Embodied Chorus: Enacting Musical Meaning

Wednesday, 14 February 2024 | Noon to 13:00 EST | Room 373, Accolade Building East, Keele Campus, York University

With Magdelena Ho-yan Tang

In this presentation, Dr. Tang explores how European and North American choral classics take on new meanings in Hong Kong. By analyzing two chorus cases, she explores the role of bodies and voices in shaping somatic aesthetic experiences during choral music-making. Through ethnographic analysis, new insights are gained in the studies of choral music-making, particularly regarding the cultivation and negation of narratives through physical and musical expressions.

Magdelena Ho-yan Tang is an External Research Associate at the York Centre for Asian Research, York University. She received her PhD from the University of Hong Kong with the dissertation “The Singing Public in Hong Kong: Choral Music as Social Life.” Her research focuses on notions of identity, performative aspects of collective singing, and public space. In the past, she presented her works at the Association of Chinese Music Research annual meeting, the Royal Musical Association Annual Conference, and the Hong Kong Studies Symposium. Her work can be seen in the peer-reviewed journal Music and Politics. She is also a choral conductor based in Toronto, teaching at Bach Children’s Chorus and Sistema Toronto.

All are welcome. Please RSVP at https://forms.office.com/r/ZZvUvLQdp2 by 13 February 2024.

This event is brought to you by the Hong Kong Studies Group at the York Centre for Asian Research in collaboration with GS/MUSI5300 Music for Social Change & Community Empowerment, led by Professor Amy Hillis.

For more information about the Hong Kong Studies Group, click this link.