The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) and Royal Musical Association (RMA) Research Students’ Conference will take place at the University of Oxford from Wednesday 6 – Friday 8 January 2027 as an in-person event hosted at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
The conference welcomes postgraduate research students across all areas of music research, including (but not limited to) ethnomusicology, musicology, sound studies, composition, performance, jazz and popular music, music psychology, audiovisual media, critical editing, and interdisciplinary or creative practices.
Alongside academic papers, the conference will feature workshops, roundtables, poster exhibitions, practice-based opportunities, composition talks, social musicmaking, and access to the Bate Collection of Historical Instruments and Oxford’s performance facilities.
Keynote addresses will be given by Jerome Roche Prize winner Peter Asimov, the BFE keynote speaker (tba), and the Tippett Medal recipient (tba).
Call for Proposals
Deadline: Friday 4 September 2026
Submission form link: coming soon
Formats include:
- Academic Papers
- Lecture-Recitals
- Themed Panels/Roundtables
- Poster Presentations
- Compositions
The conference is a unique context to test out ideas, experiment with new research routes and find new colleagues interested in your same topics, providing a vibrant, supportive, and welcoming environment for presenting research, compositions, performances and creative work, while fostering connections across music disciplines.
As part of the BFE and formerly an attendant of the conference, I have always found it to be one of the most fun, innovative and stimulating ones in the UK. Please, if you’re a supervisor or cover a similar role, consider suggesting this conference to your students.
We look forward to welcoming you to Oxford in January 2027.
More information here: https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/event/2027-bfe-rma-conference