Keynote Speakers
- Andrea F. Bohlman (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
- Dalibor Davidović, “Nikša Gligo and John Cage––The Chronicle of a Friendship” (University of Zagreb Academy of Music, Croatia)
- Peter J. Schmelz (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
About the Conference
Founded in 1961, the Music Biennale Zagreb was the most significant cultural event in Yugoslavia in the early 1960s and continued to play a pivotal role in the country’s cultural diplomacy over the next three decades. Taking advantage of the Cold War political divisions and Yugoslavia’s unique position of being a “liberal” communist state that did not belong to either Bloc and with an economic model that adopted elements of socialism and capitalism, Milko Kelemen devised a plan, pitting the Soviets against the Americans and Western Europeans, managing to secure the participation of the most recognizable figures of contemporary music in both the USA and Europe at that time. At the inaugural event, Yugoslav composers and audiences heard works by the familiar early twentieth-century composers and Soviet “traditionalists,” but also experienced their first exposure to the Darmstadt serialists, the Polish aleatory, French, Italian, and German electronic music, and John Cage’s experimentations. Mauricio Kagel, Witold Lutosławski, Pierre Schaeffer, Goffredo Petrassi, and Karlheinz Stockhausen were just a few composers among others who participated in the festival in person. The following year, the festival welcomed the featured guests, Igor Stravinsky and John Cage, returnees David Tudor, Lutosławski, Pierre Schaeffer, and Bogusław Schaeffer, as well as Robert Craft, Krzysztof Penderecki, Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, and Luc Ferrari, among many others, making it one of the most significant festivals of new music on either side of the Iron Curtain.
In the first three decades of its manifestations, the Music Biennale Zagreb offered a robust accompanying program with art exhibitions, compositional workshops, and lectures. The 2025 Music Biennale Zagreb Festival, which will run April 5–12, 2025 is reviving its tradition of accompanying musical discourse with the three-day international interdisciplinary conference, which will take place at the University of Zagreb Academy of Music, April 7–9, 2025, and share the same theme as the festival––Broken Relationships. We invite proposals for 20-minute individual presentations, 10-minute lightning talks, poster sessions, themed panels, or roundtable discussions.
We welcome a broad range of interpretations of the “broken relationships,” such as (but not limited to) reference to the Cold War era, compositional process, technological obsolescence, performance practice, new art practices, archival documentation, music and Improvisation, spectralisms, new lutherie and extended instruments, music festivals, electronic and computer music, and the Music Biennale Zagreb.
Proposals must be submitted by October 15, 2024 to MBZconference2025@gmail.com. Please include a title and abstract (150–300 words) of your talk. For themed sessions (3–4 papers), please submit all abstracts together with an additional proposal describing your session theme (100 words). In your submission, also include your name, a short bio (up to 150 words), email, any institutional affiliation, and technical requirements.
The proposals will be peer-reviewed. Please note that all successful applicants must register for the conference. The registration fee is €80 for affiliated scholars, €60 for independent researchers, €40 for students. The registration fee covers conference materials, coffee and refreshments during official breaks, and entry to the festival concerts.
The conference programming committee will review all submissions by November 15, 2024, and communicate the results to all applicants. Registration information will be announced separately.
Programming Committee
- Laura Emmery, Chair (Emory University, USA)
- Lisa Cooper Vest (University of Southern California, USA)
- Sabine Feisst (Arizona State University, USA)
- Lisa Jakelski (Rochester, USA)
- Kevin Karnes (Emory University, USA)
- Sanja Kiš Žuvela (University of Zagreb Academy of Music, Croatia)
- Benjamin Levy (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
- Iwona Lindstedt (University of Warsaw, Poland)
- Miloš Marinković (Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Musicology, Serbia)
- Ivana Miladinović Prica (University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Music, Serbia)
- Keith Potter (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
- Ingrid Pustijanac, (University of Pavia, Italy)
- Danijela Spiric-Beard (Cardiff University, Wales, UK)
For additional information, please contact laura.emmery[at]emory.edu or visit https://www.mbz.hr/index.php?opt=item&act=mlist&id=7219&lang=en