Name: Redefining the 'Fundamentals of Music Composition' for a Universal Cause
Start: 2026-08-08T10:30:00-0400
End: 2026-08-08T11:45:00-0400

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Redefining the 'Fundamentals of Music Composition' for a Universal Cause

LIMITED

Saturday August 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:45am EDT

202

Limited Capacity seats available

When Shoghi Effendi provided guidance on music in the Baha’i community, he cautioned against the creation of any sort of aesthetically homogenous "Bahá’í music," and went on to say that “the further away the friends keep from any set forms, the better, for they must realize that the Cause is absolutely universal” (20 July 1946 to a National Spiritual Assembly). “What is music?” and “What does it mean to be a composer?” are questions whose answers often unconsciously influence how a community engages with music. If uninterrogated against the advancements of a rich theoretical discourse and the spirit of Shoghi Effendi’s guidance, our answers to these questions risk perpetuating limiting and eurocentric understandings of what music is, who gets to be composers and what becoming/being a composer looks like. Drawing from the fields of experimental composition, music theory, sound studies and ethnomusicology, I present a new set of "fundamentals of music composition" that seek to operationalize the spirit of Shoghi Effendi’s guidance, and open up a pathway towards a community that can make, meaningfully engage with and support music practices that are more diverse and innovative than we can imagine.

Speakers

Calla Paleczny

Calla Paleczny is a composer, musician and sound artist who explores the intersection of wilderness, mysticism, non-metered musical time and the materiality of sound. She builds richly textured multichannel sound installations and composes pieces for fixed media and ensembles using... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:45am EDT
202

Arts, Breakout

50th ABS Annual Conference

Calla Paleczny

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50th ABS Annual Conference

Calla Paleczny

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