Philip Bohlman
Encyclopedia
Philip Vilas Bohlman is an American ethnomusicologist. He is the Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities at the University of Chicago
and a visiting professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater
(Hannover). At Chicago, Bohlman is on the resource faculty of the Germanic Studies Department, the Mary Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, the Divinity School, and the Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture. Bohlman has held guest professorships at numerous universities, including the University of California, Berkeley
, the University of Freiburg
, the University of Vienna
, and Yale University
, among others. Bohlman received his doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1984 and has been teaching at Chicago since 1987.
Bohlman's research has been funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
and often includes fieldwork in Kolkata
and Varanasi
, India, and throughout Germany, with current fieldwork in India and the Muslim communities of Europe. Bohlman's research focuses on Jewish music and modernity. Bohlman also frequently engages in intensive studies of the Eurovision Song Contest
.
Bohlman is also the Artistic Director of “The New Budapest Orpheum Society” at the University of Chicago
. In conjunction with his work with that group, Oxford University bestowed the 2009 Donald Tovey Prize on Bohlman and Christine Wilkie Bohlman. Bohlman was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
as a fellow in 2011, and into the British Academy
as a corresponding fellow in 2007. In 1997, he was the first ethnomusicologist to receive the Edward J. Dent Medal from the Royal Musical Association
, and also received the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin
in 2003, the Derek Allen Prize from the British Academy
in 2007, and a Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching from the University of Chicago
in 1999. Bohlman served as the president of the Society for Ethnomusicology
from 2005-2007.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and a visiting professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater
Hochschule für Musik und Theater
Hochschule für Musik und Theater is the name of several German conservatories:* Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, one of the larger universities of music in Germany...
(Hannover). At Chicago, Bohlman is on the resource faculty of the Germanic Studies Department, the Mary Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, the Divinity School, and the Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture. Bohlman has held guest professorships at numerous universities, including the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
, the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, among others. Bohlman received his doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1984 and has been teaching at Chicago since 1987.
Bohlman's research has been funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a foundation set-up by the government of the Federal Republic and funded by the German Foreign Office, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and others for the promotion of international co-operation...
and often includes fieldwork in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
and Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, India, and throughout Germany, with current fieldwork in India and the Muslim communities of Europe. Bohlman's research focuses on Jewish music and modernity. Bohlman also frequently engages in intensive studies of the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
.
Bohlman is also the Artistic Director of “The New Budapest Orpheum Society” at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. In conjunction with his work with that group, Oxford University bestowed the 2009 Donald Tovey Prize on Bohlman and Christine Wilkie Bohlman. Bohlman was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
as a fellow in 2011, and into the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
as a corresponding fellow in 2007. In 1997, he was the first ethnomusicologist to receive the Edward J. Dent Medal from the Royal Musical Association
Royal Musical Association
The Royal Musical Association is a British scholarly society and charity. Founded in 1874, the Association claims to be the second oldest musicological society in the world, after that of the Netherlands...
, and also received the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin
American Academy in Berlin
The American Academy in Berlin is a research and cultural institution in Berlin whose stated mission is to foster a greater understanding and dialogue between the people of the United States and the people of Germany.The American Academy was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent...
in 2003, the Derek Allen Prize from the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
in 2007, and a Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1999. Bohlman served as the president of the Society for Ethnomusicology
Society for Ethnomusicology
The Society for Ethnomusicology is, with the International Council for Traditional Music and the British Forum for Ethnomusicology, one of three major international associations ethnomusicology...
from 2005-2007.
Partial list of books
- Balkan Epic: Song, History, Modernity (2011)
- Focus: Music, Nationalism, and the Making of the New Europe (2010)
- Jewish Musical Modernism, Old and New (2009)
- Jewish Music and Modernity (2008)
- Music in American Religious Experience (2005)
- Music and the Racial Imagination: Cultural Topics (2005)
- Excursions in World Music (2004)
- Celtic Modern: Music at the Global Fringe (2003)
- New Music and Modernity: Music and Culture (2003)
- World Music: A Very Short Introduction (2002)
- Land Without Nightingales: Music in the Making of German-America (2002)
- The Folk Songs of Ashkenaz (2001)
- Music and the Racial Imagination (2000-2001)
- Excursions in World Music (1999)
- Enchanting Powers: Music in the World's Religions (1997)
- Disciplining Music: Musicology and Its Canons (1996)
- Central European Folk Music: An Annotated Bibliography of Sources in German (1996)
- Oral Traditions, Israeli Folk Music: Songs of the Early Pioneers (1994)
- Ethnomusicology and Modern Music History (1993)
- The World Center for Jewish Music in Palestine, 1936-1940: Jewish Musical Life on the Eve of World War II (1992)
- Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music (1991)
- The Land Where Two Streams Flow: Music in the German-Jewish Community of Israel (1989)
- The Study of Folk Music in the Modern World (1988)