American Music Centers Unite 7 29 2026

The USA's 250th anniversary offers a critical moment to examine the emergence and growth of centers and institutes dedicated to the study and performance of “American music.” Leaders from these organizations will come together through SAM to explore the establishment of an “American Music Center Alliance,” an inter-institutional collaboration navigating the complex terrains of scholarly research, archiving, public engagement, and policy advocacy. This roundtable features American Music Research Center and Institute directors, representing both national and local identities and constituencies, to inquire what constitutes “American Music” during the America250 and to find ways that our centers and institutes might work together more effectively, especially through digital humanities projects and other forms of networking. Key questions will include: What are our current programming initiatives and goals for the future, and how do these initiatives tie into America250? How are we acknowledging and centering inclusivity, diversity, and equity in our centers? How might we rethink the gatekeeping roles that research collections and archives play in shaping the field of American music studies and responding to the imperatives of cultural pluralism? What political, ethical, and moral responsibilities do these centers have in engaging with our communities and society at large? How can our work with American music studies reach across disciplinary boundaries? As representatives of university centers and institutes operating in multiple states throughout the country, this session is open to the public, with panelists from Missouri, Colorado, Kentucky, New York, Tennessee, and more. Respondents:   Revell Carr (John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, University of Kentucky) Agustina Checa (Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music)  Mark Clague (American Music Institute, University of Michigan) Kathryn Haines (Center for American Music, University of Pittsburgh) Paddy League (Center for Music of the Americas, Florida State University) Megan Murph (Budds Center for American Music Studies, University of Missouri)  Scott Schwartz (Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois) Christopher Smith (Vernacular Music Center, Texas Tech University) Michael Uy (American Music Research Center, University of Colorado) Heidi Marshall (Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College-Chicago)