International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance

A Non-Governmental Organization in Formal Consultative Relations with UNESCO

List of ICTMD Colloquia

ICTMD Colloquia are small scholarly meetings typically involving 20 to 30 invited ICTMD members who have conducted research on the Colloquium's theme. Initially launched by Dieter Christensen (Secretary General of the Council from 1981 to 2001), Colloquia aim at furthering the exchange of ideas and dialogue among specialists from different parts of the world, as well as gaining and disseminating new insights on themes that are relevant to music and dance research.

These scholarly meetings are designed to provide an environment conducive to the appreciation of different systems of thought and ideas. Sometimes they are associated with festivals and conferences, allowing dialogue with other participants and with the public. Papers are often circulated in advance to provide ample time for discussion.

Corrections or additions to the information listed below are welcome, and should be sent to the Secretariat.

To propose a new ICTM Colloquium, please consult the relevant Memorandum on ICTM Colloquia.

From Musical Bow to Zithers Along the Silk Road

  • Dates: 1-3 December 2022
  • Place: Shanghai, China; and online
  • Websitevisit

Drums and Drum Ensembles of the Silk Road

  • Dates: 28-30 December 2020
  • Place: Shanghai, China; and online
  • Websitevisit

Songs and Stories of Migration and Encounter

  • Dates: 9-12 October 2019
  • Place: Cape Breton, Canada
  • Websitevisit
 

Double Reeds of the Silk Road: The Interaction of Theory and Practice from Antiquity to Contemporary Performance

  • Dates: 29 November-1 December 2018
  • Place: Shanghai, China
  • Website: visit
 

Plucked Lutes of the Silk Road: The Interaction of Theory and Practice, From Antiquity to Contemporary Performance

  • Dates: 20-23 October 2016
  • Place: Shanghai, China
  • Website: visit
 

Between Speech and Song: Liminal Utterances

  • Dates: 20-22 May 2015
  • Place: Nanterre, France
  • Website: visit
 

Pan Mediterranean Poetic Competitions and their Music: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Practice

  • Dates: 1-5 December 2011
  • Place: Portel, Portugal

One Common Thread: A Colloquium on the Musical Expression of Loss and Bereavement

  • Dates: 20-22 April 2011
  • Place: Canberra, Australia

Resulting publication: Corn, Aaron, Ruth Lee Martin, Diane Roy, and Stephen Wild, eds. 2013. One Common Thread: The Musical World of Lament. Canberra: ANU E-Press, Australian National University. Download and Purchase from ANU E Press

Musical Exodus: Al-Andalus and its Jewish Diasporas

  • Dates: 20-23 July 2008
  • Place: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Resulting publication: Davis, Ruth F., ed. 2015. Musical Exodus: Al-Andalus and Its Jewish Diasporas. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Purchase from Amazon.com

 

Emerging Musical Identities: Views from Across the Atlantic

  • Dates: 12-14 May 2006
  • Place: Middletown, USA

Discord: Identifying Conflict within Music, Resolving Conflict through Music

  • Dates: 5-9 July 2004
  • Place: Limerick, Ireland. 

Resulting publication: O’Connell, John, and Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, eds. 2010. Music and Conflict. Urbana: Illinois University Press.

Local Theory/Local Practice: Musical Culture in South Asia and Beyond

  • Dates: 27 February 2004.
  • Place: Cambridge, USA.

Resulting publication: Wolf, Richard, ed. 2009. Theorizing the Local: Music, Practice and Experience in South Asia and Beyond. London and New York: Oxford University Press. Purchase from Amazon.com.

Musics in and from Spain: Identities and Transcultural Processes

  • Dates: 16-19 December 1999.
  • Place: Oviedo, Spain.

Resulting publication: Asensio Llamas, Susana, and Josep Marti, eds. 2004. TRANS 8: Música en España y música española: Identidades y procesos transculturales.

