***THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED*** With Beethoven we deal not merely with a maker of great music, but also with a figure of profound cultural, historical, and philosophical significance. In this one-day symposium, leading scholars, critics, and artists gather to discuss both Beethoven's transformational impact on Western music, artistry, and sensibility, and the intersections of music and politics, literature, class, and theory more broadly. Across a series of panels, live-performance listening sessions, and workshops, we will ask: What explains Beethoven's extraordinary singularity? From what cultural, political, and philosophical sources did Beethoven draw? What is "late style?" What is Beethoven's musical legacy--and in what ways, good or ill, does he help shape modern performance and composition? Was Beethoven the original "modern" artist and celebrity--and why does he stand, to this day, as a symbol of artistic autonomy and mercurial "Genius"? Participants will include Susan Buck-Morss, Scott Burnham, Bora Yoon, Du Yun, Kate Wagner, Elaine Sisman, Olivier Glissant--with more to be announced.
Manhattan, New York, NY