BILLY JOEL SYMPOSIUM Speakers Set for The Long Island Music And Entertainment Hall Of Fame

The Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) has announced the list of speakers who will present their papers at the first 'Billy Joel Symposium,' to be held on June 6th and 7th at the Hall of Fame location at 97 Main Street in Stony Brook, NY. At this event, LIMEHOF will also induct Dennis Arfa, Billy Joel's longtime booking agent and chairman of the Music Division at Independent Artist Group. The 'Billy Joel Symposium' is open to the public with special ticket purchase. 

"This symposium underscores that Billy Joel's music isn't just beloved - it's historically and culturally significant," said Tom Needham, Executive Director of the 'Billy Joel Symposium' and LIMEHOF Vice Chairman. "By convening leading thinkers and industry voices at the Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, we're creating a space where scholarship meets lived musical experience. Honoring Dennis Arfa during the weekend highlights another essential truth: Behind every legendary artist is a visionary advocate who helps bring the music to the world."

The two-day conference, presented by Catholic Health, will be devoted to the music, lyrics, themes, and cultural impact of music legend and LIMEHOF inductee, Billy Joel. As one of America's most influential songwriters and performers (as well as being one of Long Island's own), Joel's body of work offers a unique lens through which to explore popular music, regional identity, and American culture. This symposium will gather a wide range of experts and scholars who will engage in a critical analysis of Joel's artistry, life, and legacy.

As part of the event, Dennis Arfa will be inducted into LIMEHOF at 7 p.m. on June 6th. Dennis Arfa has been Billy Joel's agent for over 50 years. As the Chairman of the Music Division for Independent Artist Group, Arfa has guided Joel's touring career, including his record-breaking Madison Square Garden residency. Arfa also works with Metallica, Rod Stewart, Rush, Disturbed, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Limp Bizkit and Andrew Dice Clay and others. The induction ceremony will require a separate ticket. A musical performance is expected to be part of the event. Additional details of scheduled performances are to be announced.

Featured keynote speakers include two LIMEHOF inductees: Jon Small, who was Billy Joel's band mate in The Hassles and Atilla, and music journalist Wayne Robins, who wrote extensively about Billy Joel's career. Jason Hanley, Vice President of Education and Visitor Engagement at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is another major keynote speaker who will be in attendance.

A total of 23 papers will be presented. The papers were reviewed and selected by the 'Billy Joel Symposium' Committee. The event will feature panels and audience Q&A opportunities. There will be neither awards nor prizes given, but selected papers may be considered for inclusion in an edited collection or digital proceedings published by LIMEHOF.

Tickets are available on the LIMEHOF website. Follow this link https://longislandmusicandentertainmenthalloffame1.thundertix.com/events/261552

For Dennis Arfa induction tickets, please follow this link: https://longislandmusicandentertainmenthalloffame1.thundertix.com/events/261561

The speaker list is as follows:

Featured Keynote Speaker: Jon Small, LIMEHOF Inductee, founding drummer for the bands The Hassles and Attila, and an acclaimed director and producer whose credits include projects with Billy Joel, such as the concert film Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium and the documentary The Last Play at Shea.

Featured Keynote Speaker: Wayne Robins, LIMEHOF Inductee, music journalist for Rolling Stone, Melody Maker, The Village Voice, Creem Magazine and Newsday, and author of several books as well as writer of numerous album liner notes and booklets, including his essay for the DVD Billy Joel: The Bridge to Russia. The title of Mr. Robins' paper is Billy Joel's Music: His Life, My Job.

Featured Keynote Speaker: Jason Hanley, Vice President of Education and Visitor Engagement at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Presenting speakers:

• Clive Young, Adjunct Professor at St. Joseph's University New York in Patchogue and Co-editor of Mix Magazine and editor of MixOnline.com

Billy Joel and the Death of Analogue Recording.

