Gender and Musicianship study days

The highly popular seminar days on gender and musicianship, organised by the University of the Arts Helsinki History Forum, the Sibelius Academy doctoral schools DocMus & MuTri, and research association Suoni last January, will continue again next year – this time, in English and in a hybrid format. The event will take place on January 24–25, 2022, at the Chamber Music Hall of the Sibelius Academy (R building, Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, 00100 Helsinki) and online. During the seminar days, we hope to discuss issues regarding gender and music-making, music production, and music research from a wide variety of perspectives. Dr Anna Bull (University of York) has kindly agreed to give a keynote lecture at the event.

We have welcomed proposals for both traditional conference papers and short lecture-concerts (20-minute presentation + 10-minute discussion). There is a grand piano at the Chamber Music Hall, and it is possible to arrange for instrument loans through the Sibelius Academy, if need be. The presentations and performances may focus on research projects and/or artistic practice, and they may discuss problems of gender and (in)equality from a historical perspective, or focus on the music industry today or in the future. Crucial themes include, but are not limited to:

•	Histori(ographi)es of gender, music-making, and composing

•	Gender, power hierarchies, and institutions in music industry today and in the past

•	Music industry, publicity, and gender

•	Feminist music research

•	Canons in music pedagogy, performance, and research

Registration is now open at https://www.lyyti.in/Gender_and_Musicianship_study_days_2249. This conference is open for everyone interested, and admission is free of charge. The deadline for registrations is January 16, 2022, 23:59 (GMT+2, Finnish winter time) but we encourage you to be quick, as the places will be filled in the order of registration. Uniarts doctoral candidates have the chance to get extra credits for attending (for more information, please see the Sibelius Academy study guide: https://opinto-opas.uniarts.fi/en/course/S-J050-21A/11468).

The conference programme has been published on our website: https://www.uniarts.fi/en/events/gender-and-musicianship-study-days/. Presenters’ abstracts and bios as well as session chairs will be updated on the site during December. All relevant practical information can be found on the conference website and on the Facebook page of the event: https://fb.me/e/1Punb1SK7.

Important practical information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic the event will be arranged in a hybrid format, and a part of the sessions are scheduled for Zoom only (links will be sent to attendees in a separate e-mail in January). The organisers will continue to closely observe and act on the advice of the World Health Organization as well as the authorities in Finland and other countries. Unfortunately, we do have to prepare ourselves for a “plan B”, if the situation gets worse, in which case the conference will be moved to Zoom as a whole. Our current COVID-19 guidelines at Uniarts are valid until January 16, and the organisers will be in touch with all participants regarding any potential updates or extra restrictions. According to the new guidelines we have just received, we need to check digital COVID certificates according to EU regulations (certificate of vaccination OR certificate of negative test result OR certificate of having recovered from COVID-19) for those on-site members of the audience who are not presenting. Please note that this does not include at the moment the study days’ presenters and staff members at the conference venue (Sibelius Academy R Building). However, in Finland, most lunch restaurants, cafés, hotels, etc. require a valid COVID certificate for entrance at the moment.

If you are planning to travel to Helsinki from abroad (especially from a non-EU country), please follow the travel restrictions and updates closely; for more information, see, e.g., the website of the Finnish Government (https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/information-on-coronavirus/current-restrictions/travel-to-and-from-finland). For more information on the EU COVID-19 certificate, please see https://thl.fi/en/web/infectious-diseases-and-vaccinations/what-s-new/coronavirus-covid-19-latest-updates/vaccines-and-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccination-certificate.

On site, we recommend using masks and keeping a safe distance from fellow participants whenever possible. Masks and hand disinfectant will be available at the conference venue.

On behalf of the committee,

Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik

PhD, postdoctoral researcher

University of the Arts History Forum, Helsinki

nuppu.koivisto@uniarts.fi

Tel. +358504779213