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Conference Agenda

The Online Program of events for the 2026 AMS Annual Meeting appears below. This program is subject to change. The final program will be published in early November.

Use the "Filter by Track or Type of Session" or "Filter by Session Topic" dropdown to limit results by type. Some of the sessions are also color-coded: purple indicates performances, grey indicates paper forums, and orange indicates sessions which have been organized by one of the regional associations of IMS (ARLAC or IMSEA). (Sessions which are both IMS sessions and performances are only colored orange.)

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Click on the session name for a detailed view (with participant names and abstracts).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 1st Sept 2026, 02:58:34am EDT

Daily Overview

Session

Poster Session

Presentation 2

"A Fascinating Hobby": Understanding Chief O’Neill’s Contribution to Irish Traditional Music and Its Performance Practice

Grace Shepard

N/A

A Chicago police chief from 1901-1905, Irish immigrant to the US, Francis O’Neill, looms large in the Irish Trad music tradition. His work collecting music, recording history, and documenting what was, up until that time, a largely oral art form has become an important resource to players and historians alike. There are tunes named after him (‘Chief O’Neill’ and ‘O’Neill’s Favorite,’ for example), his contribution is highly valued by the community, and his careful ethnographic work has proved irreplaceable for new generations of players.

Focusing on O’Neill’s book Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910), this poster endeavors to highlight the ethnographic work done by O’Neill. It also seeks to show the contribution of Chief O’Neill’s collaborator, James O’Neill, who notated thousands of tunes for posterity in conjunction with Francis O’Neill’s vision. The work done by both men further highlights a rich and complex history related to performance practice in the world of Irish traditional music.

In addition to the great depth of repertoire available, there continues to be a lively conversation surrounding the most authentic way to learn Irish Trad music: aurally or with notation. The work of both O’Neills seems to support the tradition of learning by ear, however, their work is also centered around notating tunes. While this research does not intend to suggest any sort of right or wrong way to participate in trad, it does seek to investigate the dichotomy through O’Neill’s work.

Regarding visual materials for the poster, the research benefits from sharing sections of musical notation from various tunes. If there were an option, I would be interested in recording the tunes so they could be heard. Visual materials for the poster would include charts that help quantify the number of tunes recorded by O’Neill and the sheer variety of styles collected. Finally, the visuals featured would include photographs and illustrations from Irish Folk Music, highlighting the many influential players that O’Neill interviewed.