Image: Hilda Wiener, ‘Wanda Landowksa at the piano’ (1930), with text from the diary of Clara Macirone (1821-1914).
Call for Papers
3-4 September 2026
Royal Academy of Music, London
'Women have always practised various means of recording history, but these practices have rarely been recognised as history.'
Mary Spongberg, Writing Women’s History Since the Renaissance.
The Royal Academy of Music warmly invites submissions for this two-day international conference, exploring the role of women in shaping historical narratives of music across the long nineteenth century.
Recognising the diversity, complexity and nuance of female engagement with musical historiographies, we invite proposals that consider the agency women exercised as performers, composers, scholars, teachers and recorders of musical practice. Special consideration will be given to submissions that foreground performance as a means of documenting, interpreting and communicating musical/historical narratives.
We welcome proposals for papers (20 minutes) and lecture-recitals (30 minutes) that address the broad theme of women in/and musical history across the period 1789–1914, including (but not limited to) the following areas:
- Lives, works and legacies of women in curating and communicating musical histories through composition, performance and pedagogy; the intersection of such musical practices with wider historical discourses.
- The labour and agency of women in documenting, interpreting and transmitting musical practices, historical narratives and cultural memory, through diaries, letters, criticism and scholarship.
- Current challenges for traditional historiography; diversification of historical narratives; overlooked or underrepresented archival sources; implications for contemporary musical practice, pedagogy and public engagement.
Performance spaces will contain a grand piano, music stands and an A/V system with screen and PA. We may be able to provide limited additional equipment on request, such as a mixing desk, stereo speakers and microphones. We also have a range of historical keyboard instruments available. For details, please email WMH1Conference@ram.ac.uk
The conference will be convened in person, but some online provision will be available for presenters unable to travel to London. The conference language is English and all presentations should be in English.
Proposals for papers and lecture-recitals should be submitted through the Submission Portal.
Submission Portal
You will be asked to submit an abstract (300 words) and biography (100 words), and to confirm the format of your presentation, technical requirements, and whether you are able to attend in person.
All proposals must be submitted by 31 January 2026.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 16 March 2026.
Any queries can be addressed to the conference administrator, Victoria Hodgkinson, at WMH1conference@ram.ac.uk
We are proud to be able to offer appropriate access to all spaces used in the conference in the main building.
Our main building is accessible from Marylebone Road via a small slip road and drop-off point for visitors coming by taxi or car. Step-free access to our main building is via the ramp at the main entrance. See Access to the Academy for more information.
The Academy is informed by the ‘social model’ in its understanding of disability. If you have any access requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This conference is supported by the University of London Convocation Trust.