After the success of the first edition (UIC 2021) and the establishment at the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi” in Alessandria of the world’s first university program of study specialized in ukulele performance — a Bachelor’s degree program in Ukulele, Musiche Tradizionali (DCPL65) ad indirizzo Ukulele, that started in November 2023 — the Second Ukulele International Conference (UIC 2023) – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Performance, Composition, Pedagogy and Organology has been organized and hosted by the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi” in Alessandria (Italy), in collaboration with the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment – University of Milan, and co-directed by Giovanni Albini and Giovanni Cestino. Its aim was to delve into the diverse cultural identities and resources of the ukulele from both academic and artistic perspectives. A volume of the conference papers will be published in 2025. Jim Beloff has been the conference special guest. It has been held at the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi”, in Alessandria (Italy) on October 27 and 28, 2023. At this link the book with the conference program and abstracts.
UIC 2023 have hosted participants in the broad interdisciplinary community of research around the ukulele who have converged, share and celebrated their ongoing research efforts, focusing on one or more of the following themes:
- ukulele performance, techniques, and repertoires;
- composing, arranging, and transcribing for ukulele;
- ukulele organology and making;
- relationship between the ukulele and other instruments;
- cultural history of the ukulele;
- the ukulele in media and popular music;
- ukulele in/for music education and pedagogy.
Conference program
Events were in-person — in Aula Abbà-Cornaglia, Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi” in Alessandria — as well as live-streamed on Zoom. All times in CET, Central European Time.
Friday, October 27, 2023
13:00 Conference registration
14:00 Welcome and institutional greetings
14:30 Keynote presentation: Jim Beloff, UKEtopia: Adventures in the Ukulele World
15:45 Paper session #1 (chair: Giovanni Cestino)
- Marta Bianchi (Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria, IT) and Peter Luongo (independent scholar, CA), Teaching Ukulele: the Canadian Experience
- João Tostes (independent scholar, BR), The Organization, Methodology, Challenges and Outcomes of an Online Ukulele Orchestra with Participants Aged 7 to 87 Years Old
- Davide Donelli (Associazione “C. Monteverdi”, Cologno Monzese, IT), Some Considerations on Arranging Hawaiian Melodies as a Teaching Tool
- Alessandra Scalese (Istituto Clinico Città Studi di Milano, IT), Posture, Musculoskeletal Pathologies and What to Do to Prevent Them
18:15 Roundtable: Ukulele Teaching (chair: Giovanni Albini)
Speakers: Byron K. Yasui (University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, US), Elisabeth Pfeiffer (University of Surrey, Guildford, UK), Peter Luongo (independent scholar, CA), Vinícius Vivas (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, BR)
20:30 Conference dinner (all audience is welcome)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
10:00 UIC 2021 proceedings presentation
11:00 Paper session #2 (chair: Giovanni Cestino)
- Serena Taretto (Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria, IT), Enhancing Music Education in Italian Primary Schools: a Proposal for Integrating Historic Methods and the Ukulele
- Elisabeth Pfeiffer (University of Surrey, Guildford, UK), Ernest Ka’ai and Ukulele Tone Production
- Kate Lewis (Brunel University, London, UK), Just a small guitar?: The Ukulele in Mainstream Popular Music
14:00 Paper session #3 (chair: Giovanni Albini)
- Fabrizio Nastari (Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia, Tallinn, EE), Ukulele as a Toy … for Classical Composers
- Enrico Dorigatti (University of Portsmouth, UK) and Andrea Beggio (independent scholar, IT), Ukulele and Electronics: Pushing the Boundaries of the Repertoire for Ukulele
15:15 Roundtable: Composing for Ukulele: Challenges and Perspectives (chair: Federico Favali)
Speakers: Andy Eastwood (independent scholar, UK), Choan Galvez (independent scholar, ES), Giorgio Colombo Taccani (Conservatorio di Musica “G. Verdi” di Torino, IT), Jim Dalton (Boston Conservatory at Berklee, US)
17:00 Roundtable: Ukulele Identities (chair: Giovanni Cestino)
Speakers: Jim Beloff (indipendent scholar, US), Jim Tranquada (Occidental College, US), Kate Lewis (Brunel University, London, UK), Shawn Yacavone (indipendent scholar, US)
19:00 Final concert: Jim Beloff and the Conservatorio “A. Vivaldi” String Quartet (Michele Ruggieri, Matteo Rolando, Francesco Calandrina, and Giulia Roveta) perform a chamber arrangement of Jim Beloff’s ukulele concerto Uke Can’t Be Serious. The concert ends with Isabella Sophie Paruzzo, the youngest student of the conservatory ukulele course.
Organizing committee
- Giovanni Albini, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Giovanni Cestino, Università degli Studi di Milano (IT)
Scientific committee
- Federico Favali, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Evangelina Mascardi, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Samantha Muir, University of Surrey (UK)
- Emanuele Segre, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Amy Stillman, University of Michigan (US)
- Jim Tranquada, Occidental College (US)
Special guest
- Jim Beloff
