Conference Review by Simon McKerrell

ICTM: Durban, South Africa, 1st-8th July 2009. Having optimistically packed various pairs of shorts and loud short-sleeved shirts, I was amazed to find myself reaching for the long johns on my first night at the ICTM conference! It was of course summer in the Southern hemisphere and for this vitamin-D-deprived Scot, the prospect of a week or more in the sun was one of the principle enticements of the ICTM conference - my first major overseas conference. Needless to say, the majority of the week was spent inside, within of the University of Kwazulu-Natal's lecture theatres listening to a staggering variety of papers from scholars all over the world. My impressions of the conference were very favourable and this was an intellectually stimulating trip, only marred somewhat by the Lilliputian dimensions of the dormitory beds. Theory in ethnomusicology, sustainability, Africanist scholarship and postcolonialism were to me, the key concepts at the conference and there was a joyful variety of music and dance laid on by the local organising committee. Our especial thanks are due to Dr Patricia Opondo, Professor Mazibuko and all of the ICTM board who obviously had worked very hard in preparation. The next one's in Newfoundland in 2011 and this time I'll be checking the forecast!