has been named the editor of the prestigious journal Yearbook for Traditional Music.  The Yearbook was established in 1949 as the Journal of the International Folk Music Council, and it is published in English every December by the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM).  It is widely considered one of the top-tier peer reviewed journals in the field of ethnomusicology.

“There were two principal reasons for my seeking editorship of the Yearbook,” explains Szego.  “First, I do see it as a natural extension of my commitment to ICTM and its mandate.  Second, I love working with words and ideas. For me, the best part of an editor’s job lies in thoughtful exchange with other scholars.   In terms of the voices that might be represented in future volumes of the Yearbook, I hope to attract articles that better represent the extraordinary diversity of ICTM’s membership.  I'll be happy too if this provides some training opportunities for graduate students in Memorial's ethnomusicology graduate programmes.”    

The School of Music hosted the ICTM conference in 2010 (only the second time the conference had been held in Canada).  Dr. Szego was a co-organizer of the conference along with Dr. Beverley Diamond, and the current volume of the Yearbook (No. 44, 2012) is a special collection of essays from that conference edited by Szego, Diamond and Salwa Castelo-Branca.  The conference also resulted in two other special issues that Szego co-edited for the journal MUSICultures. 

Dr. Szego joined the School of Music in 1995, establishing its highly successful ethnomusicology programs, which now include the M.A. and Ph.D. in ethnomusicology.  An expert in musics of Hawai’i and Oceania, she is currently examining the roles of women in the ‘ukulele revival that is sweeping North America and Europe.