We invite you to attend the 13^th Symposium of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities, which will take place in Yerevan, Armenia, from 7 to 12 September 2026!
Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Home to leading universities, museums, and archives, as well as a vibrant music and arts scene, it offers an inspiring setting for our international scholarly gathering.

The symposium is jointly hosted by the Institute of Arts of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, and KAYT Cultural Hub.
The Institute of Arts is a premier research center dedicated to the study of music, theater, architecture, fine arts, and cultural heritage. Its Department of Diaspora Studies focuses on artistic expressions across global Armenian communities, fostering interdisciplinary research and international collaboration.
The Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory is Armenia’s leading higher music education institution, contributing to the country’s artistic, pedagogical, and research environment, and supporting the symposium through its academic and performance infrastructure.
KAYT Cultural Hub is an innovative organization committed to cultural education, community engagement, and creative research initiatives, with a special focus on Armenian and regional folk musics.

Themes

1.   Sacred Music and Dance Among Minorities and Diasporas
2.   Music, Dance, and the Conceptualization of Minorities
3.   Popular Music and Dance among Minorities
4.   New Research

Themes Descriptions

1. Sacred Music and Dance Among Minorities and Diasporas

This theme explores the role of sacred music and dance in shaping, sustaining, and expressing the identities of minority and diasporic communities. It considers how sacred, liturgical, and spiritual repertoires are transmitted, adapted, and reinterpreted across time and geographical contexts, reflecting both continuity and transformation within communities. From long-standing rituals to contemporary forms of worship, sacred movement and sound serve as vital media for preserving cultural memory, negotiating belonging, and strengthening community cohesion. We invite contributions that examine how sacred music and dance practices navigate displacement, diversity, and change, illuminating the intersections of faith, identity, and creativity in varied social, cultural, and political contexts.

2. Music, Dance, and the Conceptualization of Minorities

In different social, cultural, and political contexts, the term “minority” may denote a social status, a living condition, or an identity that is imposed, self-chosen, or collectively constructed. At the same time, “minority” can also function as a contested or misleading label in the processes of social positioning and human grouping. This theme invites discussions of how music and dance practices are entangled with social factors and political forces as minority people imagine and negotiate collective and individual selves. The theme also invites reflection on the agency of music and dance in ongoing processes of minoritization, as well as on researchers’ roles, experiences, and ethics in conceptualizing minorities.

3. Popular Music and Dance among Minorities

This theme addresses how popular music and dance serve as frameworks through which minority groups assert presence, organize cultural participation, and confront marginalization. We recognize that definitions of “popular” vary across contexts and may encompass recorded music, community-based performance, locally adapted genres, or practices that circulate beyond commercial systems. We welcome contributions that explore how minority communities create, reinterpret, or circulate these forms through global and local exchanges. Submissions may focus on music, dance, or their interrelations, as well as on the spaces, whether streets, clubs, festivals, digital platforms, or ceremonial settings, where these practices take shape. We also invite analyses of how diverse technologies (analog, digital, or embodied) from musical instruments and sound systems to social media and streaming platforms, enable or restrict the circulation of such forms. Case studies from any region are welcome, particularly those involving groups marginalized by ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexuality, migration, or other factors.

4. New Research

This unspecified theme welcomes proposals featuring current research on music and minorities that do not fit into the themes specified above.

Presentation formats

Individual Paper

Each presentation will be allotted 20 minutes inclusive of illustrations and examples, plus 10 minutes for questions and discussion. The Program Committee will organize individual proposals that have been accepted into thematically related sessions. Please submit an abstract of 250 words outlining the content, argument, and conclusion, and indicate the symposium theme to which it should be assigned.

Panel

Organized panel sessions of 90 or 120 minutes are highly encouraged. A panel consists of a group of three or four papers that are entirely planned, coordinated, and prepared by a group of presenters, one of whom is the responsible coordinator. The proposal should contain a 250-word shared abstract and a 250-word abstract for each participant. Panel proposals will be accepted or rejected in its entirety.

Roundtable

Roundtables refer to the sessions featuring discussion related to one of the symposium themes. They are prepared and coordinated by a group of four to five participants, one of whom serves as the responsible coordinator. A roundtable of 90 minutes starts with a short statement by each participant, followed by a coordinated exchange of arguments by the participants. At the convener’s discretion, the audience can be asked to take an active part in the discussion. The convener, who is expected to chair the session, should submit a 250-word proposal with its aims and the roles of the individual participants.

Film Presentation

We also encourage proposals for film presentations related to one of the symposium themes. Please submit an abstract of 250 words indicating the length and the content of the film.

Conference Format and Remote Paprticipation

This conference will primarily be an in-person event to facilitate interactions among participants. However, there will be a limited number of hybrid panels, restricted to colleagues residing in the global South and/or with accessibility needs. Please note that you must request to present remotely when you submit your proposal; opportunities to present remotely will not be offered to on-site proposals.

Deadline for Submissions

25 February 2026

Proposals should be submitted via the online submission form, by 25 February 2026.

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Please note that each participant is limited to a single presentation. All presenters must be members of the ICTMD at the time of the conference.

The reviewing process of the proposals will be anonymous. Notifications of acceptances and rejections will be sent to the submitters by 1 April 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact Ioannis Christidis, Secretary of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities, at christidis@mdw.ac.at

Programme Committee:
Svanibor Pettan
Andriy Nahachewsky
Tatevik Shakhkulkyan
Mayco Santaella
Ioannis Christidis
Kai Tang (Chair)

Local Arrangements Committee:
Ararat Aghasyan
Anna Asatryan
Koriun Davtyan
Lilit Harutyunyan
Tsovinar Movsisyan
Tatevik Shakhkulkyan (Chair)
Ruzanna Stepanyan

We warmly welcome you to the symposium in Yerevan, Armenia, in September 2026!

Executives of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities: Kai Tang (Chair), Mayco Santaella (Vice-Chair), and Ioannis Christidis (Secretary)