The Role of Music in Emerging Multicultural Countries

  • Dates: 9-12 Jauary 1999.
  • Place: Visby, Sweden.

Re-Creating Folk Music Traditions in a Changing Europe

  • Dates: 16-20 May 1994.
  • Place: Smolenice, Slovakia.

Resulting publication: Fujie, Linda, ed. 1996. Folk Music Revival in Europe. Special issue, World of Music 38/3 (articles by Owe Ronström, Marianne Bröcker, Jadranka Važanová-Horáková, Oskár Elschek, Max-Peter Baumann). See Table of Contents.

Music and Dance and the Lore of the Sea: Crosscultural Processes in Music

  • Dates: 13-15 July 1992.
  • Place: Georgetown, Cayman Islands.

Ethnomusicology and Historical Musicology: Thematic and Methodological Convergences

  • Dates: 20-24 March 1991.
  • Place: Mainz, Germany.

Resulting publication: Mahling, Christoph-Hellmut, Stephan, Münch, and Erich Stockmann, eds. 1996. Ethnomusicology and Historical Musicology: Common Goals, Shared Methodologies. Berlin: Hans Schneider.

Music, Knowledge and Power: Cross Cultural Processes in Music

  • Dates: 16-20 December 1990.
  • Place: Florianópolis, Brazil.

Revival and Renewal of Traditional Music

  • Dates: 6-10 July 1990.
  • Place: Falun, Sweden.

The African Heritage in the Caribbean

  • Dates: 20-25 September 1988.
  • Place: Havana, Cuba.

Documentation of Music and Dance in the South Pacific and its Use in the Living Tradition

  • Dates: 9-13 August 1988.
  • Place: Townsville, Australia.

Resulting publication: Moyle, Alice Marshall, ed. 1992. Music and Dance of Aboriginal Australia and the South Pacific: The Effects of Documentation on the Living Tradition. Oceania Monographs series No. 41. Sydney: University of Sydney. See Table of Contents.

Methods and Techniques of Video Recordings in Ethnomusicological Research

  • Dates: 18-22 May 1988.
  • Place: Dolná Krupá, Czechoslovakia.

Cross Cultural Processes in Music: The Role of Portugal in the World's Music since the 15th Century

  • Dates: 15-19 December 1986.
  • Place: Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Programme: download in PDF.

Resulting publication: Castelo-Branco, Salwa El-Shawan, ed. 1996. Portugal and the World: The Encounter of Cultures in Music. Lisbon: Dom Quixote. See table of contents.  

Traditional Music and Tourism

  • Dates: 10-14 July 1986.
  • Place: Kingston & Newcastle, Jamaica.

Resulting publication: Kaeppler, Adrienne, ed. 1988. Come Mek Me Hol’ Yu Han’: The Impact of Tourism on Traditional Music. Jamaica: Jamaica Memory Bank. See Table of Contents.

Oral and the Literate, with Special Emphasis on Japanese Musical Traditions

  • Dates: 8-12 January 1985.
  • Place: Tokyo, Japan.

Resulting publication: Tokumaru, Yoshihiko, and Osamu Yamaguti, eds. 1986. The Oral and the Literate in Music. Tokyo: Academia Music LTD.

Les Formes des Écoles Musicales du Monde Musulmans et leur Relations avec la Musiques Européenne du Moyen Âge

  • Dates: 7-14 July 1984.
  • Place: Testour, Tunisia.

Historical Approaches to Orally Transmitted Music Perspectives and Methodologies

  • Dates: 17-24 April 1984.
  • Place: Wiepersdorf, GDR.

Music and the Language Mode

  • Dates: 25-30 May 1981.
  • Place: Kołobrzeg, Poland.

Resulting publication: Feld, Steven. 1981. 'Flow Like a Waterfall': The Metaphors of Kaluli Musical Theory. Yearbook for Traditional Music 13: 22-47. See first page. Access via JSTOR.