• Amy Tenney Curren, Co-creator of History Ignited, a children's history podcast built entirely around the lyrics of 'We Didn't Start the Fire':

'We Didn't Start the Fire' as a Living Curriculum: History, Human Behavior & Billy Joel Across Generations

• Nora Cronin, Adjunct Professor at CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice:

The Outsiders: The Long Island Youth of 'Captain Jack'

• Francis X. Altomare, Ph.D., Professor at St. Thomas University and frontman of award-winning experimental rock troupe The Zoo Peculiar:

Piano Man as Ethnographer: Billy Joel and the Anthropology of Deindustrialization

• Bradley Hartman, Ph.D. Candidate, Composition and Arranging, Five Towns College and Associate Conductor of the Five Towns College Wind Ensemble:

A Comparative Analysis Between Billy Joel's 'Nocturne' and Frédéric Chopin's 'Nocturnes'

• Joshua S. Duncan, Ph.D., Professor of Music and Associate Chair of the Department of Music at Wayne State University and author of Billy Joel: America's Piano Man (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017) and 'We Didn't Start the Fire': Billy Joel and Popular Music Studies (Lexington Books, 2020):

Nostalgia In/For Billy Joel

• Jestin Pieper, Adjunct Professor at Long Island University's Roc Nation School and Five Towns College:

The Architect of Stylistic Synthesis: A Musical and Historical Analysis of Billy Joel's 'The Stranger'

• Rita Jones, Hobbyist, fiction writer/blogger, and educator at Bakersfield College:

Sadness or Euphoria: Emotional Extremes Given Structure in Billy Joel's Work

• David Das, Grammy-nominated composer/producer:

Studio Techniques in Billy Joel's Classic Songs

• Dr. Tom Rizzuto, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music and Education at Molloy University and SUNY Old Westbury:

Billy Joel and the Italian American Experience

• Dr. Frank Doyle, Professor of Music Theory and Jazz History at Five Towns College:
  Chord Choices as a Character: Emotional Narrative in Billy Joel's Music

• Kenneth Brown, Ph.D., Composer, pianist, music scholar, and Director of Music at the historic Park Avenue United Methodist Church in New York City:

The Melting-Pot Keyboard: Culmination of Style in the Piano Works of Joel and Gershwin

• Kristen J. Nyitray, Director of Special Collections and University Archives at Stony Brook University, and Dana Reijerkerk, Independent Scholar:

Slow Down, You Crazy Child: Gen Z's Affective Archive of Billy Joel's 'Vienna'

• Pablo Arguelles, a Mexican photographer and writer based in New York whose work has appeared in El Universal, Este País, Enquirer and New York Times Magazine:

The Mexican Connection

• Kendall Biehl, Law student at Brooklyn Law School:

Billy Joel's Musical Narratives and the Tapestry of Collective Memory

• Stephanie LeBlanc, Actor, novelist, director, playwright and higher education professional at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth:

It's Still Rock and Roll to Us: Billy Joel, Cultural Memory, and Intergenerational Rhetoric

• Blake Love, PhD Candidate, English Literature, Washington State University:

Smashed Glass Houses: Suburbia, Choice, and Illusion

• Gina Mingoia, PhD Candidate, English Literature, Stony Brook University:

We Would All Go Down Together: Trauma, Mundanity, and Community in 'Goodnight Saigon'

• Mack Paprott, PhD Candidate in German Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst:

Vienna Waits for You: Haunted Family Histories in 'The Joel Files' and 'The Paper Bridge'

• Patricia Salkin, Senior VP of Academic Affairs and Provost of Touro University, Irene M. McDermott, Director of the Gould Law Library and Associate Professor of Law at Touro Law Center, and Darren Stakey, Litigation and Real Estate Partner at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman:

Billy Joel, The Chronicler of the Suburbanization in New York

• Kara Russell, PhD., Lecturer, Department of English, Central Connecticut State University:

Uptown Girls and Upstart Crows: Parallel -Insecurities in Billy Joel's Lyrics and Shakespeare's Sonnets

• Darren Rovell, Memorabilia Collector and Publisher of cllct.com, the number one memorabilia and collecting journalism website in the world: