March 25/2006
General information

Dear colleagues,
A few days ago the Chinese colleagues have informed me definitively of the decision to sponsor the

Sixth International Meeting of the ICTM Study Group “maqÉm”

which should be held

at Urumqi, Xinjiang/China from September 25 to 30, 2006.

The main topic of this meeting will be

(Uyghur) MuqÉm in Xinjiang/China and outside, history and present

As additional topics are proposed:
1. The manifestation of maqÉm in different countries and regions 2. Preservation and transmission of maqÉm in the 21st century

The preparatory procedure proposed by the Chinese host and discussed with the co-ordinators and finally agreed upon contains the following arrangements:
1. Scientific organization: The Co-ordinators for the Study Group „maqÉm“ of the International Council for Traditional Music in cooperation with The Culture Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region/China and The Xinjiang Institute of Arts.
2. Host, organizatory and technical preparations: The Culture Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region/China and The Xinjiang Institute of Arts.
3. Papers should be presented in Chinese or English. Official speakers may present their discussion in Chinese, Uyghur or English.
4. 30 Participants will be invited to attend the meeting, including 15 from China and 15 Non-Chinese.
5.1. Scholars from abroad addressed and interested in attending the meeting should submit an abstract (outline) of their contribution to the coordinator Prof. Dr. J. Elsner before May 20, 2006. The whole of the abstracts with a recommendation for the thematic arrangement will be transmitted to the Chinese colleague cooperator on time for reference. The abstracts proposed by the Chinese scholars will be transmitted to Prof. Dr. Jürgen Elsner for reference. The final thematic arrangement will be co-arranged by Prof. Dr. Elsner and Chinese organizers.
5.2. The official invitation by the host is sent to scholars from abroad admitted to till June 20, 2006.
5.3. Students, musicians, scholars from home and abroad interested in the scientific proceedings are allowed to participate in the conference as observers.
5.4. The officially invited participants from abroad should submit their contributions/papers for translation into Chinese via e-mail to Xinjiang Institute of Arts till July 31, 2006. The address is as follows: or .
6. Financial Arrangement: The Chinese side will shoulder the board and lodging of 15 scholars from abroad during their stay in Xinjiang. As for the subsidies to their international air tickets, the ICTM Study Group together with the Chinese side will contact the UNESCO and other institutions for financial support.
Other participants (observers) will bear the expenses of their stay for themselves and pay a fee for attending the conference.
8. The contributions of the participants are limited to 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Free discussion on special subjects will be arranged at the end of the meeting.
9. Publication: The proceedings of the 6th International Meeting of the Study Group “maqÉm” of the ICTM will be published both in Chinese and English.

Dear colleagues,
Announced long ago there is now the realistic chance to carry out the 6th meeting of the SG “maqÉm” at a very interesting place as maqÉm is concerned. Since time for preparatory work is very limited both in organizatory and scientific regard I would like to ask you urgently to check the given conditions and to announce immediately if you are ready to participate in the 6th International ICTM maqÉm meeting.

Looking forward to your early reply I remain with best regards.

Yours sincerely

Jürgen Elsner