Greetings and updates from IAML President Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie

The following post is from IAML President Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie and was posted to IAML-L on 30 November.

Dear colleagues,

Greetings from New York. It was a huge pleasure to see so many of you here in my hometown for IAML in June. And it is absolutely amazing to me that so many months have already passed since then!

Today I send you an update on all things IAML.

2015 CONGRESS: The annual congress of IAML/IMS in New York in June was a great highlight for me this year. The conference attracted over 600 attendees, sessions were packed, and it seemed overall that people enjoyed it. Many many thanks again to the hard-working organizing committee, and especially to Jane Gottlieb and Jim Cassaro, who co-chaired the committee with me, to Juilliard, our gracious local host, and to the Music Library Association, the national IAML branch in charge of the conference (and who were a delight to work with). A special thanks also to the Forum of Commissions and Professional Branches and the IMS programme committee for putting together such a rich and diverse programme of sessions and events for us all. If you were unable to attend, reports and materials from presentations are available, and you can read about people's experiences at the congress by clicking the Search button (top right corner of the IAML website) and entering “congress diary”.

2016 CONGRESS: As you know, work is well underway for next year’s conference in Rome (3-8 July at the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia). The deadline of the call for papers and posters has just passed, and I am delighted to report that the number of proposals received was very high. Another wonderful congress awaits!

Fontes Artis Musicae : The editor of Fontes for the past ten years, Maureen Buja, is completing the final issue of her tenure, and its new editor, Jim Cassaro, has completed his first issue—the first issue of 2016. As announced by Joseph Hafner, chair of IAML’s Publication Committee, the journal has been approved for inclusion in Project Muse, which will allow individual members of IAML to access it online for free, will support institutional subscriptions, and will provide needed revenues for IAML.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Organizational Structure (Level 2): Under the leadership of Barbara Wiermann and John Roberts, the Level 2 committee is hard at work on the constitutional changes stemming from the motions approved by the General Assembly at the congress in New York. The current discussion is focused on naming details and the status of subgroups, both of which were left open by the GA in New York. The committee will then turn its attention to establishing consistent terms of reference for each group in close communication with each group’s chair. Stay tuned!

Member Society Conferences: In the last few months, IAML has been represented at a number of events hosted by societies of which IAML is a member or affiliate. Joseph Hafner, IAML Vice President, along with other IAML members including Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, attended the IFLA meeting in South Africa (see Joseph's report).  Secretary General Pia Shekhter represented IAML at the IMC meeting this month (see Pia's report).

Elections: And last but far from least, elections for IAML Vice Presidents and President Elect  are quickly approaching. One of the four Vice Presidents, Joseph Hafner, is eligible for a second term; the other three are completing their second (and last) terms this year and must be replaced: Johan Eeckeloo, Antony Gordon, and Stanisław Hrabia. The new office of President Elect is also open. As a reminder, the President Elect will serve in that capacity for one year and then become President for three years, and finally Past President for two. So far the following candidates have been nominated: For President Elect: Stanisław Hrabia; for Vice Presidents: Rupert Ridgewell and Balázs Mikusi. A couple of other people have also been nominated, and upon their acceptance of their nomination, we will circulate those names as well.

More nominations for all positions are sought, so please do nominate those you think would make good leaders of our association. Specifically, I would encourage national branches to discuss within their memberships who you would like to put forward for one of these offices. Note the following general timeline, which more specific dates forthcoming early in the new year:

• March: Deadline by which all nominations must be received, the candidates must have agreed to run, and a brief CV must have been received for each candidate.
• April: All nominees are posted on the IAML website
• May: Elections to be held online.

Best wishes to all,

Barbara