Women and Musical Histories 1789-1914 conference: A PhD student reflection

PhD student Erin Hennessey reflects on the inaugural Women and Musical Histories 1789-1914 Conference, which took place at the Royal Academy of Music on 2-4 September 2026.

Research can often be a lonely undertaking; research about women in music, particularly so. Countless hours pass in the archive, the library, and the desk, to then emerge and second-guess oneself. Why am I doing this? Will it really make a difference?

Early in September, the Women and Musical Histories 1789-1914 conference brought together delegates from all over the world and opened a space in the Royal Academy of Music for musicians and researchers in our field to find community, meaning, and inspiration. From the very opening of the conference, I was struck by how relieving I found it to be surrounded by a group of people who implicitly ‘get it’ – I didn’t need to justify my work to this crowd. And from further conversations, I know this sentiment was shared by many attendees.

After a welcome from our Deputy Principal and Director of Research, Tim Jones, the conference opened with an Early Career Researcher Day. Ten postgraduate and early career researchers shared presentations and lecture recitals across two chaired sessions in a quieter environment, the day before the bulk of the delegates arrived. These sessions were exciting and varied, with topics ranging from re-examination of the legacies of musical women to reappraisal of canons to disability studies. Between these sessions, we had an invaluable opportunity to hear from Alyn Shipton and author Anna Beer (Equinox Publishing), who shared their expertise on publishing routes in music and gender studies. To finish the day, we heard a recital of music for solo violin and string quartet, featuring my own research into the music of Irish violinist and composer Mary Dickenson-Auner.

Over the next two days, the Academy hummed with 49 presentations and lecture recitals in chaired parallel sessions, a specially-curated exhibition and tour of Women in/and the Academy Museum and Collections, two concerts, and an inspirational keynote address from Professor Sophie Fuller on the way late-19th-century musical women (Liza Lehmann, Oliveria Prescott, Maude Valérie White, and Ethel Smyth) used the written word to carve a place for themselves within the musical landscape of Britain.

The dilemma at such an event is always that one cannot be in four sessions at once! Although I couldn’t listen to every presentation, I took in as much as I could: from Constanze Mozart’s work as a publisher and performer (Anja Morgenstern, International Mozarteum Foundation, Salzburg), to the transmission of musical knowledge through music copybooks, passed from mother to daughter in mid-19th-century England (Michelle Meinhart, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance), and the impact and influence of Mary Banks Burrell’s Wagner collection (Katherine Fry, Royal Academy of Music).

After an absolutely packed two days, the conference finished with a roundtable discussion, bringing together the commonalities that arose across the conference presentations, and inviting discussion from the audience. As the session drew to a close (not for lack of discussion, but simply due to time constraints), the conversation centred on how vital community is to our growing field of research and performance. There was an overwhelming sense of gratitude to the organisers, and a strong call for more, and more frequent, opportunities to get together and discuss our work and our challenges as we reach for gender equality in so many different corners of music, musicology, and music history. We agreed that the organisers deserved a month-long nap, but unfortunately, they did such a good job that we’ll be calling for another conference next year. Do come along!

The full conference programme, with all biographies and abstracts, is accessible via the Academy’s Research Catalogue portal. 

Support

The conference was supported by the University of London Convocation Trust and the Music & Letters Trust.