Voices of the Field

Book excerpt: Ethnomusicologists face complex and challenging professional landscapes for which graduate studies in the field do not fully prepare them. The essays in Voices of the Field: Pathways in Public Ethnomusicology, edited by León F. García Corona and Kathleen Wiens, provide a reflection on the challenges, opportunities, and often overlooked importance of public ethnomusicology. These essays capture years of experience of fourteen scholars who have simultaneously navigated the worlds within and outside of academia, sharing valuable lessons often missing in ethnomusicological training. Power and organizational structures, marketing, content management and production are among the themes explored as an extension and re-evaluation of what constitutes the field of/in ethnomusicology. Many of the authors in this volume share how to successfully acquire funding for a project, while others illustrate how to navigate non-academic workplaces, and yet others share perspectives on reconciling business-like mindsets with humanistic goals. Grounded in case studies in multiple institutional and geographical locations, authors advocate for the importance and relevance of ethnomusicology in our society at large.