Mission Statement

Early Musics Skills and Resources is an AMS Study Group which aims to coordinate and energize the study of musical practices from before around 1600 by focusing on the skills necessary to teach and undertake research into musics of the distant past. The term “Early Musics” signals a desire to embrace diverse musical traditions from around the globe, including hybrid practices that emerged from trans-continental, socio-cultural, and commercial movements and routes. Research into early musics continues to be vital, vitally important, and importantly challenging for the future. Members of this group share not only an interest in studying and teaching these musical traditions, but a commitment to facilitating the specialist training and interdisciplinary collaboration upon which so much successful work depends. 

By focusing on skills rather than output, the Study Group complements early music sessions at the national meeting of the AMS, creating space to discuss the “how” of early music research. Our goal is to facilitate knowledge of and access to extracurricular opportunities and to act as a central networking hub for scholars, teachers, students, and performers to develop further training opportunities.

Announcements

October ESMR Newsletter

The latest Study Group Newsletter is available here. If you have news that you would like to share about publications, awards, CFPs, job opportunities, etc., please let us know so that we can include these items in upcoming communications. You can email the officers at ams.srem@gmail.com.

This month, the newsletter covers the following topics:

• EMSR Announcements
  • Business Meeting Recording 
  • Nominations for Study Group Leadership     
  • Early Music 101 Updates       
  • AMS Early Music Program Fund Application Process
  • Early Music @ AMS 2026 (Online)    
  • AMS2027 (Seattle): EMSR Session Suggestions       
• Announcements
  • CFP: Marco Manuscript Workshop    
  • Early European Music Now: A Symposium of Performance, Scholarship, and Practice       
  • All Souls Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music        
  • KU Leuven Music Seminars

Upcoming Deadlines:

Canons of the First Order — In Practice
Application Deadline

This course applies the theoretical principles presented in The Art of Canon through live instruction and workshops in canonic composition, using systematic contrapuntal procedures.

The first three meetings progress from infinite canons in two voices to constructions involving multiple voices, different intervals of imitation, and invertible counterpoint. Participants examine and apply the mathematical principles underlying these procedures. The final meeting will feature guest lectures.

Participants will receive advance access to Season 2 of The Art of Canon.

For more information and to apply, please visit https://ericssonhatfield.com/education/canons-of-the-first-order/

Upcoming Events:

Early Music 101 Dates and Topics 

EMSR is delighted to announce the Fall schedule for Early Music 101, a series of interactive online workshops aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students curious about musical practices before 1600, and at researchers interested in developing a secondary research area in early music. Early Music 101 will provide participants with a foundational understanding of what research in early music involves, focusing on the following topics: 

• Session II: What is a Source
  • Oct 29 (4:00EST) 
  • Mary Channen Caldwell and Giovanni Zanovello explore what counts as a “source” in early music research, examining the manuscripts, prints, and other materials that preserve musical practices from before 1600. The session demystifies how researchers read, interpret, and draw new knowledge from these documents and material objects, including early forms of notation and evidence of performance practice.
  • Register here: https://fsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/iZH3uCtzRvWsXAVEDmDDow
• Session III: Filling Up Your Research Toolkit
  • December 10 (4:00EST)
  • Jennifer Bain and Luisa Nardini survey the essential skills and resources of the early music researcher, from transcribing early notation to using digital repositories and databases. Participants will leave with a practical toolkit for launching their own research on pre-1600 musical traditions.
  • Register here: https://fsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/vbkFAdmCQPmFBhO0B06Yqg

Early Music @ AMS2026 (Online)

Our annual schedule of Early Music sessions and papers at AMS is now available here!

Officers