SIMM

19/03/2026

Please help me disseminate the information about the upcoming calls for 2 SIMM research seminars and papers for 1 publication in 2026 (all details can be found on www.simm-platform.eu):

1. In 2026, we still plan the following 2 research seminars:

1. 1. For the 12th SIMM research seminar (7-9 September 2026) we will be invited in Luxemburg by the Institute of Musicology and Arts of the Department of Education and Social Work of the University of Luxemburg, to propose the 2nd edition of a 3-day research seminar which will again bring together socially engaged practice-researchers from diverse arts disciplines. Deadline for applications is April 15, 2026.

2. For the 13th SIMM research seminar, (11-13 November 2026) we will be invited in Ghent by the Chair Jonet (University of Ghent). This SIMM research seminar will again – following the 1st such seminar in 2021 in Porto at CIPEM/INET-md (Centro de Investigação em Psicologia da Música e Educação Musical) – focus on research on music programmes in detention centres and prisons. Deadline for applications is April 15, 2026.

2. In 2026 we will also co-edit 2 special issues of academic journals:

2.1. The Italian Journal Musica e Storia prepares together with SIMM a special issue on historical research on music as resistance and as oppression. I am guest editor together with Janie Cole (University of Connecticut). Deadline for contributions was December 31, 2025.

2. The International Journal of Music Mediation (IJMM) prepares together with SIMM a special issue (nr 5) on participatory opera and music theatre. Deadline for contributions is May 31, 2026.

Thank you in advance for sharing this information within your network!

Warm Spring greetings from Belgium,

Lukas Pairon, founder

21/12/2025

In 2026 the 12th SIMM research seminar will be organised from 4 to 6th May in Brussels at the contemporary music Ensemble Ictus and will welcome up to maximum 20 scholars interested in exchanging research findings on the role of music composition in social and community music projects and programmes. Deadline for applications is coming up soon: 5th February! See call for applications here:

Ensemble Ictus, Brussels, 4-6 May 2026 - SIMM research seminar #12 on the role of composers in social and community music projects: In 2026 the 12th SIMM-seminar will be organised in Brussels at the contemporary music Ensemble Ictus and will welcome up to maximum 20 scholars interested

21/12/2025

Please share this information: A CFP is until the deadline of next week 31st December open for an issue of the new series of Musica e Storia (2, 2026). It will be a special edition dedicated to historical research on music-making as resistance and oppression, which will focus on the interplay between music-making as both resistance and oppression in global contexts, preferably in the 20th– and 21st centuries. find the CFP here:

Call for Papers Musica e Storia Special Issue (n.s. 2, 2026) on “Music-Making Between Resistance and Oppression” in collaboration with SIMM and Music Beyond Borders Guest Editors are: Janie Cole (University of Connecticut and founder Music Beyond Borders),

28/10/2025

Lukas Pairon can these days only be contacted via his SIMM-mail, because his gmail.com address is momentarily unavailable. if needed, contact him via: [email protected]

25/08/2025

You can still register to attend (online or in person) this year’s 10th SIMM-posium which is organised on 24, 25 and 26th November at the wonderful art centre Bozar in Brussels - with them, as well as with the Ghent University based academic Chair Jonet. The programme is really amazingly interesting this year!!!:

Every year since 2015, the international research platform SIMM (Social Impact of Music Making) has brought together experts from the fields of musical practice and research. The 10th SIMM-posium will again be hosted at Bozar, this time in a close collaboration with the academic Chair Jonet of the U...

16/06/2025

A special issue of the International Journal of Music Mediation (IJMM) welcoming research papers on the growing practice of participatory opera and music theatre will be guest-edited in collaboration with the SIMM research platform. You can find the call for papers here:

Opera and music theatre, traditionally associated with grandeur, hierarchy, and exclusivity, are undergoing profound transformations. Across continents, a growing number of artists, institutions, composers, and communities are reimagining these art forms through participatory practices – where cre...

05/03/2025

please share this information: 15th April is the deadline for applications to present research papers at this year's 10th SIMM-posium, which will be organised by the Chair Jonet at the Brussels based arts centre Bozar from 24 to 26th November. find the call here:

The 10th SIMM-posium will again be hosted at the Brussels based cultural centre Bozar, this time in a close collaboration with the academic Chair Jonet of the University of Ghent. Building on the previous SIMM-posia in Ghent, London, Porto, Bogota, Brussels, Paris, London, Brisbane and Copenhagen, t...

28/02/2025

Wonderful news indeed: (now Doctor) Natalia Puerta (https://www.facebook.com/natalia.j.puerta) from Colombia has been awarded her PhD at the Guildhall School in London. SIMM is happy and proud to have been able to sponsor this very interesting doctoral research on participatory music programmes in Colombia. Natalia is now Assistant professor of Music Pedagogy and Academic Vice-dean of the Integrated Arts Faculty, at the Universidad del Valle, Cali-Colombia. Bravissimo Natalia!!!

24/01/2025

15th April is the deadline for applications for the 11th SIMM research seminar (Guildhall School, London, 8 and 9 September 2025) which will bring together scholars doing research on the role of different art disciplines (music, theatre, music theatre, opera, dance, visual arts, curating arts, design, circus) within participatory social and community projects. Please share this information. You can find the call on this page of the SIMM-website: http://www.simm-platform.eu/seminars/seminar-11

23/12/2024

The latest SIMM-podcast episode #20 is now online on your podcast directory: on the role composers may play within participatory social and community music projects, with interviews of composers-researchers Cathy Milliken from Australia, Michal Kawecki from Poland, and Fiona Evison from Canada. Cathy Milliken will be one of the facilitators of the 2nd SIMM research seminar on the role of composers in social and community music projects, organised from 9 to 11 May 2025 at the MusikFabrik in Cologne. Deadline for applications is 31st December 2024.

During the 20th episode of the SIMM-podcast we focus on the role composers may play within participatory social and community music projects. You will during this episode hear 3 composers, who have different perspectives and ideas about the questions we ask them. They are practitioners within social

17/12/2024

If you wish to apply to present a research paper at next year's 10th SIMM-posium (24-26 November 2025, Brussels, Chair Jonet / Bozar), you need to send in your application before the deadline of 15th April (deadline was changed). You can find the call on the website of SIMM:

The 10th SIMM-posium will be hosted by the academic Chair Jonet of the University of Ghent, in a close collaboration with the international research platform SIMM (Social Impact of Music Making). Building on the previous SIMM-posia in Ghent, London, Porto, Bogota, Brussels, Paris, London, Brisbane (...