CFP: ‘Chamber music: synergies through time, places and spaces’ Conference (Cardiff, 13th March) Call for Papers Meetings & Events

We are delighted to share the Call for Papers for our conference ‘Chamber music: synergies through time, places and spaces’. The conference will be held at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre in Cardiff (Wales) on the 13th of March 2026.

Proposals

Proposals are invited from postgraduate students and early-career researchers for academic papers and lecture-recitals of up to 20 minutes; each will be followed by a ten-minute Q&A session. Please note there is no piano at the venue.

The conference aims to explore the socio-cultural interdependence of Western Art chamber music performance across all eras, examining its place in relation to performance and pedagogical settings, and evaluating the impact of chamber music performers on the communities they engage with. We welcome participation from all pathways of music research, including musicology, music pedagogy, practice-as-research and interdisciplinary approaches to the field.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Factors which have contributed to shifts in chamber music practices, and why these developments are particularly significant to the genre
• The ways in which broadening performance contexts – such as the emergence of concert halls, festivals, residencies and pedagogical programs – have influenced perceptions of chamber music
• Chamber music as a means to an end in relation to performers’ place within societies, considering historical contexts or current-day practices
• Interdisciplinary approaches to chamber music research and how these reflect the increasingly diverse ways in which chamber music is experienced by performers and/or communities

Submissions must include an abstract (maximum 300 words) and a biography (maximum 150 words). All proposals should be submitted no later than the 17th of December 2025, 6pm (GMT), by completing the form: https://forms.gle/uEjaVL7wWLQo7SEHA  

Selected participants will receive a decision regarding their proposal by the beginning of January 2026. Further details on the programme for the day will be circulated closer to the event.

The working language of the conference will be English.

More details can be found on the conference website: https://chambermusicresearch.com

Any question should be directed to the conference organisers via the conference email: chambermusicresearch@outlook.com

Travel Bursary (RMA members only)

A limited number of travel bursaries are available for those who have been selected to present at the conference and are RMA members. These will be awarded by the committee on the basis of financial need.