Symposium 2026: Between Research and Activism

Futures of Music and Minority Studies

3 Day Programme

 

Thursday, 12.02.

 

Fanny Hensel Hall (mdw Campus)

13:30 Registration

14:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks

Ulrike Sych – Rectorate of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Ursula Hemetek – Head of the MMRC

Peter Lell – Project Coordinator

14:30 Musical Interlude: Master’s Students in Ethnomusicology from Afghanistan

Mirwais Hakimi and Emran Mahmood (singers), accompanied by Masih Karimi (tabla)

15:00–16:30 Roundtable Discussion 1: Music and Minority Research and Its Institutional Frameworks: Possibilities, Limitations, and Future Requirements

Anja Brunner, Amos Darkwa Asare, Benjy Fox-Rosen, Christian Poske (MMRC Members)

Moderation: Malik Sharif

17:00–18:30 Roundtable Discussion 2: Common Grounds and Future Directions: Dialogues on Concepts, Methods and Emerging Paradigms in Music and Minority Research

Ioannis Christidis, Isabel Frey, Jasemin Khaleli (MMRC Members)

Moderation: Peter Lell

 

Banquet Hall (mdw Campus)

From 18:30 Welcome Dinner and Music – with Serbian Roma Music

Violin Duo: Darko Piller & Angelica Hudler

 

Friday, 13.02.

 

Fanny Hensel Hall (mdw Campus)

9:00 Registration

9:30 Key Roundtable: Music and minority studies as engaged research: Global and local perspectives

Georgia Curran, Marko Kölbl, Svanibor Pettan, Mayco Santaella, Deborah Wong (MMRC International Advisory Board)

Moderation: Ursula Hemetek

12:00–13:30 Paper Presentations 1 (tbc)

13:30–15:00 Lunch Break

15:00–16:30 Roundtable Discussion 3: Minority Music as a Form of Political Expression

Mira Gabriel, Santino Stojka, Konstantin Vlasich

Moderation: Isabel Frey

Curated by Initiative Minderheiten (IM)

17:00–18:30 Roundtable Discussion 4: Agency, Urgency & Political Activism in Music

Luna Al-Mousli, Tori Reichel, IZRAA, Simonida Selimović

Moderation: Samo Zeichen

 

Concert Hall, Future Art Lab (mdw Campus)

18:30–19:30 Dinner

19:30–21:00 Concert: Sonic Encounters – Music from the Afghan Diaspora and the Burgenland-Croatian Minority

Shekib Rasa & Fayaz Mohammadi; Kolo Slavuj (Folklore Ensemble of the Burgenland-Croatian Minority)

 

Saturday, 14.02.

 

Fanny Hensel Hall (mdw Campus)

9:30 Registration

10:00–11:30 Paper Presentations 2 (tbc)

12:00–13:30 Paper Presentations 3 (tbc)

13:30–15:00 Lunch Break

15:00–16:30 Symposium Outcomes – Voices, Perspectives, and Dialogues (Interactive Fishbowl Discussion)

Moderation: Peter Lell

16:30–18:00 Closing and Sparkling Wine Reception

 

Brunnenpassage (Brunnengasse 71 (at Yppenplatz), 1160 Wien)

Starting at 20:00 Closing Party

DJ-sets by قamareen (Raqsouna) and MZTAY (Spice Mixers)