Maisie Sum

About:

​Maisie Sum is an ethnomusicologist, educator, and performer. Her research and teaching combine a variety of fields, including ethnomusicology, anthropology, music analysis, performance, ritual studies, peace and conflict studies, psychology, and health studies. As performer and general director of the College’s two gamelan ensembles, she shares her passion for Balinese music with a wide audience through concerts, workshops, worship services, and open access recordings. Sum has disseminated her research internationally through publications in scholarly journals including Ethnomusicology, speaking invitations, and presentations at conferences such as the Society for Ethnomusicology, Analytical Approaches to World Music, and British Forum for Ethnomusicology. In 2014 she received the Jaap Kunst Prize in recognition for an article published in African Music, which investigates the interactive network between music, dance, and ritual experience. Recent work includes an experimental research project that explores rhythm and repetition in community healing rituals from a psychological and cross-cultural perspective. Drawing on ethnographic research in Morocco, her current book project investigates music and performance of a Black diaspora community called Gnawa. Her research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the UWaterloo/SSHRC Seed Grant. Sum is a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Canadian Society for Traditional Music, and British Forum for Ethnomusicology, and has served on the editorial board of MUSICultures, and as program committee co-chair for the Analytical Approaches to World Music 2020/21 Conference.

Selected Publications:

Journal Articles

• “Music for the Unseen: Interaction between Two Realms During a Gnawa Lila.” African Music: Journal of the International Library of African Music 9(3): 151–182 (December 2013).
• “Staging the Sacred: Musical Structure and Processes of the Gnawa Lila in Morocco,” Ethnomusicology 55(1): 77–111 (Winter 2011).

Presentations

• “Experimental Methods in Ethnomusicological Research: Informative, Incompatible, Inclusive?” Organized panel session Ethnomusicology and the human sciences: mutually incompatible or mutually informative?, Analytical Approaches to World Music 6^thBiennial International Conference, Paris (Virtual), June 9–12 (2021)
• “‘It's a party, don't call it a Lila’: Commodification and the Misappropriation of Gnawa Cultural Heritage.” The Society for Ethnomusicology 65^th Annual Meeting, Virtual, October 22–31 (2020)
• “The Role of Familiarity and Repetition on the Physiological Response of Listeners Across Cultures.” Organized panel session Music, Mind, and Body: Ethnomusicological Perspectives on the Study of Music Cognition, The Society for Ethnomusicology 64^thAnnual Meeting, Indiana, November 7-10 (2019)
• “Healing on the Margins: Rhythm, Repetition, and Resonance of Gnaoua Music.” Invited speaker for Le Monde Appelle Fou Ceux Qui Ne Sont Pas Fous de la Folie Commune (Ultrasanity. On Madness, Sanitation, Anti-Psychiatry, and Resistance) – SAVVY Contemporary, The Laboratory of Form-Ideas (Berlin, Germany), held in Essaouira, Morocco, June 20–22 (2019)
• “Wearables in the Field: A New Dimension to Ethnomusicology?” British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, April 11–14 (2019)

Music performances

• Gamelan Gender Wayang, gender: “Sekar Gendot.” Spring ­– Balinese Gamelan Concert,t=28:45, Great Hall, Conrad Grebel University College, UWaterloo, March 2022.
• “Gamelan Trio.” Noon Hour Concert Series 2020-21 (Virtual), Conrad Grebel University College, Oct 7 (2020). 

• Gamelan Semara Dana, metallophone (ugal): “Pendet,” traditional, Anak Agung Gde Mandera, arranger. Grebel Community Gamelan. Humanities Theatre, UWaterloo, November 2018.
• Gamelan Semara Dana, drum: “Sekar Jepun,” Wayan Gandra, composer. UWaterloo Balinese Music Ensemble. Humanities Theatre, UWaterloo, November 2017.

• Gamelan Semara Dana, metallophone (gangsa): “Seketi,” traditional, I Made Grindem, arranger. Grebel Community Gamelan. Humanities Theatre, UWaterloo, November 2016.

• Gamelan Semara Dana, drum: “Gilak,” traditional, I Dewa Made Suparta, arranger. Balinese Gamelan: Noon Hour Concert Series, Chapel, Conrad Grebel University College, UWaterloo, November 2013.

• Gamelan Semara Dana, metallophone (gangsa): Gamelan Gita Asmara Live. 2008 Live concert recording of Gamelan Gita Asmara830159004051). Record Label: Gamelan Gita Asmara. 
• Other selected performances with the UWaterloo Gamelan and Grebel Community Gamelan (2013-present), based in Waterloo, ON:
  • Kultrún Festival, Victoria Park, July 8 (2017)
  • Music Monday at Trillium Public School, Kitchener, May 1 (2017)
  • Mennonite World Conference, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 22 (2015)

Selected Activities:

Service

• Council Member, The Society for Ethnomusicology (2021–24)
• Program Committee, Analytical Approaches to World Music 2022 7^th Biennial International Conference, Hybrid – Virtual & Sheffield, UK (2021)
• Co-chair, Program Committee. Analytical Approaches to World Music 2020/21, 6^th Biennial International Conference, Paris (2018–2021)
• Editorial Board Member. MUSICultures: Journal of The Canadian Society for Traditional Music (CSTM) (2014–2020)

Fellowships and Awards:

• UW/SSHRC Seed Grant (2016), Project title: Music, Health, and Wellbeing: A Cross-Cultural Investigation
• Jaap Kunst Prize (2014). “Music for the Unseen: Interaction between Two Realms During a Gnawa Lila.” African Music: Journal of the International Library of African Music 9(3): 151–182 (December 2013)
• Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) for Doctoral Students, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Award (SSHRC) (2006–2009)