Conference Agenda

Russian colonization has had a lasting impact on the historiography of Ukrainian music,
resulting in historical misattributions and omissions, and an overall inaccurate portrayal of
Ukrainian music. This workshop initiates the process of rectifying the current situation by
providing musicologists and music librarians with strategies to identify and correct inaccuracies
in English-language scholarship, reference resources, and library catalogs—all interconnected
information sources. Participants will explore specific strategies, such as creating and amending
reference entries to ensure proper attribution of musical works, detailed bibliographic references
for Ukrainian composers and performers, and accurate romanization of Ukrainian names.

Additionally, the workshop emphasizes collaboration with key institutions. Engaging with
librarians and professionals from the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Name Authority
Cooperative (NACO) will help participants understand the processes for reclassifying and
renaming authority and bibliographic records, ensuring accurate representation in library
catalogs and archives. The workshop also advocates for additions and revisions of terms for
controlled vocabularies by incorporating Ukrainian-specific music genres and forms, increasing
visibility and accurate representation of Ukrainian music in libraries. The development of
inclusive and detailed Grove Music Online entries will be encouraged, focusing on
comprehensive information such as the place of birth, activity, and death of musicians, rather
than solely on nationality or ethnicity. For composers known by their Russian names, variant
spellings using Ukrainian romanization and Cyrillic script will be included to avoid confusion for
Ukrainian-speaking users. By implementing these strategies, musicologists will be empowered
to contribute to a just and accurate portrayal of Ukrainian music, rectifying historical biases and
enriching the global understanding of this cultural heritage.