The sociology of music, masterclass curated by Vincenzo Martorella

Monday June 15 2026, Vincenzo Martorella will give a masterclass for Saint Louis, in online Webinar mode.

The masterclass provides a conceptual and historical framework for understanding the sociology of music as a field of study. Upon completion, participants will be able to analyze music as a social fact, distinguish between music as an object and music as an activity, and orient themselves in the main areas of inquiry in the field: production, fruition, functions, mediations.

Masterclass Program

1. Why a sociology of music? There are no human societies without music. Music is not only an artistic language, but a widespread, historically and culturally situated social practice that crosses symbolic, economic, political, ritual and identity dimensions. Through it, individuals construct shared meanings, define belongings and express emotions.
2. What is the sociology of music? It is a diverse and interdisciplinary field of study. In general terms, it can be defined as the investigation of the connections between music and society. Within this broad definition, four major research directions can be identified:

• Music production: who produces and under what conditions
• fruition: who listens, how and with what meanings
• Social functions of music: what is the use of, music in different societies.
• Analysis of music as a culturally defined and classified object

3. The social functions of music. Music serves to express and regulate emotions, accompany rituals, reinforce social norms, build collective identities and foster group cohesion. Use and function do not coincide: the same music can play different roles depending on the social context.

4. Music as an object and as an activity. In Western modernity, music is often treated as an object: score, recording, commodity. Treating music as an object enables its circulation, preservation and commodification. Instead, an alternative perspective views it as an activity: playing, listening, rehearsing, dancing, sharing. This approach values the bodily dimension of musical experience, the collective dimension of music making, and the role of social interactions and mediations.

The lecturer, Vincenzo Martorella

Vincenzo Martorella, a jazz historian by training and scholar of 20th (and 21st) century music, is one of Italy’s most influential music critics. For twenty years he has held lectures, listening guides and courses on jazz history throughout Italy.

He published the books: History of the Fusion. An Annotated Guide to Unspeakable Music (Castelvecchi, 1998); MC Solaar (Gremese, 1999, French market only); Art Blakey. The Drum and the Ecstasy (Stampa Alternativa, 2003); The Bollani Syndrome (Vanni Editore, 2009); The Blues (Einaudi, 2009); Time After Time. The Twenty Years of the Jazz Orchestra of Sardinia (Edes, 2011); Listening/Writing. Handbook (improper and anthological) of music criticism (Eighttypes, 2018).

Author of hundreds of articles and essays, liner notes and hall notes, he has written for all the most important magazines in the field and beyond: daily newspapers (Manifesto, Liberazione), weekly (L’Espresso), monthly (L’Uomo Vogue, Musica Jazz, Percussioni, Audio Review, Chitarre, I Fiati, Jazz Hot, and many others). For six years he edited Jazzit magazine, and, from inception to the end, the rock magazine MUZ.

Registration fee: €15 for Saint Louis students and non-students (payments made on-site via POS or through e-commerce incur a €3 surcharge)

The six artists selected for Next Steps have free access to the Masterclass, as part of the Saint Louis project’s professionalization course that won the SIAE’s “For Those Who Create” call.

Training credits for academic courses.: 0.5 CFA

The Masterclass is open by reservation To students, Saint Louis alumni and outsiders. To participate, fill out the form. The link for the online connection will be sent to all participants within 24 hours of the start of the webinar.